Postdoc @ Stanford CDDRL| PhD in Political Science from MSU | IPPSR Fellow | resistance to democratic erosion | Past: Predoc @ SNF Agora Institute, JHU, UChicago Visiting PhD student, Reichman University alum, EA @ JoP | benjaminyoel.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3muutcl5o2s22APSA 2026 done! Was a pleasure to serve as a discussant for an awesome panel on measuring democratic erosion and present my JMP on foreign pressure and public support for pro-democracy movements.06 Sep 2026 20:26 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3muutcl5o2s22https://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3muttqeih522lStill around at APSA? I'll be presenting my job market paper on the effects of foreign cues on public attitudes toward pro-democracy movements today at 10am at Hynes! The panel features a diverse set of papers on the domestic and international politics of opposition to democratic backsliding. [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 Sep 2026 11:01 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3muttqeih522lhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mulac634i22qGood to be in Boston for the first time. APSA Pre-Conference Job Market Workshop ✔️ now onto APSA! If you’re around tomorrow until Sunday, I’d love to grab coffee. I'll also be presenting my job market paper on Sunday at 10am.03 Sep 2026 00:52 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mulac634i22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mugiokwxas2nIt's hard to underscore how unprecedented this move is. We have never seen a mainstream Jewish (Zionist) politician join a predominantly Islamist party. Segalovitz served as a leading figure in the Israeli police and earned a lot of allies in the Arab sector. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/world/middleeast/israel-raam-recruits-zionist.html01 Sep 2026 03:39 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mugiokwxas2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mugiokwxas2nIt's hard to underscore how unprecedented this move is. We have never seen a mainstream Jewish (Zionist) politician join a predominantly Islamist party. Segalovitz served as a leading figure in the Israeli police and earned a lot of allies in the Arab sector. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/world/middleeast/israel-raam-recruits-zionist.html01 Sep 2026 03:39 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mugiokwxas2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mufyoxhmps2tHeading to APSA this week? I'll be presenting my solo work on the effects of foreign pressure on attitudes toward pro-democracy movements on Sunday at 10am, alongside excellent papers by @yukosato.bsky.social, @osamet.bsky.social, @ozlemtuncel.bsky.social, and Pelin Musil on opposition politics.31 Aug 2026 22:52 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mufyoxhmps2thttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mu6iuuona22tFirst trip to the Hoover archive! Super comprehensive collection of diplomatic cables. My first ever time doing archival data collection. Thanks to everyone for the advice and tips. [contains quote post or other embedded content]28 Aug 2026 23:21 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu6iuuona22thttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mtjz4jwhnc2cI'll be presenting my job market paper (part of my book) on this terrific panel in two weeks. More specifically, I examine the effects of foreign rhetorical pressure and attitudes toward pro-democracy movements in backsliding settings using two survey experiments. If you're at APSA come say hi! [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 Aug 2026 19:46 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtjz4jwhnc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3msrdtibfgc2tI’m very pleased to have been selected as an @epovb.bsky.social Early Career Fellow for the 2026-2027 academic year. I’ll be using the resources and mentorship to help further my work on foreign messaging and attitudes toward pro-democratic oppositions in backsliding cases around the world.11 Aug 2026 00:21 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3msrdtibfgc2thttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mrxypt4ks224I’m so thrilled and honored to be starting a Postdoc at @stanfordcddrl.bsky.social in the next few weeks! I’ll be mostly working on a book project on international pressure and opposition to backsliding. If you’re in or around Stanford and the Bay Area for the next year, I’d love to meet.31 Jul 2026 22:25 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrxypt4ks224https://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mrxlju4vbc2mQuestion to folks who have done/do archival research. What advice (if any) might you have? I'm doing some archival work for the first time for my book project at the Hoover Institution in a few weeks, and am primarily interested in digitizing documents. All comments/thoughts appreciated!31 Jul 2026 18:29 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrxlju4vbc2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3moqs4caphc2rMy first ever European conference ✔️! It was a delight to present my dissertation work on foreign pressure in an age of democratic backsliding, to discuss some awesome work on the international dimensions of autocratization, and meet scholars with shared interests from Europe and around the world.20 Jun 2026 21:23 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3moqs4caphc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3momxnnwldc2uGreat to be at EPSS. Today at 5:10pm I’ll be presenting my work on foreign cues and public support for pro-democracy movements in backsliding contexts and discussing three excellent papers on the international consequences of autocratization across the Global North and South.19 Jun 2026 08:51 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3momxnnwldc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3modnzz7sbs2hNice to be back in Europe. I‘m in Dublin and Belfast this week, and I’ll be presenting extensions of my dissertation work on foreign cues