Patrick M Kuhn
Biographic Data
| ID | 1417867 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Patrick M Kuhn |
| GIVEN NAMES | Patrick M |
| FAMILY NAME | Kuhn |
| SIGNATURE | KUHN P M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Durham University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8849-0248 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 127 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
When Legislators Do Not Differentiate: A Field Experiment on British MPs’ Responses to Constituent Policy Queries
How do legislators respond to constituent policy queries? Existing research suggests that legislators vary their responsiveness and tailor response content depending on constituent congruence, raising normative concerns about legislator–constituent communication. We report results from a pre-registered audit study of UK MPs which is the first to test whether legislators in party-centred parliamentary democracies vary substantive response rates an…
Electoral Violence in England and Wales, 1832-1914
This article analyses over 19,000 articles from newspapers and parliamentary commission reports to reveal endemic electoral violence in England and Wales between 1832 and 1914. It offers a new understanding of the phenomenon in three main ways. First, the extent of election violence, which regularly featured major riots requiring police and military intervention, disturbances of the peace, and deaths, questions conventional understandings of Brit…
Advantages, Challenges and Limitations of Audit Experiments with Constituents
Audit experiments examining the responsiveness of public officials have become an increasingly popular tool used by political scientists. While these studies have brought significant insight into how public officials respond to different types of constituents, particularly those from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds, audit studies have also been controversial due to their frequent use of deception. Scholars have justified the use of decepti…
The Misreporting Trade-Off Between List Experiments and Direct Questions in Practice: Partition Validation Evidence from Two Countries
To reduce strategic misreporting on sensitive topics, survey researchers increasingly use list experiments rather than direct questions. However, the complexity of list experiments may increase nonstrategic misreporting. We provide the first empirical assessment of this trade-off between strategic and nonstrategic misreporting. We field list experiments on election turnout in two different countries, collecting measures of respondents’ true turno…
Fear of campaign violence and support for democracy and autocracy
Election violence is common in many developing countries and has potentially detrimental implications for democratic consolidation. Drawing on political psychology, we argue that citizens’ fear of campaign violence undermines support for democracy while increasing support for autocracy. Using individual-level survey data from 21 electoral democracies in Sub-Saharan Africa, we find robust support for our argument. Citizens fearing campaign violenc…
Psychological threat and turnout misreporting
Direct survey measures of turnout often suffer from misreporting, particularly among non-voters. We investigate whether turnout misreporting in online surveys can be reduced by two new turnout question designs aimed at strengthening or buffering respondent's self-integrity against the perceived psychological threat of admitting non-voting. Drawing on evidence from survey experiments embedded in vote validated online surveys after the 2016 UK EU R…
Dangerous Contenders: Election Monitors, Islamic Opposition Parties, and Terrorism
How do international observers decide whether to criticize or condone electoral fraud in a country? We argue that this decision depends on the identity of the victims of electoral fraud. A monitoring organization is more likely to overlook fraud committed against groups that are deemed dangerous by its sponsor. Based on this insight, we hypothesize that in the post-Cold War era election monitors are more tolerant of fraud against Islamic challeng…
Dangerously informed: Voter information and pre-electoral violence in Africa
A considerable literature examines the effect of voter information on candidate strategies and voter-politician interactions in the developing world. The voter information literature argues that information can improve accountability because more informed voters are harder to woo with traditional campaign tools, such as ethnic appeals and vote-buying. However, this literature has largely ignored the reaction of political candidates and thus may r…
Reducing Turnout Misreporting in Online Surveys
Assessing individual-level theories of electoral participation requires survey-based measures of turnout. Yet, due to a combination of sampling problems and respondent misreporting, postelection surveys routinely overestimate turnout, often by large margins. Using an online survey experiment fielded after the 2015 British general election, we implement three alternative survey questions aimed at correcting for turnout misreporting and test them a…
Natural Disasters and Political Engagement: Evidence from the 2010–11 Pakistani Floods
How natural disasters affect politics in developing countries is an important question, given the fragility of fledgling democratic institutions in some of these countries as well as likely increased exposure to natural disasters over time due to climate change. Research in sociology and psychology suggests traumatic events can inspire pro-social behavior and therefore might increase political engagement. Research in political science argues that…
Natural Disasters and Political Participation: Evidence from the 2002 and 2013 Floods in Germany
How do natural disasters affect electoral participation? The existing social science literature offers contradictory predictions. A considerable body of research in sociology and psychology suggests that traumatic events can inspire pro-social behaviour, which might increase turnout. Yet, political science has long held that even minor changes to participation costs of low benefit activities can lead to considerable drops in civic engagement. Con…
Unequal We Fight: Between- and Within-Group Inequality and Ethnic Civil War
When and why ethnic groups rebel remains a central puzzle in the civil war literature. In this paper, we examine how different types of inequalities affect both an ethnic group’s willingness and opportunity to fight. We argue that political and economic inter-group inequalities motivate ethnic groups to initiate a fight against the state, and that intra-group economic inequality lowers their elite’s costs of providing the necessary material and/o…
