An action primer for scientists (and everyone)
Seven ways to act locally, with examples.
This week, the wave of firings, many illegal, continued across the federal government.
In the National Science Foundation alone, 168 probationary employees were let go. Many of these people are successful scientists, former professors from major institutions. They went to NSF to serve the community and maintain the strength of science in the United States. Like other agencies (the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the US Agency for International Development, the Centers for Disease Control, and more), they were removed seemingly without regard for what they do. Even if reversed by the many lawsuits that have been filed (see them all at Just Security’s tracker), these illegal actions will have lasting consequences.
Typically I write this Substack about the nerdy details of improving democracy in the long term: gerrymandering, voting rules, and the like. But today I take a simpler and more urgent approach.
“I Don’t Follow Politics”
Over the years I have met many neighbors, friends, and fellow academics who avoid “politics.” It is hard to explain to them, without becoming tiresome, the difference between politics - the back-and-forth of voting, negotiation, and policymaking - and the political system. The political system - rules, traditions, laws, and willingness to abide by them - is what allows politics to happen at all. Fully authoritarian nations don’t have politics, as such. We’re getting halfway there (Levitsky and Way 2025, Foreign Affairs).
In democracies, the political system can change, usually slowly. Right now, ours is changing for the worse, fast. Much of this massive upheaval is illegal or unconstitutional. Unchecked, it represents the biggest change to how our nation is governed since the Civil War. But we are only at the end of the first month. How much change will become long-lasting?
Going from national events to local action
Pushing back will require local and individual action. I have recently run across essays by four people who are doing an excellent job of capturing the enormity of the moment. In each case, I recommend following their thoughts.
Larry Diamond writes about the difference between policies we don’t like (this happens in many elections) and the massive illegality we are seeing now. He explains how making changes in policy is normal, but doing so illegally is not.
Don Moynihan distills the flood of actions over the last four weeks into three components: a personalist Presidency, governing by fear, and the purging of career officials. His technical detail illustrates just how radical the attempted changes are. For an even longer explanation, see Claire Berlinski.
Andrea Pitzer’s new essay “Heroic Work From Ordinary People” describes the ways that institutions still have power to hold back the tide: courts, and local networks of people like you and me.
Melissa Ryan writes persuasively and passionately about how local action is the major remaining force to get elites on either side to stop - or to start - acting.
Institutions are failing to step up on their own. Many of them are completely unready for the current moment. Democratic Party Congressional leadership is acting like the key action item is to win the 2026 election, and to operate within the rules of politics. Republicans - well, they may often like what is happening, such as shutting down USAID. They may also be afraid for their own well-being, since they after all are in the direct line of fire, sometimes not metaphorically, of their party base. Whatever the case, they are ceding power to the executive branch, in direct violation of Article I of the Constitution.
Businesses, nonprofits, and universities are not much better. They feel the threat that the federal government will make punitive actions, revoke nonprofit status, shut down grants, and impose political views.
At my university, leaders might under normal circumstances have their hearts in the right place, but their commitment is being severely tested. At a faculty town hall here in Princeton two weeks ago, our administrators made general statements about protecting academic freedom. They became passionate on the subject of protecting the institution’s tax status and endowment, and avoiding legal liability. Like us, they have a lot to worry about. I came away feeling that we in the audience had to step up and take care of ourselves.
Holding legislators, professional societies, and institutions to account
Our best influence is with people who know us. This usually means local institutions and relationships. This was always true, but it is even more important now.
Progressives and academics (not always the same, I assure you) like to think on a large scale. Here at Fixing Bugs in Democracy, it’s been addressing gerrymandering and other rules of democracy, long-term repairs to the democracy where we dwell. But right now, the house is on fire.
Typical activist habits involve going to a demonstration, signing a petition, or exhorting people to vote next year. This is all fine, but it’s business as usual, and current conditions demand more. In an emergency, we must act quickly, and as Melissa Ryan tells us, within our local networks and communities.
A key theoretical reason for acting locally can be explained in terms of complex systems theory. As I've written, a “low-dimensional dynamical system” can easily go out of control. Political life in America has become low-dimensional: the political parties are polarized, information spreads rapidly over long distances, and local media has withered. The entire system is regulated by only a few factors, therefore with low dimensionality.
That is a mouthful, and you don't need to understand it. The basic idea is that when national dynamics become subject to a few large forces, it becomes far easier for the whole system to become unstable and even collapse. We’re seeing that today, with Elon Musk (DOGE) and Russell Vought (OMB) taking a sledgehammer to virtually every governmental institution.
