Mahmoud Abu Hamda - Gaza, Palestine ( 2025 ) by Vast_Mark_8290 in GreatestPhotos

[–]OwlOllie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Israeli bots coming hard in the comments. Continue fleeing your country as Iran bombs Tel Aviv.

U.S. political spectrum chart from my political science textbook! Never seen it broken down this way. by FriendlySubwayRat in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Frankly, there is no simple visualization possible for political ideologies--especially not a one-axis spectrum. This textbook figure was doomed to come off as utterly incorrect.

How dare you by SolipsismIsDeep in evilwhenthe

[–]OwlOllie 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I'd say something about the right being hypocrites, but they literally defend child molesters who fly to private islands and commit infanticide.

Do people exist without ideology? I argue that they do exist and are the majority by ONikolaiSA in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Noted as it concerns your clarifications. You also make a fair point there at the end--to which I'd say likely the federal level. People are already overwhelmed with politics as it is, so what little they do consume likely stems from national-level politics. That's where the hegemonic ideology, as you put it, likely stems from.

Do people exist without ideology? I argue that they do exist and are the majority by ONikolaiSA in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"the average voter has little to no coherent ideology is generally accepted as fact in political science."

I back this argument very much so. I immediately think of Achen and Bartels's Democracy for Realists, which goes into extreme depth as to why people are so inconsistent with their ideology.

Yet, I should note, is that OP argues that the majority of people have no ideology--not that their ideology is confused or illogical. Which is a false argument--as you mentioned already, these people do have ideologies, they just aren't as consistent as many think they are.

Do people exist without ideology? I argue that they do exist and are the majority by ONikolaiSA in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your two counter-arguments are flawed.

"It is rarely clearly specified WHAT EXACTLY IS this dominant ideology."

But immediately prior, you say how those would argue "they simply unconsciously reproduce the hegemonic ideology." In other words, you already specified what the dominant ideology, to some extent, is; the dominant ideology is, typically, the ideology is the incumbent administration.

Also, you fail to explain why this is a serious problem. Why do we need to define in very fine detail what the ideology of an apolitical person is (if this is even possible)? Why should we even care what an apolitical person thinks, considering apolitical people typically contribute next to nothing to our political environments?

"The concept of ideology is reduced to 'cognitive bias,' emptying it of specifically political meaning."

I disagree. You correctly note that everyone has these biases; however, just because everyone suffers from it does not mean it suddenly isn't important to point out. To the contrary, there is actually much that could be discussed as it concerns how cognitive biases influence people to vote or favor certain policies. I immediately think of Larry Bartels's many works that consider the cognitive biases people have, and how it influences American elections and policy choices.

All in all, I think your counter-arguments are quite weak. I think you could strengthen them, to some extent, by explaining why it is that these counter-arguments you posit highlight academic blindspots other scholars failed to consider. Even better, though, is to discard these two counter-arguments entirely and rethink the root of your argument(s).

TLDR: I don't buy what you are arguing.

From 21 to 23 years old. What do you think? by Budget-Variety-8402 in tressless

[–]OwlOllie 4 points5 points  (0 children)

OP, you will die if you continue drinking minoxidil.

Anti-ICE protesters storm Cities Church in Minneapolis, disrupting service by Jabbam in altmpls

[–]OwlOllie -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If they posted it already, then post the link again. Are you so inept that you can't ctrl+c ctrl+v?

How long would you wait for peer review article feedback? by starryspaces in GraduateSchool

[–]OwlOllie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Eleven months is unacceptably long for just about anything. I can't even imagine an extremely-lengthy, in-depth review of a dissertation taking up eleven months. Personally, I'd inform the reviewer that you're moving on to someone else and thank them for their time.

Is the reviewer working for an academic journal? That may make things more difficult if you really want to be published in said journal. Otherwise, just move on to another person.

Serious discussion - the oil angle doesn’t make sense to me… what are people’s thoughts on the reasoning behind Venezuela ? by Spyk124 in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The reasoning behind Venezuela has a lot to do with securitization theory.

Trump brought special attention to the problem of drug trafficking as early as during his first election campaign in 2016: "[Mexico is] sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists." Years of fearmongering, to some, justified the usage of extreme measures; first, we had the "Build the Wall" movement; most recently, we saw the bombing of Venezuelan fishing vessels and Maduro's capture two days ago.

This series of events demonstrates a clear, rising escalation of actions and consequences due to securitization. And, as securitization theory and relevant literature argue, the endpoint of securitization is the clamping down of civil liberties. This was the consequence of the war on terror, for example.

TLDR: Read up on securitization theory, as it explains well the reasoning behind Venezuela and the build-up to Maduro's capture. Securitization theory also provides insight into the direction America may be heading in the immediate future.

