American. Professor at Stockholm University. Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin. Write about journalism, politics, culture.
Sep 16, 2018 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Voter turnout (latest election) among countries with non-compulsory voting (as % of voting-age population).
Sweden: 87.2%
Denmark: 80.3%
Netherlands: 77.3%
Finland: 73.1%
Norway: 70.6%
France: 67.9%
UK: 63.2%
Germany: 66.1%
Canada: 62.1%
USA: 55.7%
(Pew)
What makes US voter turnout as % of voting-age population (55.7%) so awful is that US ranks as one of best countries in terms of voter turnout among REGISTERED voters (86.8%). US just makes it more difficult to register/vote than most OECD countries w/hard impact on working poor.
Sep 6, 2018 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
(1) So, just three days before the #SwedenElection, and with so many options open to it, the @nytimes decides to run an Opinion piece about Sweden which plays upon many of the stereotypical, simplistic tropes about Sweden we have heard in recent years. nytimes.com/2018/09/06/opi…(2) So, the title. Lazy, clickbait wordplay gives us nothing. The Sweden Democrats are currently polling between 17-24%. So, it's likely that 4 out of 5 Swedes will not vote for them, most of whom do not want their party to enter into a coalition with SD. That's "conquered"?
Jun 18, 2018 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
There's nothing US right-wingers love more than attacks on Europe, because, to them, European "Multiculturalism" has destroyed a mythological, ethnically homogeneous "motherland" white US citizens know little or nothing about, yet claim as their own. So, a Love-Hate relationship.
US right-wingers also hate Europe because it has universal healthcare, paid maternal leave, paid vacations, free universities together with higher quality of life & free-market economy. Europe a huge billboard telling the US that claims about the evils of the state are bullshit.
May 18, 2018 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
22 years ago, a gunman entered Dunblane Primary School in Scotland, killing 16 kids and a teacher. The UK govt responded by enacting tight gun control legislation. In the 8000+ days since, there have been a total of 0 school shootings in the UK. #SantaFeHighSchool
And, by the way, to those who say London has a higher murder rate than New York...no. These are the murder per 100,000 rates from the last year that INCLUDE the recent months with large murder numbers in London. Still WAY below US cities.
Apr 29, 2018 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
(1) A 2016 Eurobarometer poll about attitudes in the EU toward sexual violence against women is disturbing, and the results are rarely discussed. Here are a few results.
(2) When asked if women "often make up or exaggerate claims of abuse or rape" (that's not "sometimes," but OFTEN), here is the % that agreed with that statement. The EU average was 22% (so, 1 in 5).
