In Delivering Tolerance, @chagaiweiss.bsky.social develops a new theory of prejudice reduction, arguing that public institutions & the people within them can improve intergroup relations in conflict-ridden societies. Out now! Learn more: press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Josh Kertzer
@jkertzer.bsky.social
John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and of Government at Harvard University | International relations 🤝 political psychology jkertzer.sites.fas.harvard.edu
My book, Taming the Careerists, will be published by Cambridge University Press this September! There is growing debate over whether federal employees should be easier to dismiss in order to make them more responsive to presidential directives. What would be the consequences of such a change?
We typically think of deterrence as cold and calculating. In a new JCR with @uoft-poli-sci.bsky.social's Pomeroy & Rathbun, we explore the psychology of deterrence thinking, showing it relies on intuition instead. When we shoot, we shoot from the hip. 🧵 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
We typically think of deterrence as cold and calculating. In a new JCR with @uoft-poli-sci.bsky.social's Pomeroy & Rathbun, we explore the psychology of deterrence thinking, showing it relies on intuition instead. When we shoot, we shoot from the hip. 🧵 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
From April 2026 - Elite Misperceptions in Foreign Policy - cup.org/4cmGwBb - @jkertzer.bsky.social, Joshua Busby, Jonathan Monten, @jordantama.bsky.social & @ckafura.bsky.social #OpenAccess
Publishing null results *is* hard. Thrilled to finally see this paper with @danielnposner.bsky.social and @dougparkerson.bsky.social investigating the impact of bottom-up accountability on healthcare outcomes in print in the JOP. Thread 👇 doi.org/10.1086/736577
Congratulations to Leonie Huddy of Stony Brook University on receiving the 2026 Harold Lasswell Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions. Read more about Leonie and all ISPP award winners here: https://bit.ly/4vMtt2X #ISPP #PoliticalPsychology #LasswellAward
Excited to share my new paper w/ @janzilinsky.bsky.social that's conditionally accepted at @ajpseditor.bsky.social 🎉 Is there a general "anti-technology" orientation among Americans? We built a scale and found that worries about social media, AI, and modernity do form a coherent disposition.
🚨 Now out in @bjpols.bsky.social w @busbyj2.bsky.social @jordantama.bsky.social @ckafura.bsky.social: Do American foreign policy elites know what the public wants? Partnering with @global-affairs.bsky.social, we show that elites systematically misread the room 🧵 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
"Voluntary action in International Relations" by Joseph M. Parent and Paul K. MacDonald has recently been published in EJIR and is available online. Find it here: t1p.de/otzph
📢 New paper out in @AJPS_Editor with Christian Baehr & Fiona Bare: "Climate Exposure Drives Firm Political Behavior: Evidence from Earnings Calls and Lobbying Data" When & how do firms engage in climate politics? 🧵 🔗 doi.org/10.1111/ajps...
NEW - Elite Misperceptions in Foreign Policy - cup.org/4cmGwBb - @jkertzer.bsky.social, Joshua Busby, Jonathan Monten, @jordantama.bsky.social & @ckafura.bsky.social #OpenAccess
#OpenAccess from @iojournal.bsky.social - Convergent Flexibility: How International Law Keeps Pace with Technological Change - https://cup.org/4bLca9S - @jcanfil.bsky.social #FirstView
Out in @thejop.bsky.social: How Exiles Mobilize Domestic Dissent with @aasiegel.bsky.social We investigate how Egyptian exiles influenced a cascade of online dissent that culminated in anti-regime protests back home in September 2019. Article link: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
"Sandel is the closest thing political philosophy has to a rock star. He’s known, in particular, for his Socratic style of moral questioning." Read the @nytimes.com piece 👉 www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/b...
A Philosopher ‘Prophet’
nytimes.com
Conceptualizing and Measuring Geopolitical Alignments - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Conceptualizing and Measuring Geopolitical Alignments
A vast literature examines how geopolitical alignments influence militarized conflict, trade, investment, aid, and other outcomes in international relations. Yet, considerable ambiguity remains regard...
annualreviews.org
Writing an autoethnography about my experience watching academics attempt to use listservs
New in Terrorism & Political Violence: Why did radical environmental groups stop using arson & sabotage? And, given the threat from climate change why haven't those tactics returned? My article "Where's the Sabotage" seeks to answer these questions. Free link: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/QYFAW...
the new paper on bouba/kiki in chicks is utterly compelling canonical, elegant method from comparative cogsci & its partner in developmental science, ultra-simple design, ultra-clear effects, no need for fancy analyses, machine learning, or AI it appeared in an appropriately badass venue (Science)
This new paper offers practical solutions for pluralistic ignorance (when people assume their opinon is unpopular when many others share it): -in loose cultures, share accurate information -in tight ones, lowering the costs of speaking up can spark social change. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Automated nuclear weapons systems are not just a Hollywood plot device. In this #Firstview article, @joshschwartz.bsky.social and @mchorowitz.bsky.social evaluate how they could impact the credibility and effectiveness of nuclear threats. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Delegating Destruction: Coercive Threats and Automated Nuclear Systems | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Delegating Destruction: Coercive Threats and Automated Nuclear Systems
nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
Our new ProjectGEOCAUSAL website is live! We’ll be posting the latest updates on cutting-edge applications of spatiotemporal causal inference to address the world’s most pressing problems. Check it out: geocausal.org
When leaders frame disputed land as “territory we might lose” rather than “new land to gain,” people in Argentina & Chile become more willing to support risky escalation and less willing to compromise. New study by @andizhou.bsky.social: https://loom.ly/cjdEJkM
As the saying goes, every op-ed is a job talk www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/o...
Opinion | Trump Was Right to Oust Maduro
nytimes.com
A new paper finds ideological bias in research analyses: Research teams composed of pro-immigration researchers estimated more positive impacts of immigration on public support for social programs, while anti-immigration teams estimated more negative impacts. science.org/doi/10.1126/...?
New Special Issue in @the-peio.bsky.social: Public Opinion and International Organizations. In the SI intro, we map the field, place the SI papers & identify ways forward: rdcu.be/eXt2R with @jonastallberg.bsky.social, 🙏 @adreher.bsky.social, reviewers & SI authors #Polisky #InternationalRelations
Apropos current events, I want to tout this paper by @soyounglee.bsky.social showing that discussion of economic benefits can reduce public support for military action. People are skeptical when they think specific groups (e.g., oil companies) will benefit. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
NEW - Foreign Policy Failures and Global Attitudes Towards Great Powers: Evidence from the US Withdrawal from Afghanistan - https://cup.org/3YSsX4N - @rachelmyrick.bsky.social & @wpmarble.bsky.social #OpenAccess