The Monitor's National section recommends The Monkey Cage, the Twitter account for its namesake blog. Political wonks and news junkies will find useful commentary rooted in political science.
The Monkey Cage is a blog established in 2007 by George Washington University professor John Sides. He aimed to publicize political science research and offer commentary on political events and issues, according to the blog’s inaugural post. The blog is featured on The American Prospect’s website.
Washington editor Peter Grier (@petergrier) says The Monkey Cage provides a lot of great political commentary that is actually based on political science.
Mr. Sides was named Blogger of the Year in 2011 by The Week. The Week’s staff called him the Nate Silver of political science, writing that he makes an impact on voter behavior by “injecting wisdom of the academy into everyday political discourse” through the blog.
“Sides and his dogged band of social scientists pipe up, in clear, concise, and witty posts, whenever the political debate strays too far from the evidence,” the staff wrote.
The Monkey Cage regularly tweets links to its articles about working papers, government, human rights, and other topics in domestic politics. It also retweets a number of professors and political scientists.
While the blog does focus on government and theory, it offers insight on some more personal or fun aspects of politics as well. If you’ve ever wondered how major events like the Iraq War have influenced theory, or perhaps what congressional members tweet about, you’ll enjoy what The Monkey Cage has to say.
