Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Insight vs. solution mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1172373... 000
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 30/08/2026How the reduction of moral hazard rent by AI prevents benefits of power from being distributed more widely in society 010
Reposted by Haifeng HuangAdam Berinsky @adamberinsky.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Next week, I'll be teaching my Advanced Survey Design class. Sign-up details below. instats.org/seminar/adva...instats.orgAdvanced Survey Design - Livestreamed Research Training | InstatsPhD-level seminar on Advanced Survey Design with Adam Berinsky . Live Q&A plus on‑demand access. Join via your university’s Instats membership or enroll directly. 031
Reposted by Haifeng HuangRoman Senninger @rsenninger.bsky.social · 11/06/2026⚽📚 The Ultimate World Cup Research Thread I've set up a little automated thread: every day of the 2026 World Cup (11 Jun–19 Jul) it shares one study on what football does to society: politics, economics, migration, health, crime & more. One paper a day. Kickoff below 👇 4012332
Reposted by Haifeng HuangLSE US Politics and Policy blog - USAPP @lseusablog.bsky.social · 15/06/2026American pro-democracy messaging in China works as a shield, not a sword finds @hhuang.bsky.social blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...blogs.lse.ac.ukAmerican pro-democracy messaging in China works as a shield, not a sword | LSE United States Politics and PolicyDemocracy promotion through messaging is unlikely to convince people living in confident, fast-growing non-democracies. 001
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Takeaway: democratic messaging rarely converts publics in a confident, rising power, but it can defend a democracy's image in a crisis. Incidentally, the findings also undercut the popular "foreign forces" line: the most visible foreign voice barely moves domestic demands. doi.org/10.1017/S153...doi.orgThe Sound of Silence: Championing Democracy in an Authoritarian Society | Perspectives on Politics | Cambridge CoreThe Sound of Silence: Championing Democracy in an Authoritarian Society 010
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 10/06/2026But it stops there. The posts did NOT shift general attitudes toward democracy, views of China or its government, or willingness to move abroad or express dissent, in either year. A democratic "sound" met mostly with silence. 110
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Pooling both years confirms it: the same posts moved US views significantly more in 2021 than 2018. Public diplomacy works as a "shield" to defend credibility in a crisis, not a "sword" for proactive conversion in normal times. 100
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Because by 2021 Chinese favorability toward the US had collapsed, while views of China stayed high. A beaten-down baseline leaves room to move: a calm, factual account of how American democracy works therefore supplied something the prevailing narrative lacked 100
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 10/06/2026I reran the experiment in Jan 2021, after the US's botched pandemic response and the Jan 6 Capitol attack. The SAME articles now measurably improved views of the US (the "U.S." column). A worse moment for America, a better result. Why? 100
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 10/06/2026First experiment, Nov 2018 (calm US-China relations): I showed people genuine embassy articles on US elections, press freedom, official asset disclosure, party funding and free speech. The effect on their views of the US? Basically nothing, even slightly negative. 100
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Does promoting democracy to the public of a rising authoritarian power work? In a new paper in Perspectives on Politics, I test it using the US Embassy in China's pro-democracy posts on Chinese social media, using two survey experiments in 2018 and 2021. Results are sobering and counter-intuitive 184
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 28/05/2026寂静的声音:美国使馆对华公共外交是否有效 (open access)doi.orgThe Sound of Silence: Championing Democracy in an Authoritarian Society | Perspectives on Politics | Cambridge CoreThe Sound of Silence: Championing Democracy in an Authoritarian Society 042
Reposted by Haifeng HuangCambridge University Press Political Science & IR @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 27/05/2026#OpenAccess from @poppublicsphere.bsky.social - The Sound of Silence: Championing Democracy in an Authoritarian Society - cup.org/49p4Xfq - @hhuang.bsky.social #FirstView 042
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 14/04/2026Honored to participate in this great workshop hosted by @rsenninger.bsky.social. Learned a lot from his team’s phenomenal research and other scholars’ excellent work on the topic of information from abroad. 091
Reposted by Haifeng HuangRoman Senninger @rsenninger.bsky.social · 13/04/2026The 'Information from Abroad' workshop starts today. @aarhusbss.bsky.social Glad to bring together a great group of researchers working on how citizens and elites respond to foreign signals (especially relevant amid war, tariffs, and election interference). Grateful for support @carlsbergfondet.dk 3213
Reposted by Haifeng HuangAdam Berinsky @adamberinsky.bsky.social · 27/03/2026New working paper: Rethinking Misinformation Interventions. The field has spent years searching for the one intervention that will solve misinformation. This search is the wrong approach — and our disappointment says more about our expectations than our tools. (1/5) osf.io/preprints/so...osf.ioOSF 23924
