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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 14h

That is *quite* ironic. But also: email me!

Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 16h

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

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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 17h

I'm grateful to about 1000 people who helped with this project along the way – from train conductors to editors @uchicagopress.bsky.social to librarians to dissertation committee members. Thank you all!

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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 17h

The answers from my research come down to institutional problems. Cities are defined by complex institutions that confuse voters, a declining local media provides less and less information to voters that could help them, and local elections feature minimally effective competition

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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 17h

When I dug into the data, I discovered that many voters are in the same boat: they're quite reasonably confused about what their local government does, whether their leaders are doing a good job, and how they should vote. We're in the fog! 🌫️😶‍🌫️🌫️

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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 17h

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

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Reposted by Justin de Benedictis-Kessner

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

In the mail: The Fog of Accountability by the excellent @jdbk.bsky.social on how "urban politics is defined by minimally effective competition, complex institutions that confuse voters, and a lack of effective media coverage"

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Reposted by Justin de Benedictis-Kessner

Political Science Research and Methods @psrm.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

📰 Do the effects of partisan media fade quickly or accumulate over time? ➡️ Using multiwave experiments, M Baum et al. show a single exposure can have effects lasting up to a week, while cumulative effects are hard to detect www.cambridge.org/core/journal... #FirstView

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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

As @tedsvo.bsky.social says: “learning isn’t just getting answers to questions.” Worth a listen for anyone who teaches, is learning (anything), or cares about the quality of education in the age of AI!

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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

This partisan finger-pointing is based on falsehoods. To fix crime, we should focus on evidence-based strategies to address crime, rather than engaging in a distracting blame-game. theconversation.com/crime-is-non...

theconversation.com

Crime is nonpartisan and the blame game on crime in cities is wrong – on both sides

Mayors from the Democratic Party aren’t making cities any more – or less – dangerous than mayors from the Republican Party.

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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

More details on our research here: bsky.app/profile/jdbk...

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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Yet again, Trump is falsely claiming that Democrat-controlled cities like DC are letting crime get out of control. Our research – from cities across the US – shows that this just isn't true @chriswarshaw.bsky.social @dbjones.bsky.social @matttheeconguy.bsky.social

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The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 18/04/2025

Crime is nonpartisan, and neither party is better at fighting crime in cities. But evidence-backed programs like youth jobs initiatives can help improve public safety. buff.ly/RGmW1ht @jdbk.bsky.social @harvardkennedy.bsky.social and Christopher S. Warshaw, George Washington University #polisky

buff.ly

Crime is nonpartisan and the blame game on crime in cities is wrong – on both sides

Mayors from the Democratic Party aren’t making cities any more – or less – dangerous than mayors from the Republican Party.

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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Well said, from my colleague David Deming @harvardkennedy.bsky.social: "If government funding goes away, so will much of the research. The long-run cost will be staggering. We’ll have fewer medical breakthroughs, the progress of lifesaving medical treatments will stall, and America may fall behind."

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

Ideological claims from both sides of the aisle about crime and policing aren't facing the facts: what's happening in cities across the country has little to do with partisanship. Reducing crime should focus on evidence-backed strategies rather than partisan finger-pointing.

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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

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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

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

Implicit in this argument is that Democratic leaders are making crime worse, and Republicans would make it better. That's a causal question, and exactly what we wanted to answer. Our results show that Dems are no worse OR better at reducing crime than Reps www.science.org/doi/full/10....

science.org

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

Across hundreds of cities and three decades, there is no impact of a mayor’s partisan affiliation on crime and arrest rates.

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

Leaders on both sides of the aisle have said that Democrats need to change their approach on crime–often pointing to elections where progressive politicians have been unseated after widespread frustration with their handling of crime www.nytimes.com/2024/11/08/u...

nytimes.com

California Shifts Rightward on Crime in an Election Fueled by Frustration

Voters in the Democratic-run state overwhelmingly approved a measure to impose harsher sentences for crimes and were on their way to ousting two progressive district attorneys.

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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"

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Michael Hankinson @hankinson.bsky.social · 24/10/2024

Can developers compensate nearby residents to win support for their housing projects? In a new @jpublicpolicy.bsky.social article, @jdbk.bsky.social and I unpack how compensation works, when it fails, and what that teaches us about symbolic attitudes and housing policy. 1/11

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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.

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Justin de Benedictis-Kessner @jdbk.bsky.social · 19/12/2023

Great to have the culmination of 8+ years collecting election data finally published! Excited to see these data help the next generation of scholars working on local politics 🤓

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Chris Warshaw @chriswarshaw.bsky.social · 14/12/2023

Lots of discussion on how economy will affect 2024 election. Evidence indicates that election year economy matters a lot (esp. real wage growth), but the economy this year prob. doesn't matter much. So a lot depends on what happens next year! See this figure from my paper w/ @jdbk.bsky.social.

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