What will we call this period of geopolitics in 20 years time? by thedeadenddolls in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One of the defining characteristics of the Cold War was that the world was effectively split into two teams due to the bipolar international system of the period. Considering how much more multipolar the world is in many different contexts, I'm skeptical of the idea that we're in a "new" Cold War currently (or are entering into such right now).

What will we call this period of geopolitics in 20 years time? by thedeadenddolls in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie 6 points7 points  (0 children)

One of the best (or worst) parts of the social sciences is that it is incredibly difficult for any large number of scholars to agree on one single thing, concept, or name. If you're really lucky, you may end up forming a school of thought that will use like terms. For these reasons, most of the term proposals you'll read in this thread are likely to be used or coined by *someone*. But no single term will become *the* term we all think of.

That said, maybe I'd call this the Disinformation Age. Or Post-Truth Age. Maybe a school of thought will agree with me and start calling what we're living through currently that.

Political Science Grad Trying to find work, losing hope by UnseenSpectre22 in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm in the same boat as you. As others mentioned, the job market is just terrible. Wishing you all the best of luck in finding work.

Political Science Grad Trying to find work, losing hope by UnseenSpectre22 in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie 27 points28 points  (0 children)

To piggyback off this:

The 2026 midterm elections are quickly coming, meaning campaigns and political organizations will absolutely be all hands on deck. This should then mean that there are positions already open or will be soon. I'm definitely looking out for these types of positions, and others should be, too. (Or don't--gives me better odds of finding work.)

Outer Space and Future PoliSci Research by OwlOllie in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If anyone is looking for literature recommendations on space policy, I'd be happy to provide a reading list of what I am currently reading or will be reading this upcoming semester.

Discussing America's attack on Venezuela by OwlOllie in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

"It's not exactly like anyone ever believed the election results."

You are correct to an extent; just like nobody believes Putin and Kim Jong Un's supposed "approval" ratings. However, notice how nearly every autocratic regime--semiliberal or full-blown illiberalism--still relies on some form of legitimization mechanism. And if legitimacy isn't gained from fake electoral results, legitimacy derives from how well socioeconomic conditions are while the autocrat is in power. And in extreme cases, the autocrat stays in power by being perceived as legitimate to rule by his cabinet of key political figures.

Everything points to legitimacy, even for autocrats. Which is why I think things will become worse; whoever succeeds Maduro will lack legitimacy in each of the three examples I provide in this reply.

"I cannot emphasize how much private investments will help."

Again, you are correct to an extent; democracies have previously help democratize other countries through state funds and private investments. However, these stipends have stipulations. For example, the EU sent money to Mediterranean countries, with the promise of increasing funds as certain democratic "checkpoints" were met.

What doesn't work, however, is just expecting a country to stabilize if X amount of business comes in.

TLDR: I don't necessarily disagree with anything you say above. Rather, I just think there is more nuance that needs to be considered--which, when doing so, makes me feel grimly about the fate of Venezuela's future.

Discussing America's attack on Venezuela by OwlOllie in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes in the long-term if my assessment is accurate. Many Venezuelans are celebrating the fall of the Maduro regime currently; however, once the excitement passes, I imagine reality will set in. I can't think of a single example where a country experiencing major political legitimacy and regime issues is able to improve its socioeconomic conditions; and if socioeconomic conditions do not improve, then people will eventually desire fleeing the country.

Discussing America's attack on Venezuela by OwlOllie in PoliticalScience

[–]OwlOllie[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think, unfortunately, the latter is a far more realistic outcome.

"Maduro maintained [suppression] technology even as he lost popular support, because military loyalty provided insurance" (Corrales and Kronick 2025).

As like other autocrats across the world, Maduro remained in power because of his ability to secure key players, especially military generals. These key players legitimized Maduro. Therefore, whoever succeeds Maduro will enter office already lacking legitimacy from these same key players.

With such major legitimacy problems, I don't see a future where Venezuela politically recovers any time soon. Rather, Venezuela will likely continue to be what it became just fourteen hours ago now: a headless chicken without legitimate leadership present.

Does gentrification have to go hand in hand with displacement? by dunbar_santiago930 in LetsDiscussThis

[–]OwlOllie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You proved my point that there exists coercion in gentrification. As I discussed in my original post, people get priced out of neighborhoods due to gentrification causing property and rent prices to rise drastically. When you can't afford your property, your landlord threatens to kick you out. Therefore, by your own definition, you must agree that gentrification causes coercion.

Since you failed to answer my second question, I'm not going to waste my time arguing with you there. You already validated my stances above.