Backlash Against Repression: Evidence from Refugees Fleeing the Former Soviet Bloc (WP-26-18)
Valentin Bolotnyy, Mayya Komisarchik, and Brian Libgober
The authors study the effects of state repression on political behavior. Applying a within-family research design to a unique administrative dataset of refugees fleeing former Soviet Bloc countries, they examine the impact of having lived longer in the Soviet Bloc on political behavior once in the United States. Siblings who lived longer in Soviet Bloc countries are significantly more likely to vote in U.S. elections and to affiliate with the Republican Party. The authors document evidence of a backlash against repression mechanism and find supportive evidence for their conclusions in Israel, one of the other major recipients of this refugee population.