Is there an environmental version of the Kantian peace? Insights from water pollution in Europe
We examine whether there is an environmental version of the Kantian peace; that is, whether democracies that trade and are bound by international treaties are less likely to harm each other environmentally. Specifically, we study five factors that are likely to help in reducing beggar-thy-neighbour behaviour in terms of transboundary pollution: democracy, supranational institutions, trade relations, stringency of domestic environmental policy and…
Unequal We Fight: Between- and Within-Group Inequality and Ethnic Civil War
When and why ethnic groups rebel remains a central puzzle in the civil war literature. In this paper, we examine how different types of inequalities affect both an ethnic group’s willingness and opportunity to fight. We argue that political and economic inter-group inequalities motivate ethnic groups to initiate a fight against the state, and that intra-group economic inequality lowers their elite’s costs of providing the necessary material and/o…
Natural Disasters and Political Engagement: Evidence from the 2010–11 Pakistani Floods
How natural disasters affect politics in developing countries is an important question, given the fragility of fledgling democratic institutions in some of these countries as well as likely increased exposure to natural disasters over time due to climate change. Research in sociology and psychology suggests traumatic events can inspire pro-social behavior and therefore might increase political engagement. Research in political science argues that…
The Misreporting Trade-Off Between List Experiments and Direct Questions in Practice: Partition Validation Evidence from Two Countries
To reduce strategic misreporting on sensitive topics, survey researchers increasingly use list experiments rather than direct questions. However, the complexity of list experiments may increase nonstrategic misreporting. We provide the first empirical assessment of this trade-off between strategic and nonstrategic misreporting. We field list experiments on election turnout in two different countries, collecting measures of respondents’ true turno…
Dangerously informed: Voter information and pre-electoral violence in Africa
A considerable literature examines the effect of voter information on candidate strategies and voter-politician interactions in the developing world. The voter information literature argues that information can improve accountability because more informed voters are harder to woo with traditional campaign tools, such as ethnic appeals and vote-buying. However, this literature has largely ignored the reaction of political candidates and thus may r…
Fear of campaign violence and support for democracy and autocracy
Election violence is common in many developing countries and has potentially detrimental implications for democratic consolidation. Drawing on political psychology, we argue that citizens’ fear of campaign violence undermines support for democracy while increasing support for autocracy. Using individual-level survey data from 21 electoral democracies in Sub-Saharan Africa, we find robust support for our argument. Citizens fearing campaign violenc…
Natural Disasters and Political Participation: Evidence from the 2002 and 2013 Floods in Germany
How do natural disasters affect electoral participation? The existing social science literature offers contradictory predictions. A considerable body of research in sociology and psychology suggests that traumatic events can inspire pro-social behaviour, which might increase turnout. Yet, political science has long held that even minor changes to participation costs of low benefit activities can lead to considerable drops in civic engagement. Con…
Advantages, Challenges and Limitations of Audit Experiments with Constituents
Audit experiments examining the responsiveness of public officials have become an increasingly popular tool used by political scientists. While these studies have brought significant insight into how public officials respond to different types of constituents, particularly those from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds, audit studies have also been controversial due to their frequent use of deception. Scholars have justified the use of decepti…
Is there an environmental version of the Kantian peace? Insights from water pollution in Europe
We examine whether there is an environmental version of the Kantian peace; that is, whether democracies that trade and are bound by international treaties are less likely to harm each other environmentally. Specifically, we study five factors that are likely to help in reducing beggar-thy-neighbour behaviour in terms of transboundary pollution: democracy, supranational institutions, trade relations, stringency of domestic environmental policy and…
Reducing Turnout Misreporting in Online Surveys
Assessing individual-level theories of electoral participation requires survey-based measures of turnout. Yet, due to a combination of sampling problems and respondent misreporting, postelection surveys routinely overestimate turnout, often by large margins. Using an online survey experiment fielded after the 2015 British general election, we implement three alternative survey questions aimed at correcting for turnout misreporting and test them a…
Dangerous Contenders: Election Monitors, Islamic Opposition Parties, and Terrorism
How do international observers decide whether to criticize or condone electoral fraud in a country? We argue that this decision depends on the identity of the victims of electoral fraud. A monitoring organization is more likely to overlook fraud committed against groups that are deemed dangerous by its sponsor. Based on this insight, we hypothesize that in the post-Cold War era election monitors are more tolerant of fraud against Islamic challeng…
Psychological threat and turnout misreporting
Direct survey measures of turnout often suffer from misreporting, particularly among non-voters. We investigate whether turnout misreporting in online surveys can be reduced by two new turnout question designs aimed at strengthening or buffering respondent's self-integrity against the perceived psychological threat of admitting non-voting. Drawing on evidence from survey experiments embedded in vote validated online surveys after the 2016 UK EU R…
Is there an environmental version of the Kantian peace? Insights from water pollution in Europe
We examine whether there is an environmental version of the Kantian peace; that is, whether democracies that trade and are bound by international treaties are less likely to harm each other environmentally. Specifically, we study five factors that are likely to help in reducing beggar-thy-neighbour behaviour in terms of transboundary pollution: democracy, supranational institutions, trade relations, stringency of domestic environmental policy and…
