"Does Education Make Subjects or Citizens? Primary Schooling and Anti-Authoritarian Mobilization in 19th-Century France" Job Market Paper [Working Paper]
Abstract: Does primary education make subjects or citizens? Although schools are often designed to instill obedience, they also incorporate local populations into national political life, building the capacity for mass mobilization that underpins democracy. I examine this tension in the context of 19th-century France, where primary education was explicitly designed to promote social order. Exploiting quasi‑random variation based on a population cutoff, I find that schools increased resistance to Louis Napoleon Bonaparte’s coup against the Second Republic—both on the streets and at the ballot box. Schools also increased newspaper readership and postal correspondence, which reveals a stronger engagement with the broader nation. These findings show that, even when designed to teach obedience, primary education can cultivate an articulate citizenry better prepared to defend its political rights.
"Peasants into Citizens: Suffrage Expansion and the Rise of Mass Politics" (with Anne Degrave and Arturas Rozenas) Under Review [Working Paper]
Abstract: The concurrent rise of mass politics and democratic institutions represent two major global political trends of the past two centuries. We examine the relationship between these historical developments by investigating how voting rights have influenced mass political mobilization. Utilizing the discontinuous variation in suffrage levels in the French local elections during the July Monarchy (1830-1848), we find that broader suffrage increased political interest, collective mobilization, and opposition to autocracy. Even when introduced and practiced within an authoritarian system, the right to vote facilitates the development of a pro-democratic mass public.
"A Strategic Logic of Public Education Provision: Evidence from the Second French Empire" (with Kun Heo) Under Review [Working Paper]
Abstract: Previous work has argued that states provide education because it supports industrialization, nation-building, and social order. However, states do not operate in a vacuum, as other actors can also participate in school provision. Building on this insight, we argue that states may provide education not for its intrinsic value but to limit the influence of nonstate providers that jeopardize state authority. We examine this strategic logic during the Second French Empire (1852–1870), where the rapid expansion of Catholic schools had become a threat to the regime. Using a rich new dataset and drawing on a theoretical model to guide our analyses, we provide evidence that state officials promoted the creation of secular schools for girls to limit the expansion of Catholic schools rather than to expand overall access to education. Our findings suggest that existing explanations of public education expansion can be enriched by integrating strategic motives.
"Waves of Fear: Propaganda and Violence in the Spanish Civil War" Draft Available Upon Request
Abstract: Demoralizing the enemy's supporters is a central goal of propaganda during conflicts, but we know relatively little about how it shapes war outcomes. This paper helps fill this gap by investigating how demoralization campaigns affect the perpetration of wartime violence. To do so, I focus on the case of Radio Sevilla, a prominent radio station that the Nationalists used to intimidate Republican supporters during the Spanish Civil War. Leveraging quasi-exogenous variation in radio availability, I show that access to the Nationalist broadcasts decreased both Republican violence and subsequent Nationalist retaliation. The broadcasts plausibly diminished civilian collaboration with Republican armed groups, thereby reducing the Republicans' ability to carry out violence as well as the Nationalists' need for repression. These findings show that armies can use propaganda to undermine their enemy's ability to neutralize potential threats while simultaneously reducing their own repression needs.
"Militants in Exile: Spanish Republicans and Political Mobilization in France" (with Elias Dinas and Pau Grau-Vilalta)
"The Old Regime and the Revolution of the Clergy" (with Carles Boix)
"The Trade Origins of Social Democracy" (with Simon Hix)