Stephen Chaudoin (Alesina Seminar)
Date and Time
Location
Speaker & Title
Stephen Chaudoin (Harvard), "Persuasion and Backlash from International Law in Global Swing States" (w/Taegyun Lim)
Abstract
When countries or international organizations accuse others of violating international law, they often seek to persuade publics in third-party states to support punishment. When do accusations persuade, and when do they backfire? We argue that accusations persuade those who trust the source but do not already agree with the claim, while they backfire among those who distrust the source but whose priors align with the accusation. Accusations also reshape views of the accuser: claims that contradict prior beliefs reduce perceived source credibility. We test these expectations with survey experiments in four global swing states: India, South Africa, Turkey, and Indonesia. ICC accusations that Russia violated international law generate persuasion and backlash among the theoretically expected respondents and improve views of the Court’s credibility. Identical U.S. accusations fail to persuade, often backfire, and further undermine U.S. credibility because publics in swing states view the United States as a less trustworthy source.
Co-sponsored by FAS and IQSS, the Alberto Alesina Seminar on Political Economy supports research-related activities that integrate the study of economics and politics, whether by studying economic behavior in the political process or political behavior in the marketplace. In general, positive political economy is concerned with showing how observed differences among institutions affect political and economic outcomes in various social, economic, and political systems and how the institutions themselves change and develop in response to individual and collective beliefs, preferences, and strategies.
All interested faculty and students are invited to attend.