The Comparative Politics and Formal Theory Conference (CPFT) is an annual conference intended to bring together scholars working in formal theory and/or comparative politics to both present their work and discuss topics in which increased interaction between empirical and theoretically minded scholars would be most productive. Programs for previous conferences are described below. The 2025 conference will be hosted by Stanford University (Organizers: Avi Achyraya and Ken Shotts). The call for papers is below.
The conference series is (very informally) coordinated by Torun Dewan, John Patty, and Elizabeth Maggie Penn. If you have any questions or want to participate in any way (for example, you can host it!), please do not hesitate to email John Patty.
2025 Conference Call for Papers
This year’s Comparative Politics and Formal Theory (CPFT) Conference will be held at Stanford University on October 24-25, 2025, jointly hosted by the Political Science Department and the Graduate School of Business. If you would like to attend the conference, please write to the organizers, Avi Acharya (avidit@stanford.edu) and Ken Shotts (kshotts@stanford.
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Paper presenter. If you are interested in presenting at the conference, please send us a full length paper (preferred), or an extended abstract (1-2 pages) if your paper is not yet complete. Please write to us by March 31.
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Graduate student poster session presenter. The conference will feature a graduate student poster session. If you are a graduate student interested in participating in the poster session, please send us a full length paper (preferred), or an extended abstract (1-2 pages) if your paper is not yet complete. Please write to us by March 31.
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Attendee. If you would like to attend the conference, please let us know by April 15. Depending on fit, we may ask you to serve as a discussant on a paper.
You should feel free to express interest in more than one role.
We can cover travel and lodging for one presenter for each paper and also for discussants, but we will not be able to cover travel or lodging for other attendees.
We will notify paper and poster session presenters by April 30 and confirm the conference program by May 30. We look forward to seeing you at Stanford this fall!
Previous CPFT Conferences
2013 London School of Economics and Political Science
Organizer: Torun Dewan
2014 Washington University in St. Louis
Organizers: John Patty & Elizabeth Maggie Penn
2015 University of Chicago
Organizer: Scott Ashworth
2016 Harvard University
Organizers: Horacio Larreguy & Ken Shepsle
2017 Emory University
Organizers: Danielle Jung, Greg Martin, Pablo Montagnes, & Miguel Rueda
2018 Yale University
Organizers: Alexandre Debs and Milan Svolik
2019 UC Berkeley
Organizers: Sean Gailmard & Andrew Little
2022 Harvard University
Organizer: Peter Buisseret
2023 University of Rochester
Organizers: Gretchen Helmke & Stu Jordan
2024 London School of Economics and Political Science
Organizer: Stephane Wolton
2024 Conference Program
October 11-12, London School of Economics
Organizer: Stephane Wolton
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Arturas Rozenas (NYU) – “Does Democracy Resolve Conflicts? Voting, Fighting, and Bargaining”
Discussant: Alberto Vesperini (King’s College) -
Ephraim Shimko (Princeton) – “Cheap (Talk) Shots: Discrediting the Media to Stay in Office”
Discussant: Clement Minaudier (City University) -
Margot Belguise – “Red Herrings: A Model of Attention-Hijacking by Politicians”
Discussant: Niall Hughes (King’s College) -
Ken Shotts (Stanford GSB) – “Incumbent Explanations, Challenger Criticisms, and Electoral Accountability” (joint with Scott Ashworth (University of Chicago))
Discussant: Simona Grassi (King’s College) -
Felix Dwinger (IAST) – “Purges and Reputation”
Discussant: Tinghua Yu (Birbeck) -
Alison Sile Chen (UCSD) – “From Tiananmen to Panopticon: International Human Rights Campaigns and the Stabilization of Authoritarian Rule” (joint with Branislav L. Slantchev (UCSD))
Discussant: Kun Heo (LSE) -
Tak-Huen Chau (Berkeley) – “Who Belongs To The Nation?”
Discussant: Paula Onuchic (LSE) -
Scott Tyson (Rochester) – “Eager hearts and radicalized minds” (joint with Livio di Lonardo (Bocconi) and Jessica S Sun (Emory))
Discussant: Antoine Zerbini (Universitat Aut`onoma de Barcelona)
2023 Conference Program
June 8-9, University of Rochester
Organizers: Gretchen Helmke & Stu jordan
- Pablo Beramendi & Daniel Kselman “Centralization, Political Geography, and Extremism: Can Polarization be Self-Correcting?”
