[1] “How Emphasizing Women’s Wartime Victimization Shapes Perceptions of Their Leadership Potential” accepted at Journal of Peace Research
ABSTRACT: Does portraying women as wartime victims shape citizens’ perceptions of their leadership potential? Highlighting gendered victimization may bolster support for women's representation in peacebuilding and security roles by positioning them as uniquely attuned to gender-specific suffering in conflict. Yet this framing also risks reinforcing paternalistic protectionism that undercuts confidence in women's political leadership. This study examines these competing expectations through an original survey experiment conducted in the United States (N = 995). The results show that exposure to narratives of women’s victimhood increases public support for their leadership, particularly in peace-related decision-making areas such as conflict resolution and post-conflict negotiations. However, this increased support does not extend to militarized domains of national defense and warfare. Further exploratory analyses suggest that these narratives heighten both benevolent sexism and support for women’s descriptive and substantive representation, which helps explain why their positive impact remains limited in security roles traditionally associated with masculinity.
[2] “Framing Solidarity: How Media Portrayals of Protest Shape Support for Gender Equality Policies” with Dahjin Kim, under review
ABSTRACT: Marginalized groups’ contributions to social movements are widely acknowledged, but recognition rarely translates into support for equality. When does participation in widely supported causes generate support for inclusionary reforms beyond a movement's immediate demands? We argue that inclusive framing—portraying protest participants as "young citizens" rather than "young women"—increases support for policies benefiting marginalized groups by highlighting the gap between marginalized participants' equal contribution yet unequal treatment. An original multi-arm survey experiment in South Korea (N=1,674) following 2024 nationwide pro-democracy protests show that inclusive framing significantly increased support for women's equality policies unrelated to protest demands among protest supporters, operating through perceptions of deservingness as political equals. Identity-centered framing produced no effect. A follow-up experiment (N=1,000) confirms inclusive framing increases attention to structural inequalities. Cross-cutting support for equality policies can emerge when marginalized groups’ participation in broad civic causes is framed around shared citizenship rather than marginalized identity.
[3] “Women on the Frontlines: Military Conscription and Perceptions of Women's Political Leadership” with Carly Wayne
ABSTRACT: The longstanding link between military service and civic inclusion has sparked debate over whether women’s participation in the military can advance women's inclusion in politics by signaling equal contribution to national defense and competence in traditionally masculine domains. However, we argue that advancing women’s conscription may produce the reverse effect. Expanding conscription draws public attention to militaristic preparation and heightens the prominence of national security, which can strengthen societal preferences for masculine leadership. Thus, women’s conscription may reinforce existing barriers to women’s political leadership. To assess the political consequences of women's conscription, we propose a multi-country survey experiment in Finland, Denmark, South Korea, and Taiwan—countries with diverse cultural contexts, currently conscripting men and considering extending conscription to women. By examining whether and how exposure to women’s conscription influences support for women leaders, this research has important implications for understanding pathways towards women’s more equitable political representation.
[4] “Crisis, Trust Recovery, and Gendered Models of Leadership in South Korea” with Diana Z. O’Brien
ABSTRACT: Democratic crises unsettle citizens’ expectations about political authority, yet it remains unclear whether the return to institutional stability entrenches these shifts or restores familiar hierarchies. Using a four-wave panel survey fielded during South Korea’s 2024–2025 democratic crisis, we trace how institutional trust and gendered leadership attitudes evolved from the height of uncertainty through impeachment, election, and post-crisis stabilization. Trust in the presidency and National Assembly rebounded sharply once the implicated leader and party exited office. However, this recovery occurred alongside profound shifts in how citizens evaluated political leadership. As stability returned, support for strongman rule increased, citizens placed greater weight on masculine leadership traits, and they grew less likely to believe that women could provide these qualities. Support for women’s political representation declined broadly across the population. Together, these findings show that while democratic trust can be quickly rebuilt, stabilization may reassert gendered hierarchies in political leadership and narrow public openness to women’s inclusion.
[5] “Can a Woman be Secretary of Defense? Public Perceptions of the Appointment of a Woman Defense Minister” with Tiffany D. Barnes, Bomi Lee, and Diana Z. O’Brien
ABSTRACT: In the U.S., the Department of Defense is the only cabinet ministry that remains male-dominated. Is public opinion part of the barrier to women’s access to power? How would citizens, both at home and abroad, respond to women’s appointment as Secretary of Defense? This paper explores the opinions of ordinary Americans and our allies towards women defense ministers. We examine attitudes towards the government and the military with the appointment of a woman as Secretary of Defense. While stereotypes towards women are eroding, defense remains an area in which citizens perceive men to be more competent than women. Our study allows us to assess whether public opinion is a barrier to women’s appointment to these positions. It also allows us to prepare for a future in which women gain access to this portfolio. Given that women are unlikely to remain indefinitely excluded from the post, it is important to assess how their appointment would affect public opinion at home as well as perceptions of the U.S. abroad.
[6] "How Geopolitical Rivalries Undermine Women's Representation"
ABSTRACT: Women’s political representation has expanded across democracies in recent decades, yet progress often stalls when states face security threats. While previous research links acute shocks such as terrorism and militarized disputes to declines in women’s representation, less is known about the consequences of sustained interstate hostility. This article argues that enduring geopolitical rivalries suppress women’s representation by cultivating a political environment conducive to a large-scale reservist system, a social belief structure in which military norms permeate civilian life. Using a generalized synthetic control (GSC) design and data from 82 democracies (1975–2020), I find that rivalry constrains women’s electoral pathways to power, with effects that persist for nearly two decades after rivalries end. Further analysis of individual-level cross-national survey shows that voter bias does not stem from heightened threat perception, as observed in responses to terrorism or militarized disputes. Instead, protracted rivalry cultivates respect for authority, willingness to fight, and trust in centralized state institutions, producing societies that are less threatened and more mobilized. Together, the three dispositions form an important mechanism through which rivalry entrenches bias against women’s leadership.
[7] “Internet Access and Political Engagement: Evidence from South Africa” with Anna M. Wilke, Georgiy Syunyaev, Benjamin Laughlin, and Kholekile Malindi
ABSTRACT: Internet access is expanding in low- and middle-income contexts, yet its political effects remain unclear and may depend on how people connect. We study a pre-registered field experiment in a low-income South African township, where the high cost of mobile data constrains use. Around the 2024 national election, we randomly provided households with 8–12 months of uncapped home internet and cross-randomized exposure to an online get-out-the-vote campaign. Combining household surveys, verified turnout, and behavioral traces, we find that home connections increase in-person local political engagement-attendance at ward/community meetings and complaints to ward/municipal officials---while leaving voter turnout and online political participation unchanged. We detect no systematic shifts in political knowledge, views, or broad news consumption patterns. Evidence is consistent with a behavioral channel in which home connectivity raises time spent at home and incidental exposure to local governance and offline networks, with suggestive stronger effects among men. The results show that expanding home internet, distinct from mobile data, can strengthen place-based participation without mobilizing online activism or turnout, underscoring that the mode of access conditions the political consequences of going online.