Acting locally
To address the current situation, here are some types of local action. As a use case, I will consider the scientific community where I live. Last week’s teach-in here inspired me. I saw a usually-immobile population start to act. And they have power.
Scientists have the technical ability to understand a whole complex system. One of their career goals is to use ideas to make things better. But most of them are newcomers to personal community action (“I’m not political”). They have a lot of potential: capable, but inexperienced.
Seven ways to make a difference
Community action means taking care of individuals. That means knowing where to go when ICE comes and what to do. Study slides 7-16 of the Princeton teach-in deck), and be ready to act.
Pressure your community’s leaders and institutions. Tell your mayor, your police department, community organizations, churches, and the school you attend to protect you. In particular, people at colleges and universities can apply this guide to resisting Project 2025. Many of your leaders may themselves be afraid. It’s a good time to give them strength to uphold values. As an example, see what the President of Wesleyan, Michael Roth, has said.
Pressure your professional associations. Tim Snyder, scholar of tyranny and fascism, exhorts us to maintain professional standards. That can be difficult, with federal science agencies being undermined. But we must try.
Scientific societies need a crash course in what is going on. In the past, it’s been more their speed to say “science is bipartisan” and other such pablum. One administrator at my University said to me with a straight face, “Republican administrations are usually better for science funding.” Funding isn’t the only point, and they seemed unaware of the obvious crisis at hand. Impartial, merit-based review is in the crosshairs.
Contact your department chair and your professional society. Get them to uphold peer review, merit-based funding, academic freedom, and diverse workplaces. Tell them you want them to act like the American Association of University Professors, and join a lawsuit. Many lawsuits are being helped by Democracy Forward and State Democracy Defenders, and Public Citizen is also stepping up.
Communicate with local media. Tell them about how the illegal actions of DOGE will hurt disabled kids, shut down national parks, and disrupt research. Give examples close to home, ideally with visuals.
Tell the local paper about how indirect costs support real people. Show them a person who works to support your institution, and describe how they will be laid off. And tell them what really happens in research, and how it helps make our country stronger.
Talk to your member of Congress. Congress has three points of leverage available at the moment: (a) a necessary increase to the debt ceiling on March 14, (b) their oversight power, and (c) their ability to go create media events by going to sites that are disrupted or where people have been fired.
Call your Congressperson (don’t email, that gets ignored) and tell them to use the debt ceiling as a hostage to scale back DOGE. Tell them not to throw away their authority under Article I of the Constitution. And invite them to an event in your community. Every member of Congress has something to contribute; you just need to think of what works for them. The U.S Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121, and of course there are local offices.
If your elected official is a Democrat, tell them to do more than leaders such as Senate leader Chuck Schumer and House leader Hakeem Jeffries, who are acting helpless and unable to deal with the current situation. Invite your local member of Congress to places where people are hurting. 40% of the human brain is dedicated to visual processing. Good visual documentation will make the depredations far easier for your community to understand.
Find a swing district. If your elected official is a Republican, especially from a swing district, they may be feeling the heat. For example, within 20 miles of Princeton are four swing congressional districts, all represented by Republicans: NJ-07 (Thomas Kean, Jr.), PA-01 (Brian Fitzpatrick), PA-07 (Ryan Mackenzie), and PA-08 (Rob Bresnahan).
Look up a swing district near you in Vote Maximizer. Tell your House representative, Democrat or Republican, that they are giving up power by allowing Musk/Vought to run amok. Tell them they are going to lose their next general election or primary.
Discover your inner federalist. Power lies not only in the national government, but at the state, city, and local level. This multi-tiered system will be crucial in the years ahead.
As an example, the Department of Justice is calling off prosecution of New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a quid pro quo regarding immigration crackdown. This corrupt act has triggered a wave of resignations by seven prosecutors, including Hagan Scotten, whose resignation letter is worth reading in full.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has the authority to fire the mayor, and appears to be considering doing so. If you live in New York state, you are her constituent. Her telephone number for public comment is 518-474-8390.
How will this new Gilded Age end?
I had hoped the second Gilded Age would end with improvements to our democracy. If 2025 is the end of that age, things are not looking great. Our best hope is that it's not the end. A better future is not out of the question...but we'll have to work for it. Since our institutions and leaders are slow to respond, we will have to start the job ourselves. Good luck to us all!
NJ-07 is Tom Kean Jr. (R) not Bonnie W. Coleman