Discussant: Carlo Prato - Chris Blattman, Horacio Larreguy, Benjamin Marx & Otis Reid “Eat Widely, Vote Wisely: Lessons from a Campaign against Vote Buying in Uganda.”
Discussant: Anderson Frey - Scott Gehlbach, Zhaotian Luo, Anton Shirikov & Dmitriy Vorobyev “Is There Really a Dictator’s Dilemma? Information and Repression in Autocracy.”
Discussant: Jessica Sun - German Gieczewski & Korhan Kocak “Altruism in Protests”
Discussant: Mehdi Shadmehr - Carlo Horz & Hannah Simpson “Community Interventions in the Administration of Justice”
Discussant: Jack Paine - Richard Van Weelden & Peter Buisseret “Pandora’s Ballot Box: Electoral Politics of Referendums”
Discussant: Gleason Judd - Tinghua Yu & Stephane Wolton “Unmasking the Enemies: A Theory of Denunciations.”
Discussant: Gaétan Nandong
2022 Conference Program
June 3-4, Harvard
Organizer: Peter Buisseret
- Sandeep Baliga (Northwestern University), Optimal Sanctions
Discussant: Adam Meirowitz (University of Utah) - Tara Slough (NYU), Bureaucratic Quality and Electoral Accountability
Discussant: Lucy Martin (University of North Carolina) - Sofia Correa (University of Chile), Persistent Protests
Discussant: Arda Gitmez (Bilkent University) - Sergio Montero (University of Rochester), Representation Failure
Discussant: Nathan Canen (University of Houston) - Alastair Smith (NYU) Institutional Change as a Response to Unrealized Threats: An Empirical Analysis
Discussant: Juan Dodyk (Harvard University) - Andrew Mack (Princeton University) Incentives for Learning in Repeated Elections
Discussant: John Duggan (University of Rochester) - Emily Sellars (Yale University) Fiscal Legibility and State Capacity: Evidence from Mexico
Discussant: Luis Martinez (University of Chicago) - Graduate Student Poster Session:
Joseph Warren (Berkeley), Antoine Zerbini (LSE), Afiq bin Oslan (WashU), Amna Salam (Rochester), Roya Talibova (Michigan), Daniel Goldstein (Yale), Joseph Ruggiero (Princeton), Michael-David Mangini (Harvard)
2019 Conference Program
Oct 11-12, UC Berkeley
Organizers: Sean Gailmard & Andrew Little
- “Executive Absolutism: A Model” Stephane Wolton, LSE (with Kenneth Shepsle, Harvard; and William Howell, Chicago)
Discussant: John Patty, Emory - “Political Interventions in the Administration of Justice” Hannah Simpson, TAMU (with Carlo Horz, TAMU)
Discussant: Tom Clark, Emory - “Elite Cooptation and Opposition Fragmentation in Electoral Authoritarian Regimes” Anne Meng, UVA (with Jed Devaro, CSU East Bay; and Leonardo Arriola, UC Berkeley)
Discussant: TBD - “Conspiracies as a Strategy of Political Communication” Thomas Brauninger, Mannheim (with Nikolay Marinov, Houston)
Discussant: Dorothy Kronick, Penn - “Propaganda, Conspiracy Theories, and Accountability in Weak Democracies” Ken Shotts, Stanford (with Anqi Li, Wash U; and Davin Raiha, Western U)
Discussant: Carlo Horz, TAMU - “Creating Confusion” Chris Edmond, Melbourne (with Yang Lu, HKUST)
Discussant: Wioletta Dziuda, Chicago - “Do we get the best candidates when we need them the most?” Federica Izzo, UCSD
Discussant: Peter Buisseret, Chicago - “An Organizational Theory of State Capacity” Erik Snowberg, UBC (with Mike Ting, Columbia)
Discussant: Dana Foarta, Stanford - “Designing Political Order: Why Monopolies of Violence Are Socially Inefficient (But Individually Rational)” Brenton Kenkel, Vanderbilt (with Scott Abrahamson, Rochester; and Emiel Awad, Rochester)
Discussant: Robert Powell (UC Berkeley) - “Power sharing, Mobilization, and Party Organization” Carlo Prato, Columbia (with Giovanna Invernizzi, Columbia)
Discussant: Rebecca Morton, NYU - “Theoretical Implications of Empirical Models: Conflict and the Identification Problem” Jessica Sun, Emory (with Scott Tyson, Rochester)
Discussant: Tara Slough, NYU - Poster Session: Karen Albert (Rochester), Ashutosh Thakur (Stanford), Roya Talibova (Michigan), Giovanna Invernizzi (Columbia), Arduino Tomasi (LSE), Zachary Taylor (Stanford), Natalia Lamberova (UCLA), Pranav Gupta (UC Berkeley), Zuheir Desai (Rochester), Carlos Varjao (Stanford)
2018 Conference Program, Yale University (Sept 14-15)
Organizers: Alexandre Debs & Milan Svolik
(A pdf version of the conference program is available here.)
