Stanford PACS

Engaging scholars, practitioners, and leaders to improve philanthropy and strengthen civil society. Publisher of @SSIReview. RT ≠ endorsement.

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

Climate change impacts are here, but public support for action remains polarized. Which climate messages move people?

In a ~13,500-person megastudy, we tested 10 of the most-cited messages. Six increased pro-environmental attitudes in the U.S.—but only by 1–4 percentage points. 🧵

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

Can AI voter guides help voters decide while remaining accurate, nonpartisan, and trustworthy?

Grateful to @stanfordimpact for their grant supporting our next work on this, building on work led by @jsmernyk & @JonneKamphorst:

https://t.co/4H3OssUkIu

[Politics and Social Change Lab @pascl_stanford]

Congrats to our own @RobbWiller on being awarded the 2026 #GuggenheimFellowship for his outstanding and innovative work in #Sociology!

Read more about the @GuggFellows: https://t.co/W6S5JxRoTs

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

Very grateful to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship. I’ve been so lucky to have such incredible students, collaborators, and mentors whose coattails I’ve hitched myself to for many years. Above all, I feel very lucky that I get to work on topics I care deeply about with collaborators who are also my friends.✊❤️#guggfellows2026

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

@Nature has published three groundbreaking papers on reproducibility, analytical robustness, and replicability across the social sciences. Sincere thanks are due to the many folks who contributed to these projects. It’s painstaking work, and a great service to social science.

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

Chicago-bound for #SPSP2026?

Quick plug to the Politics & Social Change Lab affiliates presenting talks & posters on perceived coalitions, issue advocacy, media framing, inequality, social media & well-being, and other topics. Very proud of them and their work! 😀

Details below 👇

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

🚨New WP: Can an AI voter guide (grounded in information from a nonpartisan, fact-checked source) help voters’ decision making? 🚨

We built and evaluated an LLM-based chatbot that provided voting info in CA & TX (N=2,474) right before the 2024 election. 🧵👇

[Politics and Social Change Lab @pascl_stanford]

Many wise insights from @GovCox & @ezraklein. @GovCox rightly notes his 2020 video w Chris Peterson was among most impactful in Strengthening Democracy Challenge, a striking example of cross-party engagement

Grateful for their commitment. Hear it: 👇

https://t.co/48tWoBBOK9

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

It is great, and not at all surprising, to see @GovCox stepping up in this moment to try to turn the temperature down and focus ppl on grieving the tragic killing of Charlie Kirk.

For years, Governor Cox has promoted civility and grace across party lines. Our research finds that his message - that ppl can disagree without resorting to hate or violence - is persuasive when Americans see it.
👇

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

Reactions to political violence *really* matter.

Two forces reliably shape support for it:
(1) what people hear from their party leaders, and,
(2) what they think the other side believes.

We must guard our norms by condemning political violence, full stop.

[Tricia Raikes @TriciaRaikes]

When we design systems with young people—not for them—we unlock solutions that last. WA’s progress to #EndYouthHomelessness shows what’s possible when philanthropy invests in true #YouthEmpowerment.
More in my @StanfordPACS blog.🔗 https://t.co/DHs0Iy2UmF #InternationalYouthDay

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

Read our @nytimes op-ed to see some of the history and research behind this strategy →
https://t.co/RbOhsVW00X

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

Saturday's No Kings protests were massive, inclusive, and nonviolent. It was an honor to team up with @owasow to analyze how nonviolent resistance can wins hearts, minds, and elections.

[Politics and Social Change Lab @pascl_stanford]

Congratulations to lab alumn @baixx062 on the release of his academic party game, Publish or Perish! Very excited to have received our copies in the mail – thanks, Max!

You can check out Max's game here 👇
https://t.co/jXeoKsD6GP

[Politics and Social Change Lab @pascl_stanford]

Great thread from @RobbWiller highlighting how our lab's work (and other research in the social sciences) supports @BernieSanders call for non-violent resistance

[Robb Willer @RobbWiller]

Bernie is well aligned with the social science literature in this take.

There's good reason "non-violent discipline" is core to activist training.

Some of the relevant research ITT 👇

[Stanford Social Innovation Review @SSIReview]

We invite you to a free live webinar hosted by Stanford Social Innovation Review, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, and DAFgiving360. Explore the motivations, attitudes, and giving preferences of younger donors in depth. https://t.co/cODdBFj9J2

[Stanford PACS @StanfordPACS]

Join us & @StanfordCyber on Thursday, February 6 for our next TCP Speaker Series talk!

@BiellaColeman, Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University, will discuss the rise of new hacktivist tactics.

RSVP to join us: https://t.co/psHIyIVkTE

[Gene Takagi @GTak]

Must read: Philanthropy and Digital Civil Society: Blueprint 2025 - The Annual Industry Forecast https://t.co/ZvPotcllpV - Lucy Bernholz, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (Stanford PACS)

[The Chronicle of Philanthropy @Philanthropy]

Opinion: The focus of philanthropy's 2025 buzzwords is power — who has it and how to get more of it. The field must contend with the influence some entities have over the day-to-day lives of the people it serves. At the same time, the nonprofit world isn’t immune to seeking power and influence itself. https://t.co/BQirjtiUm4
@p2173