Dr. Julian Michel

Research Assistant

Contact

Dr. Julian Michel finished his bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the University of Heidelberg, followed by a master’s degree, also in Heidelberg. He then graduated the Political Science PhD program at UCLA with specializations in Comparative Politics and Quantitative Methods.

Dr. Julian Michel’s research explores the role of subnational governments in processes of democratic backsliding and state formation. His research has been published in International Organization, received grant support of over $300,000, and was recognized by APSA’s Michael Wallerstein Best Article and Deil S. Wright Best Paper Awards.

In his dissertation, “The Subnational Roots of Democratic Stability,” he relies on novel data on subnational election outcomes in 84 democracies (1990-2021) to show that opposition-controlled subnational governments have on average been sources of national-level democratic stability after the Cold War.

In other work, he explores how opportunities to emigrate influenced (a) autocratic stability in the German Democratic Republic and (b) citizen attitudes towards contentious politics in Hong Kong.

Finally, he is co-leading several projects on state capacity building by subnational incumbents in Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone. This research relies on an administrative collaboration with the Mayor of Freetown and received generous funding from the International Center for Tax and Development and the International Growth Center.

Teaching

Winter Semester 2024/25

• Exercise: Democratic Backsliding
• Grundkurs: Political Representation

Publications and Research Projects

Publications

How Authoritarian Regimes Decide Who Emigrates: Evidence from East Germany
(Michel, Miller, and Peters 2023). International Organization, 77(3), 527-563 (link).

Projects

1. The Subnational Roots of Democratic Stability

2. Do Populist Appeals Affect Candidate Choice? Evidence from a Survey Experiment
in Bolivia. Preliminary results presented at APSA 2022.

3. Participation, Legitimacy and Fiscal Capacity in Weak States (with K. Grieco, W.
Prichard, N. Meriggi, and A. B. Kamara). Working paper (link, PAP).

4. When Voice Gets the Opportunity to Exit: Evidence from Hong Kong
(with Maggie Peters). Working paper (link, PAP).

5. Restraining the Huddled Masses: Emigration and Authoritarian Control
(with M. Peters and M. Miller; book project; co-author on select chapters).

6. Enhancing Political Accountability During Covid-19: A Field Experiment on the
Legitimacy of Government in Freetown, Sierra Leone
(with Wilson Prichard, Niccoló Meriggi, and Kevin Grieco). Data collected (PAP).

7. Does Taxation Cause Demands for Accountability Under Democracy?
(with Wilson Prichard, Niccoló Meriggi, and Kevin Grieco). Data collected.

8. Signaling Weberianness: Procedural Fairness and Tax Compliance in Sierra Leone
(with W. Prichard, N. Meriggi, A. B. Kamara, and K. Grieco). Data collected (PAP).