- “Learning about Growth and Democracy,” by Scott Abramson and Sergio Montero
- “Authoritarian Backsliding,” by Monika Nalepa, Georg Vanberg, and Caterina Chiopris
- “The Repression-Revolution Dilemma,” by Jack Paine
- “Public Protests and Policy Making: Theory and Experiments,” Marco Battaglini, Rebecca Morton, and Eleonora Patacchini
- “Prohibition vs. Peace,” by Juan Camillo Castillo and Dorothy Kronick
- “Prohibition, Theft, and Violence: Monopolistic Pricing and Exchange in Illicit Markets,” by Brendan Cooley, Colin Krainin, and Kristopher Ramsay
- “The Imperfect Beliefs Voting Model,” by Benjamin G. Ogden
- “A Political Economy of Social Discrimination,” by Torun Dewan and Stephane Wolton
2017 PROGRAM: Emory UNIVERSITY
Organizers: Danielle Jung, Greg Martin, Pablo Montagnes, & Miguel Rueda
- “Elite Conflict, Demographic Collapse, and the Transition to Direct Rule: Evidence from Colonial Mexico,” by Emily A. Sellars and Francisco Garfias
- “Electoral Accountability in Multi-Member Districts,” by Peter Buisseret and Carlo Prato
- “A Dynamic Model of Primaries,” by Tara Lyn Slough, Mike Ting and Erin York
- “Decentralization and the Gamble for Unity,” by Michael Gibilisco
- “Self-Enforcing Partisan Procedures,” by Daniel Diermeier, Carlo Prato and Razvan Vlaicu
- “Information Acquisition under Persuasive Precedent versus Binding Precedent,” by Hülya Eraslan and Ying Chen
- “The Logic of Indiscriminate Repression,” by Arturas Rozenas
- “Threat of Revolution, Peasant Movements, and Redistribution The Colombian Case, 1957-1985,” by Maria Lopez-Uribe
2016 Program: Harvard University
organizers: Horacio Larreguy & Ken Shepsle
- “You Can Vote but You Can’t Run: Suffrage Extension, Eligibility Restrictions and Democracy,” by Pablo Querubín (NYU)
Discussants: Felipe Campante (Harvard) and Scott Ashworth (Chicago) - “Strategic Taxation: A model of taxation and accountability by rent-seeking governments,” by Lucy Martin (UNC)
Discussants. Pascual Restrepo (BU) and John Patty (Chicago) - “Indirect Rule by Armed Groups: Causes and Consequences in the Eastern DRC,”
by Soeren Henn (Harvard)
Discussants. Otis Reid (MIT) and Mike Ting (Columbia) - “Poll Watchers, Polling Stations, and Electoral Manipulation,” by Miguel R. Rueda (Emory)
Discussants. Ben Marx (MIT) and John Marshall (Columbia) - “Propaganda and Credulity,” by Andrew Little (Cornell)
Discussants. Oeindrila Dube (Chicago) and Alex Debs (Yale) - “Strategic or Sincere Voters? Evidence from a RDD in French Elections,” by Vincent Pons (Harvard)
Discussants. Daniel Smith (Harvard) and Torun Dewan (LSE) - “Parties as Disciplinarians: Clientelism, Corruption and the Industrial Organization of Parties,” by Marko Klašnja (Georgetown)
Discussants. Daniel Hidalgo (MIT) and Milan Svolik (Yale)
2015 Program: University of Chicago
organizer: Scott Ashworth
- “A Dynamic Duverger’s Law,” by Jean-Guillaume Forand (Waterloo) and Vikram Maheshri (University of Houston)
Discussant: Carlo Prato - “Strategic Voting in Plurality Rule Elections,” by David Myatt (London Business School) and Stephen D. Fisher (Trinity College)
Discussant: Jorg Spenkuch - “Internal Politics of Non-State Groups and the Challenges of Foreign Policy,” by
Scott Tyson (University of Michigan)
Discussant: Andrew Little - “Electoral Redistricting and Conflict: Examining the Redistricting through Violence in Kenya,” by Kimuli Kasara (Columbia University)
Discussant: Emily Sellars - “Seasonality and Armed Conflict,” by Jenny Guardado (Georgetown University)
