Kao, Kristen, Kristin Fabbe, and Michael Bang Petersen. Forthcoming at Political Psychology. “The Power of the Past: Determinants of Reconciliation and Revenge in Post-Conflict Settings.”
Kao, Kristen and Ellen Lust. 2025. Decentralization, Local Governance, and Inequality in the Middle East and North Africa. Edited volume. University of Michigan Press. Available here.
Revkin, Mara, and Kristen Kao. 2024. “No Peace Without Punishment? Reintegrating Islamic State Collaborators in Iraq.” The American Journal of Comparative Law. Available here.
Kao, Kristen, Ellen Lust, Marwa Shalaby, and Chagai Weiss. 2023. “Female Representation in Legislative Committees and Perceptions of Legitimacy: Evidence from a Harmonized Experiment in Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia”. American Political Science Review. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. With Kate Baldwin and Ellen Lust. 2023. “Is Authority Fungible? Legitimacy, Domain Congruence, and the Limits of Power in Africa.” American Journal of Political Science. Available here.
With Ferree, Karen, Boniface Dulani, Adam S. Harris, Ellen Lust, Cecilia Ahsan Jansson, and Erica Metheney. 2023. “Symptoms and Stereotypes: Perceptions and Responses to Covid-19 in Malawi and Zambia.” Comparative Political Studies. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2022. “Electoral Institutions and Social-Identity Based Clientelism in Jordan.” Political Research Quarterly. Available here.
With Ferree, Karen, Boniface Dulani, Adam S. Harris, Ellen Lust, Cecilia Ahsan Jansson, and Erica Metheney. Accepted for Publication at Comparative Political Studies. “Disease Threat, Stereotypes, and Covid–19: An Early View from Malawi and Zambia.” 2022. Governance and Local Development Institute Working Paper Series, No. 36, University of Gothenburg. Available here.
With Ellen Lust, and Lise Rakner. 2022. “Vote-Buying, Anti-Corruption Campaigns, and Identity in African Elections?” World Development. Available here.
Kao, Kristen and Mara R. Revkin. 2021. “Retribution or Reconciliation? Attitudes Towards Rebel Collaborators After Conflict.”American Journal of Political Science. Winner of the Franklin L. Burdette/Pi Sigma Alpha Best Paper Award for APSA 2019. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. With Adam Harris, Karen Ferree, Boniface Dulani, Ellen Lust, Erica Metheney, and Cecilia Ahsan. 2021. “Elections in the Time of Covid-19: The Triple Crises Around Malawi’s 2020 Presidential Elections.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. With Ellen Lust and Gibran Okar. 2021. ‘Voting for Islamists: Mapping the Role of Religion’, in Melani Cammett, and Pauline Jones (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Politics in Muslim Societies. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. With Adam Harris, Karen Ferree, Boniface Dulani, Ellen Lust, Erica Metheney, and Cecilia Ahsan. 2021. “Stigma, Trust, and Procedural Integrity: Covid-19 Testing in Malawi.” World Development. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. With Lindsay Benstead. 2020. “Female Electability in the Arab World: The Advantages of Intersectionality.” Comparative Politics. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. With Ellen Lust, Boniface Dulani, Karen Ferree, Adam Harris, and Erica Metheney. 2020. “The ABCs of Covid-19 Prevention in Malawi: Authority, Benefits and, Costs of Compliance.” World Development. 137: 105167. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2020. With Lindsay Benstead and Ellen Lust. “Does it Matter What Observers Say? The Impact of International Election Monitoring on Legitimacy”. Mediterranean Politics. 1-22. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2020. Freedom in the World Report: Jordan. Freedom House. Available here.
Kao, Kristen, Ellen Lust, and Lise Rakner. Under Review. “Money Machine: Do the Poor Demand Clientelism?” Governance and Local Development Institute Working Paper Series, Number 14. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2019. Freedom in the World Report: Jordan. Freedom House. Available here.
Kao, Kristen and Mara Revkin. 2019. “How the Iraqi crackdown on the Islamic State may actually increase support for the Islamic State.” Washington Post/Monkey Cage. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2017. “Electoral Institutions and Ethnic Clientelism.” American Political Science Association Comparative Politics Newsletter. 27(2): 44–50. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2017. “Review: The Arab Spring: Pathways of and Reform. By Jason Brownlee, Tarek Masoud, and Andrew Reynolds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.” Perspectives on Politics. Available here.
