BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//eluceo/ical//2.0/EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:d879a666a3a29ad269c9621eab705f1b DTSTAMP:20260612T080232Z SUMMARY:The Higher Research Seminar: Kristen Kao\, University of Gothenburg - “The Effects of Injustice on Legitimacy in Post-Conflict Settings” DESCRIPTION:Contact: Jonathan.Polk@svet.lu.se\n\nAbstractIn post-conflict s ettings\, holding perpetrators accountable is widely viewed as essential f or restoring the rule of law and rebuilding institutional legitimacy. Yet\ , justice providing authorities face the challenge of walking a fine line between under- and over-punishment of former enemies: sanctions perceived as too lenient may signal impunity\, while those viewed as too harsh may a ppear as victor's justice. I argue that legitimacy hinges not on punishmen t per se\, but on proportionality. Building upon work in the psychology of forgiveness and revenge\, I develop the concept of an injustice gap - the distance between the punishment an individual believes is appropriate and the punishment imposed by an authority -and theorize that legitimacy decl ines as this gap widens in either direction.To test this framework\, I fie ld an original\, face-to-face survey experiment embedded in a probability sample of 4\,592 Iraqis across three governorates grappling with reintegra tion after the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS). In a two-stage vign ette design\, respondents first state their preferred punishment for a for mer ISIS collaborator and are then randomly assigned to observe a state ju dge\, tribal leader\, or religious authority imposing a sentence. This des ign permits causal estimates of how both the size and direction of injusti ce gaps affect authority legitimacy.I find that any deviation from respond ents’ proportionality preferences---whether under- or over-punishment--- significantly reduces perceived legitimacy\, and that losses increase with the magnitude of the gap. Importantly\, state authorities suffer substant ially greater legitimacy penalties than customary authorities when punishm ents diverge sharply from public expectations. These effects are especiall y pronounced among citizens associated with the conflict's losing side. Th e findings suggest that accountability strengthens institutions only when punishment aligns with widely held beliefs about proportional justice\, an d that in legally plural settings\, state actors may be more vulnerable th an traditional authorities to legitimacy erosion when justice is perceived as miscalibrated.Kristen KaoKristen Kao \;is \;an Associate Profe ssor with the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenb urg. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from the University o f California\, Los Angeles (UCLA). Kristen is a \;Wallenberg Academy F ellow\, an affiliated scholar of the \; Global Scholars Network on Ide ntity and Conflict \;(GSNIC) at Harvard University\, an \;Evidence in Governance and Politics \;(EGAP) member\, and an \;Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab \;Invited Researcher. She has published wor k on post-conflict reconciliation\, customary authorities\, ethnic politic s\, and forced migration in the top journals in her field including  \ ;American Political Science Review\, \;the \;American Journal of P olitical Science\, \;Comparative Political Studies\, \;and \;W orld Development\, among others. Her edited volume \;Decentralization\ , Local Governance\, and Inequality in the Middle East and North Africa&nb sp\;with Ellen Lust was published with the University of Michigan Press in 2025. In 2019\, her research on post-conflict reconciliation in Iraq won the Franklin L. Burdette Pi Sigma Alpha award for the best paper presented at the American Political Science Association annual meeting. Her work re lies upon mixed methods\, including in-depth fieldwork\, large-n surveys\, and experiments across the Middle East\, Africa\, and Europe. She is curr ently or has previously served as an advisor to the United Nations Interna tional Organization for Migration\, World Bank\, Carter Center\, and Natio nal Democratic Institute\, and is a country expert for the Freedom House a nd the Varieties of Democracy Institute. Kristen is a former Fulbright Sch olar in Egypt and Boren Fellow in Jordan and Kuwait. \;You \;can r ead more about Kristen’s research at \;www.kristenkao.com. \;&nb sp\;The Higher Research Seminar is the main collective seminar of the Depa rtment. The research staff and invited national and international leading scholars present ongoing research and analyses of a broad range of excitin g topics of relevance for Political Science.The Higher Research Seminar is held on Wednesdays\, 13.15 to 14.30 in Eden 367\, unless otherwise indica ted. PhD Mid-term seminars 13:15 to 14:45. \;Convenors: Robert Klemmen sen and Jonathan PolkThe seminars are open to the public. Welcome to join us!The Higher Research Seminar | Department of Political Science\n\nMore i nformation about the event: https://www.svet.lu.se/en/calendar/higher-rese arch-seminar-kristen-kao-university-gothenburg-effects-injustice-legitimac y-post-conflict DTSTART;TZID=GMT:20260304T121500 DTEND;TZID=GMT:20260304T133000 LOCATION:Large conference room\, Eden END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR