About Me

Do authoritarian regimes erode public support for dissent by framing protesters as foreign agents and under what conditions is this strategy most effective? While prior research shows that regimes can legitimize repression by portraying protesters as violent or immoral, this paper examines a distinct yet underexplored tactic: discrediting dissent through narratives of foreign interference. I argue that framing protesters as agents of hostile foreign powers activates nationalist sentiment, delegitimizes protest, and increases public support for repression. Using a pre-registered survey experiment conducted among the Chinese public, I plan to test whether exposure to foreign interference narratives lowers support for protests against national policies, increases support for state repression, and reduces willingness to protest. I also test whether these effects are amplified when protesters make direct challenges to the regime, revealing a strategic dilemma: the more fundamental and threatening the demands, the more vulnerable protesters become to discrediting efforts. Subgroup analyses will also be conducted to analyze whether these effects are strongest among individuals high in nationalism, since these populations might be particularly receptive to anti-foreign propaganda. This research aims to highlight how anti-foreign propaganda shapes public opinion and show how nationalism indirectly bolsters authoritarian durability.

Do individuals from authoritarian regimes become more supportive of democracy when they study in democratic countries? The prevailing view in the literature holds that exposure to democratic institutions and norms fosters pro-democratic attitudes among those who are directly exposed to them. However, individual-level tests of this exposure thesis are lacking. This paper challenges the assumption that exposure alone changes political preferences. I argue that international education promotes support for democracy only when students perceive democratic systems as more effective in addressing social and economic problems. When perceived performance is low, exposure may produce little attitudinal change or even reinforce existing regime support. I test this argument using an original online survey of Chinese international students across twelve democratic host countries, comparing prospective students with those who have studied abroad for at least one year. The results reveal no systematic difference in democratic support between the two groups but strong associations between perceived economic performance by hosting democracies and democratic attitudes. These findings clarify the individual-level mechanisms linking international education to democratization and highlight the limits of political socialization through exposure to democratic environments.