Discussant: Eli Berman - “Local Agency Costs of Political Centralization,” by Roger Myerson (University of Chicago)
- “Mass Purges,” Stephane Wolton (London School of Economics) and Pablo Montagnes (Emory University)
Discussant: Scott Gehlbach - “A Theory of Minimalist Democracy,” by Chris Bidner (Simon Fraser University), Patrick Francois (University of British Columbia), and Francesco Trebbi (University of British Columbia)
Discussant: Milan Svolik
2014 PROGRAM: Washington university in St. louis
Organizers: John Patty & Maggie Penn
Roundtable: “Models & Comparative Politics”
Michael Laver (NYU)
Norman Schofield (Washington University in St. Louis)
Ken Shepsle (Harvard)
Roundtable: “Data & Theory in Comparative Politics”
Cliff Carrubba (Emory)
Matt Gabel (Washington University in St. Louis)
Guillermo Rosas (Washington University in St. Louis)
Lecture: “CNISS & Comparative Politics”
Itai Sened (Washington University in St. Louis)
Collective Action and Representation
“The Substitutability of Collective Action and Representation: Theory and Evidence from Russia’s Great Reforms,” by Scott Gehlbach (University of Wisconsin), Paul Dower (New Economic School), Evgeny Finkel (George Washington University), and Steven Nafziger (Williams College)
“When Do Parties Buy Turnout? How Monitoring Capacity Facilitates Voter Mobilization in Mexico,” by Horacio A. Larreguy (Harvard), John Marshall (Harvard), and Pablo Querubin (NYU)
“Electoral Competition, Party Organization, and the Supply of Political Labor,” by Milan Svolik (Illinois)
Parties, Coalitions, & Governments
Representative Agents or Electoral Vehicles: the Institutional Underpinning of Party Cohesion,” by Monika Nalepa (Chicago) and Royce Carroll (Rice)
“Policy Preferences Over Coalition Formation: Instability and Minority,” by Anna Bassi (UNC)
“Government Formation as Logrolling,” by Scott de Marchi (Duke) and Michael Laver (NYU)
Elections and Information
“What is Opposition Good For?” by Betül Demirkaya (Washington University in St. Louis)
“Elections and the Timing of Political Violence,” by Andrew Little (Cornell)
“Leveling the Playing Field: How Equalizing Access to Political Advertising Helps Locally Non-Dominant Parties in Consolidating Democracies,” by John Marshall (Harvard)
Roundtable: “Future Directions Simple Models for Complex Problems”
David Seigel (Duke)
Sona Golder (Pennsylvania State University)
Matt Golder (Pennsylvania State University)
2013 Program: London School of economics
Organizer: Torun Dewan
- “Endogenous Property Rights,” by Daniel Diermeier (Northwestern)
- “The Voters Curse,” by Stephane Wolton (Chicago)
- “Party Structure,” by Galina Zudenkova (Mannheim)
“Incentives to Target Interest Groups under Different Electoral
Systems,” by Margherita Negri (Louvain) - “Correlation Neglect, Voting Behaviour and Polarization,” by Gilat Levy (LSE)
- “A Demand-Side Theory for Bad Politicians,” by Peter Buisseret (Princeton) & Carlo Prato (Georgetown)
- “Engagement, Disengagement and Exit,” by Elizabeth Maggie Penn (Washington University)
- “The Convergent Coefficient Across Political Systems,” by Norman Schofield (Washington University)
- “Populism” by Helios Herrera & Massimo Morelli (Columbia)
Future Conferences
- London School of Economics & Political Science
Organizers: Torun Dewan & Stephane Wolton - Stanford University
Organizers: Avidit Acharya & Ken Shotts - Columbia University
Organizer: Carlo Prato