Maxwell Palmer
Political scientist at Boston University. Institutions + local politics + voting rights.
www.maxwellpalmer.com / www.housingpolitics.com
- It's only two weeks into 2026, but I'm pretty sure The Raven Scholar is going to be the one of the best books I read this year.
- Is there an incompleteness or impossibility theorem about this? It's impossible to prevent hallucinations, and any model that reviews models to detect hallucinations is also vulnerable to hallucinations?
- "In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits." www.computerworld.com/article/4059...
- How to fix America's gerrymandering problem? @benschneer.bsky.social and I wrote in Time today about a solution we developed (with @cantstopkevin.bsky.social). time.com/7309565/amer...
- This piece builds on our paper in Political Analysis, “A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define-Combine Procedure.” cup.org/471aVyW
- The redistricting battles evoke the cold war: "unilaterally disarm," "nuclear option," "mutually assured gerrymandering." We call our solution "mutually assured representation." bsky.app/profile/atru...
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View full threadSee our website, www.definecombine.com, for more, including an article summary and an interactive simulation where you can try DCP yourself.
- Reposted by Maxwell PalmerI've been thinking through the implications of extreme gerrymandering for several years now. Today I wrote an article in Time that lays out the problem and describes one solution. We think that we need a "partisan" solution to partisan gerrymandering. time.com/7309565/amer...
- Reposted by Maxwell PalmerYou may have noticed things are happening fast in the world of redistricting… I along with @maxwellpalmer.com and @simko.bsky.social wrote an article last week (though published today) that analyzes the changes to the congressional district map in Texas, and particularly San Antonio.
- Reposted by Maxwell PalmerBlocking new development doesn’t “preserve” your town—it drains your wallet. No new homes = no new taxpayers… but guess what does grow? School budgets, potholes, annual maintenance costs and legacy pension requirements. Fewer people to split that bill = higher taxes for you.
- Reposted by Maxwell PalmerPlease check out the thread and paper @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social, @maxwellpalmer.com, and I wrote below. We started this project a LONG time ago, and could never have anticipated exactly how timely it would be when it finally was published.
- Reposted by Maxwell PalmerWhat happens when immigrants and their descendants enter the halls of power? Does family history matter for policy on a contentious topic like immigration? @benschneer.bsky.social, @maxwellpalmer.com, and I wrote a post for the LSE United States Centre about our forthcoming @qjeharvard.bsky.social
- Really?
- Reposted by Maxwell PalmerA truly depressing account of the enormous time, effort, & resources that go into building *anything* in blue cities. Can not be exaggerated how much this phenomenon is crippling blue politics in the US. www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
- Reposted by Maxwell Palmerbill de blasio in park slope, ordering his breakfast sandwich as “mi sandwich especial” and quoting the onion headline omg www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
- Reposted by Maxwell PalmerBoston's Zoning Board of Appeals, in a 5-2 vote, rejected plans for 70-units of new housing, just 0.3mi to the MBTA's Andrew Square station, to replace a 2-story industrial building. US Congressman Stephen Lynch (D) sent an aide to read a letter opposing the development for lack of parking...
- Reposted by Maxwell PalmerNew: Johnston, R.I., has formally taken ownership of 31 acres of land through eminent domain as it moves forward with plans to build a new Town Hall and police and fire stations there, thwarting a proposal seeking to build affordable housing at the site. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/17/m...
- Local politics is the best politics. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
- I am confident that this will be the best thing I read today.
- This is not helping my productivity on a day when I need to finish a report with PDF graphs.
- Reposted by Maxwell Palmer[This post could not be retrieved]
- Reposted by Maxwell PalmerThis story underscores just how much communities are willing to spend to avoid building more housing. @maxwellpalmer.com and I find that communities buy land, sometimes to block affordable housing, with no plan or capacity to maintain/redevelop the property. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/05/m...
- I just completed all 25 days of Advent of Code 2024! #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com
- I just completed "Hoof It" - Day 10 - Advent of Code 2024 #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com/2024/day/10
- I just completed "Red-Nosed Reports" - Day 2 - Advent of Code 2024 #AdventOfCode adventofcode.com/2024/day/2
- The Thanksgiving stuffing waffle is the platonic ideal of leftovers.
- Nothing says "climate emergency" like "policies to slow down addressing the climate emergency."
- Not sure how anyone could see @maxwellpalmer.bsky.social @davidmglick.bsky.social and my research on public meetings in MA and think that more community input will produce better development outcomes. www.housingpolitics.com/research/nei...
- How much money is going to be spent from the "Intervenor Trust Fund" on lawsuits brought solely to delay clean energy infrastructure?
- Great callout from @bostonglobe.com from our new report with The Boston Foundation:
- Excited to see @maxwellpalmer.bsky.social and my research in this @bostonglobe.com op-ed this morning. The use of public money to actively block much-needed affordable housing is appalling, and shows the strength of opposition to new housing in Greater Boston. www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/25/o...
- Here are the thirteen cases we've found over the last ten years. If you know of more, please share them with @katherineeinst.bsky.social and me!
- Our full report is here: www.tbf.org/-/media/tbf/...
- Reposted by Maxwell PalmerExcited to see @maxwellpalmer.bsky.social and my research in this @bostonglobe.com op-ed this morning. The use of public money to actively block much-needed affordable housing is appalling, and shows the strength of opposition to new housing in Greater Boston. www.bostonglobe.com/2024/11/25/o...
- The Boston Foundation released the 2024 Greater Boston Housing Report Card today, including a report on the potential use of publicly owned land for building housing by me and Katie Einstein. www.tbf.org/-/media/tbf/...
- The state and municipalities own a huge amount of land in greater Boston - almost 1/4.
- About 1/3 of this public land is vacant. If just 5% of the vacant, non-conservation land was used for multifamily housing, more than 85,000 units could be built.
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View full threadWhat can be done about this? The state can streamline the public land procurement process; reform state funding programs so they can’t be used to block the development of housing; and provide technical assistance to municipalities seeking to dispose of surplus land…
- There's no better way to procrastinate than trying out a new task manager.
- New Job: BU Political Science @bupolisci.bsky.social is hiring a tenure-track AP in Environmental Politics. academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/28327 #APSA2024 #polisky
- Has anyone seen my HDMI adapter? Last seen in May. #FirstDayOfClass
- Reposted by Maxwell Palmer[This post could not be retrieved]
- Thanks @ispsyale.bsky.social for a great summary of my work with Ben Schneer and @cantstopkevin.bsky.social on partisan gerrymandering. isps.yale.edu/news/blog/20...
- Reposted by Maxwell Palmer
[Not loaded yet] - Excited to share that "A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define–Combine Procedure" is now out at Political Analysis. With @cantstopkevin.bsky.social and Ben Schneer. t.co/sc5Tt5wpYq
- We develop a new method to reduce partisan gerrymandering that doesn't require independent commissions, judges, or tiebreakers.
- Great NYT crossword theme today for #polisky. “Political pun-ditry.”