and support for pro-democracy movements at EPSS on Friday afternoon. If you’re in town, I’d love to meet!15 Jun 2026 16:05 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3modnzz7sbs2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mo4lblcdy22bI‘m thrilled to share that my manuscript, “Who Counts? Ethnicity and Support for Democratic Backsliding,” coauthored with Hannah Ridge, is now under advanced contract as a Cambridge Elements in Experimental Political Science and will hopefully be out in April 2027. Immensely grateful.12 Jun 2026 20:27 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mo4lblcdy22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mnuvlykrfs2nI'm pleased to see our paper introducing the Democratic Erosion Event Dataset (DEED), an events-based dataset on democratic erosion, finally out in Nature Scientific Data. In our data, we distinguish between resistance, precursors, symptoms, and destabilizing events https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-026-06785-409 Jun 2026 19:11 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnuvlykrfs2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mnpr5v5oes2oEPSS paper submitted! I will be presenting the early stage theory & results from my book project on foreign cues and public support for pro-democracy movements in backsliding contexts on Friday the 19th at 5:10pm and discussing several terrific papers. If you will be at EPSS, I would love to meet.07 Jun 2026 18:08 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnpr5v5oes2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mmup5qcwsc2jFinal paper from my dissertation sent out for peer review finally!27 May 2026 23:50 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmup5qcwsc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mmowt2hivk24Tomorrow at 12pm ET/6pm CET. We will be speaking with activists from Israel's Protest Headquarters about Israel's autocratization as well as lessons learned and what the democracy protests in Israel mean for the country's upcoming critical election (scheduled to be held in October at the latest). [contains quote post or other embedded content]25 May 2026 16:51 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmowt2hivk24https://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mmowt2hivk24Tomorrow at 12pm ET/6pm CET. We will be speaking with activists from Israel's Protest Headquarters about Israel's autocratization as well as lessons learned and what the democracy protests in Israel mean for the country's upcoming critical election (scheduled to be held in October at the latest). [contains quote post or other embedded content]25 May 2026 16:51 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmowt2hivk24https://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mm5ap2k22s22I'm pleased to share that I'm co-organizing a webinar in partnership with @stanfordcddrl.bsky.social on Israel's judicial reform & the country's upcoming critical election. Webinar is May 26 12pm ET. This is part of a project with @carnegieendowment.org. Link: https://cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/events/cross-sectoral-mobilization-defense-democracy-insights-israels-judicial-reform18 May 2026 16:00 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mm5ap2k22s22https://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3ml5iqoyysk2sRemember when JD Vance's visit to Hungary was all over the news a few weeks ago? In a post-election survey I fielded between April 13 and yesterday, I asked Hungarian respondents (n = 1,060) to assess how the visit influenced their vote. It seemed to do little, but if it did anything it *backfired.*06 May 2026 00:59 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml5iqoyysk2shttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mkq737dn4s2hI’m very pleased to share that I defended my dissertation, “Standing for Democracy.” I‘m very gratefuk to my amazing committee, Erica Frantz, Michael Wahman, Ana Bracic, and Andy Halterman! I’m also pleased to share that I’ll be starting a postdoc at @stanfordcddrl.bsky.social in September.30 Apr 2026 18:01 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkq737dn4s2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mkq737dn4s2hI’m very pleased to share that I defended my dissertation, “Standing for Democracy.” I‘m very gratefuk to my amazing committee, Erica Frantz, Michael Wahman, Ana Bracic, and Andy Halterman! I’m also pleased to share that I’ll be starting a postdoc at @stanfordcddrl.bsky.social in September.30 Apr 2026 18:01 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkq737dn4s2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mk7d2vhvl22xGreat to be back at MPSA! I’ll be presenting work with @hmridge.bsky.social and Daniel Markovits. Come say hi!24 Apr 2026 00:58 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk7d2vhvl22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mk7d2vhvl22xGreat to be back at MPSA! I’ll be presenting work with @hmridge.bsky.social and Daniel Markovits. Come say hi!24 Apr 2026 00:58 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk7d2vhvl22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mjxfac5fc22hThis is very consistent with what @alelov.bsky.social and I argue in our paper (now under review). As leaders consolidate power in backsliding settings, they no longer "need" to keep women in positions of power and are often very willing to forego women, particularly in high-prestige positions. [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 Apr 2026 21:15 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjxfac5fc22hhttps://bsky.app/profile/benyoel.bsky.social/post/3mjrrpgx43c2tI will also be presenting work in progress with Daniel Markovits, Abhu Tyagi, and Jeremy Price on public support for opposition coalitions. While elites play a critical role in coalition formation, public support for them is often critical. We highlight the role of prospective threats to democracy. [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Apr 2026 15:42 +0000at://did:plc:nhqfrd4axpttskzynnjal2ky/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjrrpgx43c2t