The University of Utah Department of Political Science is hiring a department chair at the rank of Full Professor! This job is open to any subfield. Let me know if you have questions about the search, including (as you likely are wondering) why we are hiring an external chair.

Depolarization is not "a scalable solution for reducing societal-level conflict.... achieving lasting depolarization will likely require....moving beyond individual-level treatments to address the elite behaviors and structural incentives that fuel partisan conflict" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Do voters prefer refugees to economic immigrants? A simple question that decades of social science still can't answer. In my new piece, I go down the rabbit hole of why the evidence is mixed, and what that means for debates about populist accommodation. alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/do-people-...

My prediction: Europe will do absolutely nothing beyond a handful of symbolic gestures.

My hottest take of the day for the survey methods & immigration crowd: Conjoint experiments on immigrant profile choice are not a good way to know whether refugees are more popular than economic immigrants (or any other descriptive Q about immigration policy preferences).

The H-1B program has flaws, but effectively ending it would be worse. Many analysts instead suggest reforms like prioritizing higher wages. But what also matters is that Americans support H-1B visas, so the proposed changes run against public opinion. alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-skille...

Good summary of the H-1B situation by @sampeak.bsky.social

An excellent defence by @akoustov.bsky.social of a policy where private citizens can use their own money to bring over and support refugees, who are given permanent residency on arrival or later. In the US this is supported by even most Republicans. alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-dont-y...

Good summary of the H-1B situation by @sampeak.bsky.social

As for the specific visas Musk referred to (H1Bs), research suggests they are associated with more job creation for native-born Americas; losing out on these visas is associated with more offshoring of other U.S. jobs. www.nber.org/papers/w27538

The H-1B program has flaws, but effectively ending it would be worse. Many analysts instead suggest reforms like prioritizing higher wages. But what also matters is that Americans support H-1B visas, so the proposed changes run against public opinion. alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-skille...

My hottest take of the day for the survey methods & immigration crowd: Conjoint experiments on immigrant profile choice are not a good way to know whether refugees are more popular than economic immigrants (or any other descriptive Q about immigration policy preferences).

Do voters prefer refugees to economic immigrants? A simple question that decades of social science still can't answer. In my new piece, I go down the rabbit hole of why the evidence is mixed, and what that means for debates about populist accommodation. alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/do-people-...

Humbled to receive an honorable mention for the Emergent Scholar Award (Migration & Citizenship) at #APSA2025 in Vancouver. Grateful for the recognition and inspired by the new generation of scholars doing outstanding work, giving me hope for our field amid all the challenges.

Humbled to receive an honorable mention for the Emergent Scholar Award (Migration & Citizenship) at #APSA2025 in Vancouver. Grateful for the recognition and inspired by the new generation of scholars doing outstanding work, giving me hope for our field amid all the challenges.

Big news — I'm launching a Substack! Whether you see immigration as an opportunity or a problem, it can be better. "Popular by Design" will feature new ideas for making immigration more functional and sustainable. Subscribe and spread the word! alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/welcome-to...

Heading to Vancouver for #APSA2025. See you all there!

Why isn't private refugee sponsorship more widespread? Not for the lack of willing sponsors—though a minority, millions of people would likely help if it were legal. The real constraint is state capacity and resolve.

For everyone's sake, we can't just ping-pong between anti- and pro-immigration backlashes. The way to fix the thermostat is to pass better policies that most voters—left and right—can accept: bsky.app/profile/fore...

I'll be at #APSA2025 in Vancouver next week. Come say hi and join our "Author Meets Critics" panel on "In Our Interest" on Friday at 4 pm!

OK, I'll bite: more people saying "immigration is a good thing" in response to the current administration's needless cruelty is not an endorsement of any specific pro-immigration policy. Contrary to what some folks here think, this chart says exactly that real progress requires credible moderation.

OK, I'll bite: more people saying "immigration is a good thing" in response to the current administration's needless cruelty is not an endorsement of any specific pro-immigration policy. Contrary to what some folks here think, this chart says exactly that real progress requires credible moderation.

Is there a pro-refugee policy skeptics can support? The idea of private sponsorship seems to work exactly because it taps into people's widespread conservative intuitions about responsibility and local control, while channeling their faith networks and addressing cost concerns.

Fun fact: Aside from Dreamers, private refugee sponsorship was basically the only pro-immigration policy supported by a majority of Republicans during the Biden years.

Fun fact: Aside from Dreamers, private refugee sponsorship was basically the only pro-immigration policy supported by a majority of Republicans during the Biden years.

I'll be at #APSA2025 in Vancouver next week. Come say hi and join our "Author Meets Critics" panel on "In Our Interest" on Friday at 4 pm!