Kao, Kristen, Lauren Baker, Ellen Lust, and Marc Lynch. 2017. “Islam in a Changing Middle East: Local Politics and Islamist Movements.” Project on Middle East Political Science Studies. Available here.
Kao, Kristen and Ellen Lust. 2017. “Why Did the Arab Uprisings Turn Out as They Did? A Survey of the Literature.” Project on Middle East Democracy. Available here.
Kao, Kristen, Ruth Carlitz, Pierre Landry, Ellen Lust, and Lise Rakner. 2017. “Beyond the State: Measuring Governance at the Community Level.” APSA Comparative Democratization Newsletter. 17(2): 26–29. Available here.
Kao, Kristen, Adam Harris, Ellen Lust, Jens Ewald, and Peter Holmgren. 2017. “Governance in Service Delivery in the MENA.” World Bank. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2017. “Jordan: Negotiating Political, Economic, and Social Minefields.” IEMed Mediterranean Yearbook. 2017. European Institute of the Mediterranean. Available here.
Kao, Kristen, Lindsay J. Benstead, Pierre F. Landry, Ellen M. Lust, and Dhafer Malouche. 2017. “Using Tablet Computers to Implement Surveys in Challenging Environments.” Survey Practice. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2016. “How Jordan’s Election Revealed Enduring Weaknesses in its Political System.” Washington Post/Monkey Cage. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2015. “Do Jordan’s Tribes Challenge or Strengthen the State?” Washington Post/Monkey Cage. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2012. “Jordan’s Ongoing Election Law Battle.” Sada. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Available here.
Kao, Kristen. 2012. “Jordan.” Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Available here.
Working Papers
Kao, Kristen, Kristin Fabbe and Michael Bang Petersen. Revise & Resubmit. “The Power of the Past: Determinants of Reconciliation and Revenge in Post-Conflict Settings.” 2023. Harvard Business School. Working Paper 24-011. Available here. Presented at EPSA 2023 and APSA 2023.
Kao, Kristen. 2025. “How do Injustice Gaps Affect Leader Legitimacy in Post-Conflict Settings? Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Iraq.” Presented at the University of Amsterdam 2024, APSA 2024, XCEPT at Kings College London 2024, American University of Kurdistan 2024, University of Bergen 2024, and at the Weatherhead Research Cluster on Identity Politics, Harvard University 2025. Working paper.
Kao, Kristen. Under Review. “Legal Pluralism and Fragmented Sovereignty: A Survey Experiment in Iraq.” 2022. Quality of Government Institute Working Paper Series, 2022:5. Presented at APSA online 2024, IPSA 2022, MPSA 2022, and EuroWeps 2022. Available here. Presented at ISA 2022, MPSA 2022, and EuroWeps 2022.
Mousa, Salma, Kristen Kao, and Trevor Incerti. “Boosting Civic Behaviors: Experimental Evidence from a Lebanese Recycling Program.” Presented at APSA 2023, Yale University 2022 and UCLA 2023 Comparative Politics Workshops. Working paper available upon request.
Fjelde, Hanne, Kristen Kao, Megan Turnbull, and Tore Wig. “(Non-)State Authority and Legitimate Violence: A Survey Experiment on Police Versus Vigilante Legitimacy in Nigeria.” Presented at Washington UNiversity 2024 and University of Uppsala 2024. Working paper available upon request.
Akbiyik, Ahmet, Karen Ferree and Kristen Kao. 2023.“Neighborhood Segregation Preferences Among Migrants and Host Community Members in Turkey.” Social Science Network Working Paper Series. Presented for Evidence in Governance and Politics at NYU Washington, DC 2024, APSA 2024, and Brandies University 2025. Available here.
Kao, Kristen and Ellen Lust. “Do List Experiments Run as Expected? Examining Implementation Failure in Kenya, Zambia, and Malawi.” The Program on Governance and Local Development Working Paper Series, No. 57, University of Gothenburg. Available here. Presented at the European Political Science Association 2021.
Ferree, Karen and Kristen Kao. “Identity and Inclusion Among Migrants and Host Community Members in Turkey.” Pre-analysis plan. Available here.
Ferree, Karen, Kristen Kao, and Sigrid Weber. “Discriminatory Preferences Across Immigrants and Hosts in Turkey.” Pre-analysis plan. Working paper in progress. Available here.
Abu Zueiter, Iman, & Kristen Kao. “To Punish or to Pardon? Attitudes Towards Justice and Reintegration for Europeans who Cooperated with the Islamic State.” Pre-analysis plan. Working paper in progress. Available here.