I study how foreign and domestic actors shape public support for and the success of opposition movements in challenging and reversing incumbent-led democratic backsliding and authoritarianism, with a focus on the Middle East and Central Europe.
Book Projects:
Backing the Opposition: International Pressure and Resistance to Democratic Backsliding
My book project, based on papers two and three of my dissertation, examine the nexus of domestic and international factors. In so doing, I argue that international pressure are consequential for the success of and support for oppositions. The first part of the book uses interview data and a novel dataset of pro-democratic rhetoric throughout the post-Cold War era (1993-2026, N=19,000 speeches) to demonstrate that global pro-democracy actors often make statements about democracy in other countries, particularly in countries that are either its strongest allies or its strongest adversaries geopolitically, and that this can reach target audiences in other countries using original data from Google Trends (2004-2025). Meanwhile, the second part (under review as my job market paper) uses conjoint survey experiments in Hungary (n=4,300) to assess the effects of foreign rhetorical endorsements on public opinion.
I am slated to hold a book workshop at Stanford CDDRL in May 2027.
“Who Counts? Ethnicity and Support for Democratic Backsliding,”
Coauthored book with Hannah Ridge, currently under advanced contract as a Cambridge Elements in Experimental Political Science. Pre-registration. (Lead Author).
Why do citizens support anti-democratic measures under certain conditions, but not others? In this book, Hannah Ridge and I examine how backsliding and support for it is often conditional on both the initiator of this process and the target. Using survey experiments from five countries (n = 12,000 respondents), we probe the moderating effects of ethnicity and the ethnic identity of individual targets in shaping support for backsliding.
Academic Publications:
Yoel, Benjamin, Caleb Lucas, and Matt Grossmann. 2026. “The Core Drivers of Congress: Analyzing Members, Constituents, and Committees with CongressData.” American Politics Research.
Baron, Hannah, Rob Blair, Jessica Gottlieb, Laura Paler, Julie Weaver, and Benjamin Yoel. Forthcoming. “Introducing the Democratic Erosion Event Dataset.” Nature: Scientific Data.
Grossmann, Matt, Caleb Lucas, and Benjamin Yoel. 2025. Introducing CongressData and Correlates of State Policy.” Nature: Scientific Data 1-5.
Cavari, Amnon, Amichai Magen, and Benjamin Yoel. 2024. “U.S. Democratic Backsliding and the Decline of Democratic Support Abroad.” International Journal of Public Opinion Resesarch, 36(2):1-13.
Cavari, Amnon, Benjamin Yoel, and Hannah Lowenkamp. 2021. “In the Name of the President.” American Politics Research 49(6): 666-680.
Book Reviews:
Yoel, Benjamin. 2025. “Review of: Post-Soviet Graffiti: Free Speech in Authoritarian States by Alexis Lerner.” International Affairs, 101(5): 138-139.
Yoel, Benjamin. 2024. “Review of: Resisting Backsliding: Opposition Strategies against the Erosion of Democracy by Laura Gamboa.” Democratization, 1-2.
Other Publications:
Yoel, Benjamin. 2018. “Oman’s Economic Diversification from Oil and ‘Omanization’ Policies.” Iqtisadi 8(11): 1-9.
Yoel, Benjamin. 2018. “The Ethiopia-Eritrea Peace Deal: Why Now?” Ifriqiya 4(5): 1-6.
Working Papers:
Yoel, Benjamin. “We Only Have One Country”: Multiethnic Coalitions and Resistance to Democratic Backsliding. Pre-Analysis Plan. Supported by the Institute for Liberty and Responsibility. Revise and Resubmit.
Yoel, Benjamin. “Foreign Cues and Public Support for Pro-Democracy Movements During Elections.” Job Market Paper. Under Review.
“Leader Tenure and Women’s Representation in Cabinets,” With Alejandra López Villegas. Under Review. (Equal Coauthorship). Winner of the 2025 Best Graduate Student Paper Award, Department of Political Science, Michigan State University. Under Review.
“Democratic Backsliding and Attitudes Toward Ethnic Minorities,” With Hannah Ridge. R&R. Pre-registration. (Lead Author).
“Senate Backgrounds and Legislative Effectiveness: Exploring Senators and Their Behavior with SenateData.” With Iliya Liampert and Matt Grossmann. R&R. (Lead Author).
“Introducing the United Secretary of State Speech Dataset.” With Jay Revolinsky. Under Review. (Lead Author).
Works in Progress:
“Opposition Coalitions and Public Attitudes: Experimental Evidence From Four Countries.” With Daniel Markovits and Abhyudaya Tyagi. Writing Stage. (Lead Author).
“Political Bias in LLMs: Observational and Experimental Insights.” With Marco Morucci. Data Collection Stage.
“Outsider political status and opposition to democratic backsliding.” With Ozlem Tuncel. Data Collection Stage.
“Domestic Demand and Public Perceptions of Foreign Pressure: Experimental Evidence from Hungary and Poland.” With Oren Samet. Data Collection Stage.
“Democratic Backsliding and Support for Retaliation Against Former Backsliders.” With Gabriela Greilinger.
“Opposition Victory and Attitudes Toward Democracy: Evidence from Hungary.” With Gabriela Greilinger.
International Pressure and Opposition to Democratic Backsliding. Pre-Analysis Plan. Supported by the Institute for Humane Studies.
International Rhetoric and the Politics of Democratic Backsliding. Supported by MSU’s College of Social Science. In Preparation.