Research
My research covers three related substantive areas:
Policing in Divided Societies: How does the demographic makeup and organization of the police affect prospects for peace in divided societies? I explore the role of group-based representation on minority and dominant group attitudes towards one another, the quality of police service provision, and prospects for peace. This line of research focuses mainly on Iraq and Israel, with additional coauthored research in the United States.
Terrorism and Global Extremism: How do political institutions, incentives, and interactions shape the perpetration of terrorism and the implementation of counterterrorism? How do globalized interactions like state-state interactions, international aid, and labor migration affect the development and spread of violent extremism? This research spans my work in Iraq, Israel, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Police Reform: What strategies are effective at improving public safety delivery, particularly in the face of grave mistrust between civilians and the police? How do politics and government control affect efforts to improve service-oriented policing? Much of this research is centered around my role in EGAP’s Metaketa Initiative and draws on a series of field experiments with the Philippine National Police. Other work in this area studies policing in the United States.
I also work on methodology surrounding the use of surveys for measuring sensitive topics, both for academic audiences and for practitioners of PVE/CVE.
Please see my cv for a full list of publications.
Policing in Divided Societies
Societies plagued by group-based divisions face a key challenge: how should the police include individuals from each societal group? On the one hand, including individuals from previously marginalized groups in key state institutions might increase attachment to the state and reduce feelings of insecurity, making them less likely to turn to violence. On the other hand, these individuals may use their new-found power to turn their weapons on the state and renew hostilities.
Selected Publications:
Policing for Peace: Institutions, Expectations, and Violence in Divided Societies. Cambridge University Press.
“Police Integration and Support for Anti-Government Violence in Divided Societies: Evidence from Iraq.” Journal of Peace Research
“Policing in Divided Societies: Officer Inclusion, Citizen Cooperation, and Crime Prevention.” Conflict Management and Peace Science
Race and Representative Bureaucracy in American Policing. Palgrave Macmillan. With Brandy Kennedy, Adam Butz, and Nazita Lajevardi
Police Reform
How can the police improve service provision and regain citizens' trust in the face of officer-involved violence and racial disparities in policing? My research explores the practical and political issues of police reform, with examples from the Philippines and the United States. Much of this research was part of the EGAP Metaketa Initiative, a multi-site study that used field experiments to evaluate various aspects of community policing. Other research draws on surveys of Philippine National Police officers sent for retraining following former President Duterte's "war on drugs" to explore political impediments to reform in the face of large-scale scandals.
Working Papers:
"(Not) Feelin' the (Cross) Pressure: Experimental Evidence on Issue Misalignment and Polarization." With Mitch Downey and John Kuk.
Selected Publications:
“Family Matters: The Double-Edged Sword of Police-Community Connections.” With Dotan Haim and Michael Davidson. Journal of Politics [Project Overview]
"Fire Alarms for Police Patrols: Experimental Evidence on Co-Production of Public Safety." With Nico Ravanilla and Dotan Haim. Journal of Politics.
“Community policing does not build citizen trust in police or reduce crime in the Global South.” With Graeme Blair et al. Science.
Terrorism and Global Extremism
Violent extremism is increasingly global. Not only do transnational terrorist groups carry out attacks across borders, but militants pursuing domestic causes also draw on foreign ideas, training, and logistical support to carry out violence. My research explores the micro-foundations of violent extremism, with a particular focus on the transnational mechanisms that underlie attitude formation and the desire to take up arms. My work increasingly looks at violence justified by extremist interpretations of Islam, spanning the Middle East and Southeast Asia, regions which are inexorably linked by both shared religion and mass migration.
Working papers:
"Circular Migration and the Moderation of Social Attitudes."
"Civil Conflict and Transnational Identity." With Risa Toha and Steve Monroe.
Selected Publications:
“Walls and Strategic Innovation in Violent Conflict.” With Trevor Bachus. Journal of Conflict Resolution
"Linking Individual and Group Motives for Violent Conflict." Research & Politics
"When Bullets and Ballots Collide: How the Dissolution of the Anti-Islamic State Coalition Stalled Iraq’s Transition to Peacetime." With Austin Knuppe