Alexander Kustov
@akoustov.bsky.social
6.7K followers 2.5K following 440 posts
Author of "In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular": http://tinyurl.com/4rwpr6dc. Substack at "Popular by Design": https://tinyurl.com/b93bwr9j. Professor. More at https://alexanderkustov.org/.
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akoustov.bsky.social
In most countries, people who want to help refugees can't do so legally.

My new piece explores how the idea of private sponsorship empowers citizens to channel their humanitarian motivations, and why that can make refugee admissions more sustainable.

alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/why-dont-y...
Reposted by Alexander Kustov
aecoppock.bsky.social
👀 this new meta-analysis on edutainment by @bardiarahmani.bsky.social, Montano, @dylanwgroves.bsky.social, and Green

doi.org/10.1017/bpp....

377 ests in 77 exps: edutainment moves attitudes, norms, beliefs 📊
Effects persist ⏳
Many reasonable theories about effect heterogeneity are not supported 😇
akoustov.bsky.social
Right, being somewhat isolated certainly helps with irregular crossings! But this doesn't explain why other actual island nations with a comparable profile like the UK can't get it right.
akoustov.bsky.social
Right. That's why I emphasize that high inflows can only be sustained when admissions are orderly and demonstrably serve the national interest :)

bsky.app/profile/akou...
akoustov.bsky.social
My hopeful takeaway is that, since the US and most other countries are nowhere near this level, with flows being less orderly or demonstrably beneficial, there are A LOT of opportunities to improve immigration and adjacent policies all around.
akoustov.bsky.social
Still, temporary and permanent immigration flows equal to 2–4% of the population per year likely sit near the capacity limit in many OECD countries, given our currently stubborn housing and infrastructure construction constraints.
akoustov.bsky.social
A striking chart from Tony Keller that puts the recent US immigration surge in perspective.

Contrary to what many skeptics assume, Canada shows that very high immigration flows can be sustained when admissions are orderly and clearly serve the national interest in ways most people can recognize.
akoustov.bsky.social
Heading to discuss how to make immigration popular and better at my two most anticipated events of the year: 2025 Progress Conference in Berkeley (Oct 15–19) and "Migration, a Pilgrimage of Hope" conference in the Vatican (Oct 20–24). DM or say hi if you're around!
Reposted by Alexander Kustov
akoustov.bsky.social
Migration needs more common ground!?

Glad to join Konrad's excellent "Migration Debates" on the importance of compromise with Marc Helbling and Oliviero Angeli.

The interviews are available in English (and German) here:
www.kas.de/en/web/analy...
akoustov.bsky.social
Most people aren't simply pro or anti-immigration. Support rises when policies are orderly, deliver national benefits, and foster integration. Centrist parties need to offer a constructive vision and pass effective policies before it's too late.
akoustov.bsky.social
Migration needs more common ground!?

Glad to join Konrad's excellent "Migration Debates" on the importance of compromise with Marc Helbling and Oliviero Angeli.

The interviews are available in English (and German) here:
www.kas.de/en/web/analy...
akoustov.bsky.social
Migration braucht mehr gemeinsamen Boden?!

Freue mich, bei Konrads "Migrationsdebatten" mit den tollen Marc Helbling & @olivieroangeli.bsky.social dabei zu sein. Die meisten sind nicht schlicht pro oder contra. Zustimmung wächst, wenn Politik nationale Vorteile bringt.

www.kas.de/de/migration...
Migrationspolitische Debatten
Ein Thema, drei Perspektiven.
www.kas.de
akoustov.bsky.social
Neither Democrats nor Republicans grasp how needlessly difficult the current legal process is even for the supposedly simplest, uncontested case of spousal immigration.

Once people learn it takes years and thousands of dollars, they're far more open to easing the process.

doi.org/10.1017/XPS....
Reposted by Alexander Kustov
akoustov.bsky.social
What counts as progress on immigration when we can't even agree on the basics? In my new essay, I argue that durable progress requires compromise and suggest possible shared benchmarks with a focus on state capacity.

Read the full piece here: tinyurl.com/4u27yx5d (I didn’t choose the header/cover)
akoustov.bsky.social
What counts as progress on immigration when we can't even agree on the basics? In my new essay, I argue that durable progress requires compromise and suggest possible shared benchmarks with a focus on state capacity.

Read the full piece here: tinyurl.com/4u27yx5d (I didn’t choose the header/cover)
akoustov.bsky.social
At this point, LinkedIn is weirdly the only social media website where a constructive, respectful disagreement can happen.
Reposted by Alexander Kustov
joshmccrain.bsky.social
The University of Utah Department of Political Science is hiring a department chair at the rank of Full Professor! This job is open to any subfield.

Let me know if you have questions about the search, including (as you likely are wondering) why we are hiring an external chair.
akoustov.bsky.social
Thank you for being so welcoming, I appreciate it! Hope you have a good day.
akoustov.bsky.social
This website makes me sad :(
Reposted by Alexander Kustov
brendannyhan.bsky.social
Depolarization is not "a scalable solution for reducing societal-level conflict.... achieving lasting depolarization will likely require....moving beyond individual-level treatments to address the elite behaviors and structural incentives that fuel partisan conflict" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Reposted by Alexander Kustov
akoustov.bsky.social
Do voters prefer refugees to economic immigrants? A simple question that decades of social science still can't answer.

In my new piece, I go down the rabbit hole of why the evidence is mixed, and what that means for debates about populist accommodation.

alexanderkustov.substack.com/p/do-people-...
Do People Like Refugees more than Economic Immigrants?
A simple question that our best research still hasn't settled
alexanderkustov.substack.com
akoustov.bsky.social
You can have multiple blogs, too.
akoustov.bsky.social
Seriously, though, what is stopping you from doing this?