Reposted by Haifeng HuangAdam Berinsky @adamberinsky.bsky.social · 16/02/2026I'm teaching a few survey research courses live and online. First, a free one hour seminar. Feb 20 instats.org/seminar/surv... Then a set of two (half) day courses. Not free (sorry!). -Intro Surveys (Feb 26-27): instats.org/seminar/intr... -Advanced Surveys (March 5-6): instats.org/seminar/adva... 12217
Reposted by Haifeng HuangRoman Senninger @rsenninger.bsky.social · 15/01/2026We’re organizing a workshop at Aarhus University. Please share and consider submitting! 🗓️ 13–14 April 2026 | 📝 Deadline: Mon, 16 Feb 2026 (extended abstract) — junior scholars prioritized 🎤 Keynotes: @stefwalter.bsky.social (Univ. of Zurich) & @hhuang.bsky.social (Ohio State) 04230
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Policy-wise, accurately understanding one's global reputation and influence is essential, even when foreign opinions may contain bias. This clarity is essential both for meaningful image improvement and for avoiding overconfidence that can impede a nation's "peaceful rise." 010
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 21/11/2025While many studies examine individual overconfidence in psychology and economics, and leader overconfidence in IR, this research investigates national overconfidence (about a country's performance and standing) and the correctability of such overconfidence, both new contributions to the literature. 110
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Being informed of China's global image also increases citizens' awareness of what issues foreign publics consider regarding China and of the salience of China's negative aspects. 100
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 21/11/2025The information treatments have particularly large effects on factual perceptions of China's global reputation, extending even to new questions not directly addressed in the original corrections. These effects appear broad and genuine rather than mechanical. 100
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Critically, informing Chinese citizens of actual international public opinion about China changes their evaluations of the country, its governing system, and their expectations for its global role. These effects from simple corrections are durable for at least 2-4 weeks. 100
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 21/11/2025Using two studies in China during the COVID-19 pandemic and a post-pandemic study of Chinese students in the U.S., I find that the Chinese public overwhelmingly and systematically overestimates China's global reputation and soft power compared to international polls, even during a national crisis. 110
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 21/11/2025How do people in a rising power view their country's global standing? My new paper in @iojournal.bsky.social finds significant national overconfidence in China—and shows that factual misperceptions can be corrected and triumphalism mitigated #Overconfidence #NationalImage #Correction #厉害了我的国 #大不自多 181
Reposted by Haifeng HuangCambridge University Press Political Science & IR @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org · 21/11/2025#OpenAccess from @iojournal.bsky.social - Reckoning with Reality: Correcting National Overconfidence in a Rising Power - cup.org/3LQ3LIZ - @hhuang.bsky.social #FirstView 022
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 09/10/2025If it makes you feel any better, I left my keys in my Vancouver APSA hotel. I paid to have them shipped to me. 120
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 11/09/2025Using two studies conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic and an additional post-pandemic study, I show that the Chinese public widely and significantly overestimates China's global reputation and soft power (as compared to actual global polls), even during a national crisis. 020
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 03/09/2025An under-rated and under-cited paper in the same spirit: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...sciencedirect.comLaws and authorityA law prohibiting a particular behavior does not directly change the payoff to an individual should he engage in the prohibited behavior. Rather, any … 020
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 20/05/2024This article of mine has a brief review of the formal literature on the issue: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... (shameless self-promotion). There might be a newer literature on valence that's also relevant.journals.sagepub.comElectoral Competition When Some Candidates Lie and Others Pander - Haifeng Huang, 2010In this paper we analyze a two-candidate electoral competition in which a candidate can either lie about his private policy preference in order to get elected, ... 020
Haifeng Huang @hhuang.bsky.social · 20/05/2024This article of mine has a brief review of the formal literature on the issue: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... (shameless self-promotion). There might be a newer literature on valence that's also relevant.journals.sagepub.comElectoral Competition When Some Candidates Lie and Others Pander - Haifeng Huang, 2010In this paper we analyze a two-candidate electoral competition in which a candidate can either lie about his private policy preference in order to get elected, ... 020