What is The Monkey Cage?
“Democracy is the art of running the circus from the monkey cage.” — H.L. Mencken
The Monkey Cage’s mission is to connect political scientists and the political conversation by creating a compelling forum, developing publicly focused scholars, and building an informed audience. Using the discipline’s research, we help make sense of the circus that is politics.
At TMC, political scientists draw on their expertise and the discipline’s research to provide in-depth analysis, illuminate the news, and inform civic discussion. We want the political conversation to include timely, accessible, and sound knowledge from a publicly oriented political science discipline, and to be less dominated by evidence-free arguments.
TMC is an independent site currently published here at the Washington Post.
Who can write for TMC?
We publish political scientists, usually in universities or comparable research positions, writing about their particular area of expertise. Occasionally we publish pieces by scholars in affiliated disciplines — such as sociology, economics, psychology, or history — if their contributions are relevant to politics.
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We are especially committed to cultivating and publishing contributors from historically underrepresented groups as well as contributions about issues that have been neglected in the past.
How do I write for TMC?
First, please download and read carefully our Contributors’ Guide and Ethics Code.
If your proposed piece fits with our guidelines, please email us (monkeycageblog@gmail.com) with a one- or two-paragraph pitch that briefly explains:
- which news or current issue your piece will illuminate
- which research findings you will bring to bear on this topic
- how your post will change public or policymakers’ perceptions on this topic
Decisions are made by a board of editors all of whom are political scientists with expertise in various areas. We are supported by professional editors who edit posts and manage the site.
Please note:
- We do not publish traditional op-eds or editorials that advocate for political parties, candidates, or public policies.
- We accept only pitches from authors, not from public relations professionals.
- We do not automatically extend the right to respond to anything published on TMC.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Henry Farrell is the SNF Agora Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He studies trust, the politics of the Internet, and international and comparative political economy. His recent book is The Political Economy of Trust. Follow him on Twitter @henryfarrell.
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PUBLISHER
John Sides is a professor of political science at Vanderbilt University. He specializes in public opinion, voting, and American elections. His books include Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America. He has also written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, the New York Daily News, Salon, Boston Review, and Bloomberg View. Follow him on Twitter @johnmsides.
EDITORS
Sarah Binder is a professor of political science at George Washington University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She has authored or co-authored four books on legislative politics, and she has a mild obsession with congressional rules, the history of Congress, and the Fed. Follow her on Twitter at @bindersab.
Nadia E. Brown is a professor of government and the director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Georgetown University. She is the author of the award-winning Sisters in the Statehouse: Black Women and Legislative Decision Making and co-author, with Danielle Lemi, of Sister Style: The Politics of Appearance for Black Women Political Elites. She is the lead editor of Politics, Groups and Identities. Follow her on Twitter @BrownPhDGirl.
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Kim Yi Dionne is associate professor of political science at the University of California, Riverside. She studies public opinion, political behavior, and policy aimed at improving the human condition, with a focus on African countries. She is the author of Doomed Interventions: The Failure of Global Responses to AIDS in Africa. She has also written for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and Africa is a Country. Follow her on Twitter at @dadakim.
Stacie E. Goddard is Betty Freyhof Johnson ’44 Professor of Political Science and Paula Phillips Bernstein ’58 Faculty Director of the Madeleine K. Albright Institute for Global Affairs at Wellesley College. Her research focuses on issues of international security, especially great power competition and its effects on international institutions. Her most recent book, When Right Makes Might: Rising Powers and World Order, was published by Cornell Studies in Security Affairs in 2018. Follower her on Twitter at @segoddard.
Amanda Hollis-Brusky is an associate professor of politics at Pomona College. She studies the United States Supreme Court, constitutional change and development, executive power, and the conservative legal movement. Her books include Ideas with Consequences: The Federalist Society and the Conservative Counterrevolution. She has also written for The Los Angeles Times, Politico, Newsweek, and The Washington Post. Follow her on Twitter at @HollisBrusky.
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Marc Lynch is professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. His books include The New Arab Wars, The Arab Uprising, Voices of the New Arab Public, and State Interests and Public Spheres. He is also director of the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) and a nonresident senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Program. In 2016 he was named an Andrew Carnegie Fellow. Follow him on Twitter at @abuaardvark.
Bryn Rosenfeld is an assistant professor of government at Cornell University. She studies the politics of Russia and other former Soviet countries, political behavior, and democratization. She is the author of The Autocratic Middle Class: How State Dependency Reduces the Demand for Democracy. Follow her on Twitter at @brynrosenfeld.
Elizabeth Saunders is an associate professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She studies U.S. foreign policy and international security, especially the role of leaders, the presidency, and the politics of using force. She is the author of Leaders at War: How Presidents Shape Military Interventions. Follow her on Twitter at @ProfSaunders.
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Laura Seay is an assistant professor of government at Colby College. She studies African politics, conflict, and development, with a focus on central Africa. She has also written for Foreign Policy, The Atlantic, Guernica, and Al Jazeera English. Follow her on Twitter at @texasinafrica.
Christopher Stout is an associate professor at in the School of Public Policy at Oregon State University. He studies the racial and ethnic politics, political behavior, political communication, public opinion, and representation. He is the author of the books Bringing Race Back In: Black Politicians, Deracialization, and Voting Behavior in the Age of Obama and The Case for Identity Politics: Polarization, Demographic Change, and Racial Appeals. Follow him on Twitter at @christophestout.
Joshua Tucker (currently on leave from TMC) is a professor of politics and an affiliated professor of Russian and Slavic studies and data science at New York University. He is the director of the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia and the co-director of the NYU Center for Social Media and Politics and the Social Media and Political Participation (SMaPP) Lab. He is the author of Regional Economic Voting and the co-author of Communism’s Shadow. Follow him on Twitter @j_a_tucker.
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Jeremy Wallace is an associate professor of government at Cornell University. He studies Chinese politics, authoritarianism and ideology. He is the author of Cities and Stability: Urbanization, Redistribution, and Regime Survival in China. Follow him on Twitter at @jerometenk.
Jessica Chen Weiss (currently on leave from TMC) is an associate professor of government at Cornell University. She studies Chinese politics and international relations in the Asia-Pacific. She is the author of Powerful Patriots: Nationalist Protest in China’s Foreign Relations. Follow her on Twitter at @jessicacweiss.
Managing Editor
Associate Editor
Vanessa Lide
Marketing Director
Gihane Askar
Occasional Contributors
Larry Bartels (Vanderbilt University)
Erica Chenoweth (Harvard University)
Stephen Benedict Dyson (University of Connecticut)
Chris Federico (University of Minnesota)
Andrew Gelman (Columbia University)
Jason Lyall (Dartmouth College)
Andrew Rudalevige (Bowdoin College)
Erik Voeten (Georgetown University)
Supporters
