50 Best Twitter Feeds for Political Science Students

Could Twitter save democracy? As one of the most radical developments in the political process in years, the social blogging site has given a voice to an American public with less and less wealth that feels more and more ignored by a Congress and White House that are primarily populated by millionaires. With presidential debates featuring live questions from Twitter, and hashtags providing almost immediate feedback about the country’s political mood, it’s a very exciting time to be a political science major. If that’s you, check out our votes for some great feeds to follow.

State politics

1. City & State: Formerly CityHallNews, this feed is all about politicking in the Big Apple and New York State.
2. Texas Tribune: Political columnists from the Tribune tweet about the hot issues facing the Republic of Texas, like environmentalism and redistricting.
3. Kathie Obradovich: Ms. Obradovich posts state and national news regarding Iowa politics, the site of the country’s first presidential caucus.
4. David Siders: Reporting for The Sacramento Bee, Siders’ beat is the government of the most populous state in the nation.
5. American Independent: For “state politics in context,” stay tuned to this feed featuring news from all 50.
6. YvonneWingettSanchez: Covering John McCain’s territory, @yvonnewingett is your window into Arizona state politics.
7. WickedLocal Politics: Like your political news wicked smaht? This feed about government in Massachusetts is all yours.
8. Wisconsin Reporter: The Reporter is a branch of StateHouseNews, a state government watchdog group that focuses on district news.
9. Florida Politics: Florida is often a swing state in presidential elections and this is a great feed to follow for in-state politics.

Federal Politics

1. Barack Obama: Studying poli sci without paying attention to the president is like studying psychology without reading Freud.
2. OSTP: The environment is always a major issue of a president’s administration. The feed from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will keep you informed on the latest green technology and climate change news, and more.
3. NRSC: When they’re not watching Fox News, good Republicans know to check this feed of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for GOP Congressional news.
4. DCCC: The Twitter feed for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is devoted to “electing a democratic majority.”
5. Alec Ross: Ross works as the senior advisor for innovation under the secretary of state. Topics lately have included #Syria, #netfreedom, and (shocker) #innovation.
6. Jay Carney: Of course you recognize the name of the White House press secretary right? Get your federal government info straight from the horse’s mouth.
7. US Dept. of Labor: Employment is the biggest issue in America right now, so follow these tweets from the government division tasked with tracking the stats and fixing the problems.
8. Recovery.Gov: This feed corresponds to the website created by the recovery Act to inform Americans (and poli sci students) about how the recovery funds are being spent and related news.
9. Roll Call: The Twitter of “the Newspaper of Capitol Hill” reports on all the news going on in our federal government, from presidential updates to debates over bills.

Political Science Professors

1. Barry Eichengreen: Mr. E. is a professor of poli sci at Berkeley who tweets and gives interviews regularly on international monetary policy.
2. Dante Scala: A prof at the U of New Hampshire, Scala can be your poli sci news aggregator, as he constantly retweets political news and commentary articles.
3. Josh Putnam: Tweet your questions and comments at this assistant prof at Davidson College and join his conversations about campaigns and the presidential election.
4. Mark Sawyer: Sawyer teaches poli sci at UCLA and tweets his commentary on politics and African American studies and issues.
5. James Carville: The original Ragin’ Cajun, this political guru teaches poli sci at Tulane University and shares his insight with you via this feed.
6. Vikash Yadav: For a change of pace, check out the feed run by this prof who deals with “sovereignty, security and identity in South Asia.”
7. Brendan Nyhan: Brendan teaches government at Dartmouth and tweets a good mix of political commentary and informative articles.

Election 2012

1. Election 2012 News: This feed is constantly being updated with all the news that’s fit to print from the campaign trail, like candidate endorsements, polls, and reports.
2. Newt Gingrich: You might be surprised to hear that Gingrich enjoys far more followers than any other GOP presidential candidate. Become one to hear what his stances are.
3. Ron Paul: The Texas Congressman has a strong Twitter presence on this his second go-round at the Oval Office.
4. Mitt Romney: Mr. Romney (or a staff member) likes to tweet his platform points and keep potential voters aware of upcoming debates and primaries.
5. Rick Santorum: Sen. Santorum keeps fans updated on his whereabouts and his beliefs as he tours the country campaigning.
6. Josh Marshall: Josh is the editor of political site Talking Points memo, and what’s a presidential election if not one giant mass of talking points?
7. Americans Elect: This is the Twitter feed for a revolutionary development in electing a president. Follow it to keep up with this movement for an online, nationwide American primary.
8. Election Asst. Comm.: Here’s a particularly good feed for students of political science; in addition to news, it teaches you all about the American election process.
9. Election Analysis: This is a cool feed that keeps you apprised of trending tweet words and hashtags pertaining to the election and the candidates.

Commentators

1. Rachel Maddow MSNBC: The feed from the hostess of “The Rachel Maddow Show” covers similar fare to the political show, with a dash of her usual liberalism.
2. John Dickerson: Mr. Dickerson has the credentials to be a good source of political info; he covers politics for Slate and is the Political Director for CBS News.
3. Ezra Klein: A well-known columnist for the Washington Post, Klein is a serial tweeter with lots of good political talk mixed in.
4. Nicholas Kristof: Kristof has two Pulitzers under his belt, and he’s a great voice to hear about international politics.
5. Joe Trippi: Author of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Trippi keeps an eye on political and social issues facing our democracy.
6. Jake Tapper: ABC’s senior White House correspondent tweets about news from the loop with a bit more candor and a little less formality than some.
7. Matt Taibbi: One of the most hard-hitting journalists working today is also one of the most hilarious writers. Taibbi is becoming an authority on issues like the infamous bank bailout. Follow him.

Special Interest

1. EMILY’s List: The people behind EMILY’s List tweet about women’s representation in politics and work to get women elected.
2. OpenSecrets.org: Run by the Center for Responsive Politics, the tweeters behind this feed act as a watchdog against influence-peddling in Washington by big money, an important issue to stay informed about.
3. AFP: On the subject of economic freedom in America, Americans For Prosperity is an authority and a good updater for government policy developments.

Political Blogs

1. The Monkey Cage: As in, the monkeys are running the circus, this feed covers the spectrum of poli sci topics, from redistricting to international politics.
2. National Journal: Billing itself as the best source of non-partisan insight, National Journal’s twitter feed is a fount of info on a varied range of poli sci topics, including national security and domestic policy.
3. Daily Kos: Getting your daily Kos means getting your fix on “news, community, and action” with a progressive slant, thanks to this feed by the popular political page.
4. The New Republic: Your stop for “rigorous” examination of American politics and foreign policy, find tweets for engrossing articles from the site like “The Gingrich-Sandusky Connection.”
5. PolitiFact: PolitiFact is the group hacking through the jungle of outrageous statements made in Washington, trying to find that rare commodity in D.C.: the truth.
6. Politico: You’ll be a politico yourself after a few weeks of following this feed by the popular political news blog.