Unequal We Fight: Between- and Within-Group Inequality and Ethnic Civil War
When and why ethnic groups rebel remains a central puzzle in the civil war literature. In this paper, we examine how different types of inequalities affect both an ethnic group’s willingness and opportunity to fight. We argue that political and economic inter-group inequalities motivate ethnic groups to initiate a fight against the state, and that intra-group economic inequality lowers their elite’s costs of providing the necessary material and/o…
Natural Disasters and Political Engagement: Evidence from the 2010–11 Pakistani Floods
How natural disasters affect politics in developing countries is an important question, given the fragility of fledgling democratic institutions in some of these countries as well as likely increased exposure to natural disasters over time due to climate change. Research in sociology and psychology suggests traumatic events can inspire pro-social behavior and therefore might increase political engagement. Research in political science argues that…
Natural Disasters and Political Participation: Evidence from the 2002 and 2013 Floods in Germany
How do natural disasters affect electoral participation? The existing social science literature offers contradictory predictions. A considerable body of research in sociology and psychology suggests that traumatic events can inspire pro-social behaviour, which might increase turnout. Yet, political science has long held that even minor changes to participation costs of low benefit activities can lead to considerable drops in civic engagement. Con…
Reducing Turnout Misreporting in Online Surveys
Assessing individual-level theories of electoral participation requires survey-based measures of turnout. Yet, due to a combination of sampling problems and respondent misreporting, postelection surveys routinely overestimate turnout, often by large margins. Using an online survey experiment fielded after the 2015 British general election, we implement three alternative survey questions aimed at correcting for turnout misreporting and test them a…
Dangerous Contenders: Election Monitors, Islamic Opposition Parties, and Terrorism
How do international observers decide whether to criticize or condone electoral fraud in a country? We argue that this decision depends on the identity of the victims of electoral fraud. A monitoring organization is more likely to overlook fraud committed against groups that are deemed dangerous by its sponsor. Based on this insight, we hypothesize that in the post-Cold War era election monitors are more tolerant of fraud against Islamic challeng…
Dangerously informed: Voter information and pre-electoral violence in Africa
A considerable literature examines the effect of voter information on candidate strategies and voter-politician interactions in the developing world. The voter information literature argues that information can improve accountability because more informed voters are harder to woo with traditional campaign tools, such as ethnic appeals and vote-buying. However, this literature has largely ignored the reaction of political candidates and thus may r…
Fear of campaign violence and support for democracy and autocracy
Election violence is common in many developing countries and has potentially detrimental implications for democratic consolidation. Drawing on political psychology, we argue that citizens’ fear of campaign violence undermines support for democracy while increasing support for autocracy. Using individual-level survey data from 21 electoral democracies in Sub-Saharan Africa, we find robust support for our argument. Citizens fearing campaign violenc…
Psychological threat and turnout misreporting
Direct survey measures of turnout often suffer from misreporting, particularly among non-voters. We investigate whether turnout misreporting in online surveys can be reduced by two new turnout question designs aimed at strengthening or buffering respondent's self-integrity against the perceived psychological threat of admitting non-voting. Drawing on evidence from survey experiments embedded in vote validated online surveys after the 2016 UK EU R…
Advantages, Challenges and Limitations of Audit Experiments with Constituents
Audit experiments examining the responsiveness of public officials have become an increasingly popular tool used by political scientists. While these studies have brought significant insight into how public officials respond to different types of constituents, particularly those from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds, audit studies have also been controversial due to their frequent use of deception. Scholars have justified the use of decepti…
The Misreporting Trade-Off Between List Experiments and Direct Questions in Practice: Partition Validation Evidence from Two Countries
To reduce strategic misreporting on sensitive topics, survey researchers increasingly use list experiments rather than direct questions. However, the complexity of list experiments may increase nonstrategic misreporting. We provide the first empirical assessment of this trade-off between strategic and nonstrategic misreporting. We field list experiments on election turnout in two different countries, collecting measures of respondents’ true turno…
Electoral Violence in England and Wales, 1832-1914
This article analyses over 19,000 articles from newspapers and parliamentary commission reports to reveal endemic electoral violence in England and Wales between 1832 and 1914. It offers a new understanding of the phenomenon in three main ways. First, the extent of election violence, which regularly featured major riots requiring police and military intervention, disturbances of the peace, and deaths, questions conventional understandings of Brit…
When Legislators Do Not Differentiate: A Field Experiment on British MPs’ Responses to Constituent Policy Queries
How do legislators respond to constituent policy queries? Existing research suggests that legislators vary their responsiveness and tailor response content depending on constituent congruence, raising normative concerns about legislator–constituent communication. We report results from a pre-registered audit study of UK MPs which is the first to test whether legislators in party-centred parliamentary democracies vary substantive response rates an…
Political science (12 works) · Politics (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Law (8 works) · Economics (7 works) · Electoral Systems and Political Participation (6 works) · Political economy (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (4 works) · Turnout (4 works)