In most countries, people who want to help refugees can't do so legally. My new piece explores how the idea of private sponsorship empowers citizens to channel their humanitarian motivations, and why that can make refugee admissions more sustainable. alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-dont-y...

Is there a pro-refugee policy skeptics can support? The idea of private sponsorship seems to work exactly because it taps into people's widespread conservative intuitions about responsibility and local control, while channeling their faith networks and addressing cost concerns.

In most countries, people who want to help refugees can't do so legally. My new piece explores how the idea of private sponsorship empowers citizens to channel their humanitarian motivations, and why that can make refugee admissions more sustainable. alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-dont-y...

Grateful to @cmr-warsaw.bsky.social for hosting me to talk about making immigration popular in Poland. Also appreciate @karolinaluk.bsky.social pressing me on the hard questions in her interview—exactly the debate we need!

Grateful to @cmr-warsaw.bsky.social for hosting me to talk about making immigration popular in Poland. Also appreciate @karolinaluk.bsky.social pressing me on the hard questions in her interview—exactly the debate we need!

Is there a way to make immigration popular among voters? Read the new #CMRSPotlight with an interview with @akoustov.bsky.social, who recently visited the CMR, to find out. Based on his new book at Columbia University Press migracje.uw.edu.pl/publikacje/c...

Speaking of "In Our Interest" as a gift: you can still get a copy for yourself, friends, or family with discount code CUP20 at checkout on Columbia's site—your loved ones deserve to know how to make immigration popular! cup.columbia.edu/book/in-our-...

💥I published a book review!💥 A massive thanks to Alex for the shoutout. Go check it out! Especially relevant to ppl studying immigration, public opinion, politics, and policy reform. @columbiaup.bsky.social

Thrilled to see the first review of my book in International Migration Review: "In Our Interest is a gift... Empirically rigorous, theoretically generative, and normatively pragmatic, [it] is that rare book that will reshape the debate." By @annjiang.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1177/0197...

.@jedkolko.bsky.social argues the BLS data showing 2.2 million fewer immigrants in the US in July than in January is almost certainly wrong & would lead to absurd implications about the labor market: https://bit.ly/45A7Ecy

PSA: For anyone looking to learn more about politics, or for teaching folks still tweaking their syllabus for the semester -- @goodauth's "Good to Know" is probably the best explainer series in town. goodauthority.org/tag/good-to-...

Skilled immigration is an 80/20 issue, and one of the rare areas where voters on all sides agree. But why? My new piece explains the surprising reasons, and what they teach us about making other types of immigration and policies popular and sustainable. alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-skille...

The good folks at Concordia's Institute for Research on Migration and Society turned my recent Foreign Affairs piece into four infographics--check it out!

As UK net migration continues falling to about 350k, how much will this impact public opinion, and what political benefits would this present to Labour? Research with @lawrencemckay.bsky.social and @robjohns75.bsky.social suggests probably little on both counts: see 🧵 bsky.app/profile/robj...

In my first for Foreign Affairs, I write about how both left and right can win on immigration. The gist: stop shouting and start governing. Make policy demonstrably beneficial, tie it to national needs, and make the gains visible in people's daily lives. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Interesting paper from a few years ago finding that people who dislike immigration also dislike emigration. They don't like people moving. www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Some folks have asked: if voters across the spectrum support skilled immigration, why isn't it happening? My new piece unpacks the possible answers, and what it all means for making other immigration popular. alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-skille...

The ultimate TL;DR of "In Our Interest" is finally here: my new 2,000-word Foreign Affairs essay on how to make durable progress on immigration. Check it out! Paywall-free gift link: www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...

The ultimate TL;DR of "In Our Interest" is finally here: my new 2,000-word Foreign Affairs essay on how to make durable progress on immigration. Check it out! Paywall-free gift link: www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...

Skilled immigration is an 80/20 issue, and one of the rare areas where voters on all sides agree. But why? My new piece explains the surprising reasons, and what they teach us about making other types of immigration and policies popular and sustainable. alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-skille...

🚨 My review of In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular is forthcoming (!) in International Migration Review. The book is just out, by @akoustov.bsky.social, and offers a bold take on migration politics. I look up to his work, so it feels unreal that IMR asked me to review it.

So, what are those "better policies" exactly, you may ask? I'll be writing about concrete, workable steps in the coming weeks on "Popular by Design": alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/welcome-to...

I have a new essay in @foreignaffairs.com: no democracy has ever eased widespread immigration concerns without being very selective about whom it admits. To move forward on the issue, governments should make better policies whose benefits to voters are clear. www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...