Victor Menaldo
Victor Menaldo (Ph.D., Stanford University, 2009) is a Professor of Political Science at UW and is affiliated with the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences (CSSS), Near and Middle Eastern Studies, and the Center for Environmental Politics.
He specializes in comparative politics and political economy.
He has published articles in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Annual Review of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, World Politics, Comparative Politics, International Studies Quarterly, Economics & Politics, Political Science Quarterly, Policy Sciences, Business & Politics, Economics & Political Studies, Resources Policy, among other places.
His first book, “The Institutions Curse,” is published by Cambridge University Press (2016). Menaldo’s second book, “Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy” (with Mike Albertus), is also with Cambridge University Press (2018).
Menaldo is interested in the political economy of property rights, innovation, and development.
He is currently working on a book manuscript tentatively entitled: “The Twilight of the Third Industrial Revolution and the Dawn of the Fourth” and his book manuscript, “The Luddites Strike Back: U.S. Innovation Inequality and Trumpism” (with Nicolas Wittstock), is currently under review.
Blog Posts
The Integrity of Higher Education is Key to Making Democracy Work
What would evidence-based policy look like if we took it seriously?
Thoughts about Liberal Democracy on America’s Birthday
The Perils of Economic Populism
A Tale of TikTok and Tariffs – US Technology Policy Towards China
Center Left Capitalism as the Key to Prosperity
Ronald Coase’s Inimitable Contributions to Evidence-Based Policy
Impeaching Donald Trump was a good Idea
What Stops Executives From Brushing Aside the Rulings of a Pesky Court?
What do we know about Dictatorships?
What are coups and auto-coups and where have they occurred?
Working Papers
Do Patents Foster International Technology Transfer? Evidence from Spanish Steelmaking, 1850-1930.
To Rent or Not to Rent (with Will Gochberg).
Of TikTok and Tariffs: a historical and analytical perspective on Technology Transfer to China (with Nicolas Wittstock).
The Luddites Strike Back: U.S. Innovation Inequality and Trumpism (with Nicolas Wittstock).
Op-eds
In Defense of the Marketplace of Ideas
Why nobody will ever agree on whether COVID lockdowns were worth it
Is Our Cancel Culture Killing Free Speech?
Liberalism and the Threats it Faces
Here’s Why Tech Platforms Might Need Regulation, But not Breaking Up
Why Trump’s Challenges to Democracy will be a Big Problem for Biden
Section #230, Friend, not Foe, of Free Speech
Antitrust in the Crosshairs: How Important is it to Reform Competition Policy?
Breaking up Big Tech: a Solution in Search of a Problem
Democratic Socialism Depends on Robust Capitalism
