Stanford University
October 24-25, 2025
Organizers: Avi Acharya and Ken Shotts
Updates
October 13, 2025: The location of the poster session has changed to GSB E101 (map).
August 20, 2025: We now have exact location updates. All talks will take place in GSB P107 "Patterson Building" (map).
August 19, 2025: The schedule for the conference is now posted below. Looking forward to seeing everyone in October!
June 25, 2025: This is the official page of the CPFT 2025 conference. All updates and information concerning the conference will be posted here. Please check back for updates. The conference is by invitation only. The program is below. A more detailed schedule of events will be posted at a later date.
Program
Location: All talks will take place in GSB P107 "Patterson Building" (map) and the Poster Session will take place nearby in GSB E101 (map). (PDF map of campus)
Friday, October 24
11:30-12:55 - Arrival, registration and lunch in the seating area just outside of GSB P107.
12:55-1:00 - Opening Remarks
1:00-1:50 - Are Women Better Politicians? Discrimination, Gender Quotas, and Electoral Accountability
Presenter: Zuheir Desai / Discussant: Vasiliki Fouka
1:50-2:40 - The Dictator’s Dilemmas: Propaganda & Repression in Diverse Societies
Presenter: Konstantin Sonin / Discussant: Andrew Little
2:40-3:00 - Break
3:00-3:50 - The Threat-Enhancing Effect of Authoritarian Power Sharing
Presenter: Jack Paine / Discussant: Stephen Haber
3:50-4:00 - Break
4:00-5:45 - Early Career Scholars Poster Session (GSB E101)
Cultural Resistance and the Limits of Nation-Building - Kirill Chmel
Institutions and Rapid Religious Reversals: Understanding the Secularization of Canada - Benjamin Tremblay-Auger
The Durability of the Filibuster - Liam Bethlendy
Persistent Overhaul or a Quick Fix: When Will Policymakers Leverage Reform to Persuade? - Lingnan He
The Protest Dilemma: The Effect of Threat of War in Sustaining Non-Democratic Regimes - Mate Malashkhia and Mariam Malashkhia
Information Competition in Authoritarian Regimes - Shiyan Cao
Militarized Pressure Campaigns - Phedias Theophanous
6:30pm - Dinner at Terún Pizzeria (448 California Ave, Palo Alto)
Saturday, October 25
8:30-9:00 - Breakfast (entry way to GSB P107).
9:00-9:50 - Governing Through Division
Presenter: Giovanna Invernizzi / Discussant: Justin Fox
9:50-10:40 - Norms and Dynamics of Power Alternation
Presenter: Zhaotian Luo / Discussant: Milan Svolik
10:40-11:00 - Break
11:00-11:50 - Suppressing Dissent with Limited Information
Presenter: Gaetan Nandong / Discussant: Lisa Blaydes
11:50-1:00 - Lunch
1:00-1:50 - Hobbesian Third-Party Intervention
Presenter: Martin Castillo-Quintana / Discussant: Anna Denisenko
1:50-2:40 - Repression and Autocratic Consolidation
Presenter: Jessica Sun / Discussant: Darin Christensen
2:40-3:00 - Break
3:00-3:50 - Presidential Powers and the Internal Organization of Legislatures
Presenter: Carlo Prato / Discussant: Alexander Hirsch
3:50-4:40 - Inequality, Polarization, and Culture Wars
Presenter: Peter Buisseret / Discussant: Paola Moscariello