Bio
I am a PhD Candidate studying political science at the University of California Davis. I research the cleavage lines driving contention, dislike, and distrust in western democracies, with an emphasis on populism and affective polarization in Europe. I am particularly interested in the role that elites (partisan, religious, or otherwise) play in (de)polarizing their constituents. My research uses both observational and experimental methods to address this question.
I grew up in Everett, Washington, and have lived in Utah, Virginia, and now California.
Education
PhD in Political Science (expected) | University of California Davis
BA in Political Science, 2021 | Brigham Young University
Research interests
Populism | Affective Polarization | Support for Democracy | Monarchy
Book
- Adams, James, Josephine Andrews, Timea Balogh, Braeden Davis, Alexa Federice, Noam Gidron, and Will Horne. 2026. Who Attacks Whom? The Correlates of Media Reports of Inter-party Conflict and Cooperation Between European Elites. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Elements series (edited by Catherine De Vries and Gary Marks). Under contract, manuscript conditionally accepted.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Adams, James, Josephine Andrews, Braeden Davis, and Alexa Federice. 2026. “Who Attacks Whom? The Determinants of Cross-National Conflict in the European Union: Populism and Euroscepticism.” European Union Politics. Available Here
- Davis, Braeden, David Dow, Jeremy Springman, and Juan Tellez. 2026. “Public Support for National Dialogue: Evidence from University Students in Ethiopia.” Journal of Conflict Resolution. Available Here
- Davis, Braeden. 2025. “The Left-Right Divide in Democratic Disappointment and Support for Populists in Europe.” Government and Opposition. Available Here
- Davis, Braeden and Yu-Shiuan Huang. 2025. “Happy and Glorious? Experimental Evidence on the Sometimes-Unifying Effects of the British Monarchy.” Electoral Studies. Available Here
- Davis, Braeden, Jay Goodliffe, Kirk Hawkins. 2025. “The Two-Way Effects of Populism on Affective Polarization.” Comparative Political Studies. Available Here
Working Papers
- Davis, Braeden. “The Negative Effects of Anti-Populist Rhetoric on Elections and Polarization: Experimental Evidence from Germany.”
- Davis, Braeden and Alexa Federice. “How to Treat Populists: Elite Conflict and Changes in European Parties’ Vote Shares.” Available Here
- Davis, Braeden and Joseph Hoskisson. “(de)Polarized Saints: Religious Elite Messaging and Affective Polarization Amongst Latter-day Saints.”