Associate Professor @Harvard @Kennedy_School. Urban and local politics + policy; cyclist; 🏳️🌈; he/him. RTs ≠ endorsements
Boston, MA
Joined February 2009
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My book, "The Fog of Accountability: How Institutions Keep Voters from Holding Their Local Governments Accountable," is here! I hope you'll grab a copy if you're interested in cities 🏙️, elections 🗳️, and how we can make them better
📚📦 amazon.com/Fog-Accountabilit…
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
I'm grateful to about 1000 people who helped with this project along the way – from train conductors to editors @UChicagoPress to librarians to dissertation committee members. Thank you all!
Justin de Benedictis-Kessner retweeted
In the mail: The Fog of Accountability by the excellent @jdbk on how "urban politics is defined by minimally effective competition, complex institutions that confuse voters, and a lack of effective media coverage"
Justin de Benedictis-Kessner retweeted
On the topic of books I was fortunate enough to blurb, here's my two cents on Justin de Benedictis-Kesnner's (@jdbk) comprehensive tour de force, "The Fog of Accountability: How Institutions Keep Voters from Holding Their Local Governments Accountable."
On the theme of Canadian elections, I'm delighted to have been able to give a blurb for Eric Merkley's (@EricMerkley) awesome new book "Polarization, Eh?".
You can't understand polarization on either side of the border without this book.
Join us here at LPEC @CenterforCities in September!
apply to present at the apsa local political economy pre-conference! 4/30 deadline.
see last year’s program to get an idea of whether your work would be a good fit. there is a poster session this year to allow even more presenters.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F…
Justin de Benedictis-Kessner retweeted
Yesterday was a fulfilling day representing Canada in Boston! 🇨🇦
Here’s a moment from a thoughtful and productive conversation on housing policy with students at Harvard University, moderated by Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.
My friend and colleague @Kennedy_School @tedsvo shared his expert perspective on the use of AI in education on @NPR’s All Things Considered today: wbur.org/upnext/2025/09/25/a…
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 (@cwarshaw @Matthew00117310)
President Trump once again catapulted crime in D.C. into the national conversation.
“It has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World,” he said in a Truth Social post.
Local and federal data, though, paint a contrasting picture: wapo.st/47nc0Vw
Our open-access research in @ScienceAdvances shows that the partisanship of mayors has no causal effect on crime rates. Nor does it affect police spending, staffing, or arrest rates. xitter.cf/jdbk/status/1879657598…
Are Democratic leaders making cities more dangerous than Republicans? Trump + others have repeatedly made claims like this. New paper @ScienceAdvances w/ @cwarshaw @daniel_b_jones @Matthew00117310 shows that, in short, the answer is no.
ALT Abstract of article titled "The partisanship of mayors has no detectable effect on police spending, police employment, crime, or arrests"
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…
Justin de Benedictis-Kessner retweeted
🔥🧯 Excited to announce the program of our 2025 MIT workshop on polarization, norms & trust (co-organized w/ @DG_Rand, @ylelkes @AdamBerinsky @kati_kish)!
Speakers incl. @BrendanNyhan @jdbk @dhopkins1776 et al.
Info: sites.google.com/view/polari…
To attend: buy.stripe.com/dRmdRa7Du1fwe…
📣 Call for Papers 📣
Interested in the newest research on polarization, norms & trust?
Present your work our workshop on Dec 5-6 @ MIT, co-organized with @DG_Rand, @ylelkes @AdamBerinsky & @kati_kish
𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: sites.google.com/view/polari…
𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: July 14
Justin de Benedictis-Kessner retweeted
📢 It’s time to nominate for the 2025 Urban & Local Politics Section Awards!
We’re recognizing outstanding work in urban politics across multiple categories, including best dissertation, book, and career contributions.
🏆 Deadline: March 15, 2025
Well said, from @ProfDavidDeming: "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"
The Trump administration’s cuts to university research grants will make America sicker and poorer in the long run, @ProfDavidDeming writes. DOGE should stop "confusing efficiency with ill-conceived budget cuts." theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv…
Are Democratic leaders making cities more dangerous than Republicans? Trump + others have repeatedly made claims like this. New paper @ScienceAdvances w/ @cwarshaw @daniel_b_jones @Matthew00117310 shows that, in short, the answer is no.
ALT Abstract of article titled "The partisanship of mayors has no detectable effect on police spending, police employment, crime, or arrests"
Nor do we find consistent evidence that Democrats are making police leadership or police forces substantially more diverse than Republicans.
ALT 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