Kalla

Joshua L. Kalla

Associate Professor of Political Science and Data Science, Yale University
Chapter Member: Connecticut SSN
Areas of Expertise:

Connect with Joshua

About Joshua

Kalla’s current research focuses on political persuasion and voter attitude change using randomized field experiment. He has conducted experiments with the Analyst Institute, CREDO Action, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, Rock the Vote, Working America, and other civic and political groups.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

What Election Campaigns Need to Learn to Persuade Voters about Candidates and Ballot Measures

  • David E. Broockman
Key Findings Brief,

Evidence that Legislators Grant Special Access to Donors

  • David E. Broockman
Key Findings Brief,

No Jargon Podcast

Episode 33:
The 10 Minute Change

In the News

Quoted by Dylan Matthews in "The Pandemic Is Forcing Democrats to Ask: How Important Is Door-Knocking, Anyway?," Vox, September 3, 2020.
Quoted by Jeff von Kaenel in "Focus on Issues, not Fundraising," News Review, February 8, 2018.
Opinion: "Persuading Voters is Hard. That Doesn’t Mean Campaigns Should Give Up.," Joshua L. Kalla (with David E. Broockman), The Washington Post, October 11, 2017.
Research discussed by Emma Green, in "Most Campaign Outreach Has Zero Effect on Voters," The Atlantic, September 30, 2017.
Research discussed by Dylan Matthews, in "A Massive New Study Reviews the Evidence on Whether Campaigning Works. The Answer's Bleak.," Vox, September 28, 2017.
Research discussed by Harini Shyamsundar, in "Study Shows Door-to-Door Canvassing Can Help Reduce Prejudice against Transgender People," The Daily Californian, April 11, 2016.
Quoted by Brian Resnick in "These Scientists Can Prove It's Possible to Reduce Prejudice," Vox, April 8, 2016.
Research discussed by John Bohannon, in "Talking to People about Gay and Transgender Issues Can Change Their Prejudices," Science Magazine, April 7, 2016.
Quoted by Benoit Denizet-Lewis in "How Do You Change Voters’ Minds? Have a Conversation," New York Times Magazine, April 7, 2016.
Research discussed by Steve Kolowich, in "The Researchers Who Sank a Bogus Canvassing Study Have Replicated Some of Its Findings," The Chronicle of Higher Education, April 7, 2016.
Opinion: "We Discovered One of Social Science's Biggest Frauds. Here's What We Learned," Joshua L. Kalla, Vox, July 22, 2015.
Opinion: "Experiments Show This is the Best Way to Win Campaigns. But is Anyone Actually Doing It?," Joshua L. Kalla (with David Broockman), Vox, November 13, 2014.
Guest on C-SPAN, March 15, 2014.

Publications

"Campaign Contributions Facilitate Access to Congressional Officials: A Randomized Field Experiment" (with David E. Broockman). American Journal of Political Science 60, no. 3 (2016): 545-558.

Argues that members of Congress grant preferential access to purported political donors over concerned constituents. Is the first experimental demonstration of the biasing role of money in politics.

"The Female Political Career," (with Frances Rosenbluth and Dawn Teele), The World Bank and Women in Parliaments Global Forum, 2015.

Reflects survey results from 84 countries around the world designed to understand the hurdles women face in launching and sustaining successful political careers. Argues that gendered social roles and gendered social expectations shrink the pool of female political candidates even before an election begins and once in office, gendered roles and expectations continue to dog female legislators, capping ambitions as surely as they stunt their success.

"Editorial Bias in Crowd-Sourced Information" (with Peter Aronow). PLoS ONE 10, no. 9 (2015).

Employs multiple field experiments conducted on Wikipedia to show how the Wikipedia pages of incumbent U.S. Senators are biased towards positivity by systematically removing factually true yet negative facts about the Senators.