Joshua A. Tucker

Julius Silver, Roslyn S. Silver, and Enid Silver Winslow Professor

Department of Politics, New York University

Director, NYU Jordan Center for Advanced Study of Russia Co-Director, NYU Center for Social Media and Politics (CSMAP)

Joshua A. Tucker is a Julius Silver, Roslyn S. Silver, and Enid Silver Winslow Professor, Director of the Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, Co-Director of the NYU Center for Social Media, AI, and Politcs (CSMAP), and Professor of Politics with affiliated appointments in Russian and Slavic Studies and Data Science at New York University.

Tucker’s research originally focused on comparative politics, examining mass political behavior in East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, including elections, voting behavior, public opinion, and protest movements. For over a decade, he has also explored social and digital media’s intersection with politics through CSMAP, studying echo chambers, polarization, foreign influence campaigns, social media exposure effects, protest networks, information environments, authoritarian responses to online opposition, foreign influence campaigns, and a more recent line of research around AI, political science research, and politics.

His published books include Regional Economic Voting (Cambridge University Press, 2006), Communism’s Shadow: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Political Attitudes (Princeton University Press, 2017, co-authored with Grigore Pop-Eleches), and Social Media and Democracy: The State of the Field (Cambridge University Press, 2020, co-edited with Nathaniel Persily).

His research has appeared in has appeared in top general scientific journals including Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and political science journals, including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and The Journal of Politics. He was includied in the Clarivate Top 1% most-cited researchers globally list in 2024 and 2025. In 2006, he received the Emerging Scholar Award for Elections and Voting Behavior research.

Research Interests

Social media and politics Political polarization and echo chambers Online information ecosystem Foreign influence campaigns Comparative politics Elections and voting behavior Post-communist politics Public opinion Political protest

Recent Recognition

  • 2026 Best Paper in Political Behavior Award, Midwest Political Science Association (Ventura et al.)
  • 2025 Appointed Julius Silver, Roslyn S. Silver, and Enid Silver Winslow Professor, NYU
  • 2025 Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher (Top 1%, Social Sciences)
  • 2024 Political Ties Award, APSA Political Networks (González-Bailón et al.)

Recent Publications See all →

Rathje, Steve, Nejla Asimovic, Tiago Ventura, Sarah Mughal, Hannah Karsting, Claire Robertson, Christopher Barrie, Joshua A. Tucker, and Jay Van Bavel Nature, Forthcoming
Casas, Andreu, Oscar Stuhler, Julia Payson, Joshua A. Tucker, Richard Bonneau, and Jonathan Nagler The Journal of Politics, Forthcoming
Chen, Haohan, James Bisbee, Joshua A. Tucker, and Jonathan Nagler Political Science Research and Methods, Forthcoming
Allcott, Hunt, Matthew Gentzkow, Ro'ee Levy, et al., and Joshua A. Tucker Nature Human Behaviour, 2026
Allcott, Hunt, Matthew Gentzkow, Benjamin Wittenbrink, et al., and Joshua A. Tucker NBER Working Paper 33697, 2025