Let me tell you a little story about institutional cowardice.
The American Political Science Association (APSA) is my primary professional association. Every year, APSA holds a massive convention of political science professors. We present working papers, give feedback, catch up with old colleagues, hatch new research projects, and discuss the state of the discipline.
Three years ago, I spearheaded an effort to remove John Eastman and the Claremont Institute from the APSA annual meeting. Eastman was one of the architects of Trump’s “Stop the Steal” effort that culminated in January 6th. APSA had formally condemned these efforts. It seemed ridiculous that the architects and vocal proponents of an attempt to overthrow electoral democracy would be welcome to hold their own mini-conference at the convention.
(Also, they were fundraising off of the meeting. And holding a meeting-within-a-meeting let them draft off of my professional association’s administrative overhead. Political scientists membership dues ought not be spent in support of an organization trying to overthrow electoral democracy. Come on.)
APSA didn’t appreciate the pressure from its members, but we ended up with acceptable results. APSA told Claremont they’d be switched to virutal panels. Claremont got mad and canceled the panels in a huff. After that, Claremont was quietly removed from the list of APSA related groups. I’ll take it, I thought. A win is a win?
In 2022, Claremont wasn’t at APSA. I checked the full agenda and felt a moment of pride. In 2023, Claremont wasn’t at APSA. Mission accomplished.
And then yesterday, while attending APSA, I checked the agenda. And it appears someone decided the heat had died down and it was fine for them to return. Claremont is back.