iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Justin de Benedictis-Kessner

@jdbk.bsky.social

1.3K followers 469 following 23 posts

Associate Professor of Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Urban and local politics + policy; cyclist; 🏳️‍🌈; he/him.

Posts Replies Media

Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Some credit to buildings Morton Hall and E53. Much credit to advisors from @wm.edu and @mit.edu @adamberinsky.bsky.social, though!

030

Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Years ago, my friend and I were struggling to figure out how to vote in our local city council elections. How were we supposed to know what city government does? And which of the candidates would be the best leaders to serve in that government? [us, pictured below]

photo meme from Always Sunny in Philadelphia with bulletin board full of papers and red string connecting push pins

110

Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Nor do we find consistent evidence that Democrats are making police leadership or police forces substantially more diverse than Republicans.

screenshot of Figure 2 from paper, which shows the largely null effects of partisanship on the demographics of police chiefs and the police force overall

1102

Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Nor are Democrats "defunding the police" relative to Republicans. Neither party is reducing the size of the police force, or its funding.

screenshot of Figure 1 from the paper, which shows null effects of partisanship on the number of sworn officers per capita, police expenditures per capita, and corrections expenditures per capita

1131

Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

Are Democratic leaders making cities more dangerous than Republicans? Trump + others have repeatedly made claims like this. New paper in Science Advances w/ @chriswarshaw.bsky.social, Dan Jones & Matt Harvey shows that, in short, the answer is no.

Abstract of article titled "The partisanship of mayors has no detectable effect on police spending, police employment, crime, or arrests"

23752224

Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 24/01/2024

I'm hiring a postdoc to work with me for 2 years at the Harvard Kennedy School thnx to generous funding from the Bloomberg Center for Cities. Official job posting is up now! Please tell anyone you know who might be interested to apply #psjminfo cities.harvard.edu/postdoctoral...

job description for postdoc position. Text reads: "The Local Politics Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School, along with faculty director Justin de Benedictis- Kessner, seeks applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher for two years starting in summer 2024. The Postdoctoral Researcher will work on projects related to cities and other local governments in the new Local Politics Lab at the Bloomberg Center at Harvard University with faculty director Justin de Benedictis-Kessner. The candidate will guide research activities on designated projects and give direction on research ideas, hone research questions, design and implement robust research analytic plans, analyze data, interpret results, and review and/or assist in writing academic research papers and writing public-facing research briefs. Projects may include work on elections using the American local elections database, surveys related to local politics and elections, and urban policy.

0148