Charlie Kirk & Liberalism: The Impact on Children and How to Build a Better World

A former colleague wrote to me after the last few days of my social media posts — many of which have focused around Charlie Kirk.

In one breath he thanked me for offering an alternative narrative on what has been happening, said we live in an abundant world that affords us the “luxury” of being divided, and suggested we perhaps talk and catch up over lunch sometime.

However, in another breath, he called my rhetoric “reprehensible,” especially around Charlie Kirk; pointing out the supposed hypocrisy of condemning violence while “justifying it” and “blaming the victim,” and argued that my politics are as harmful as, if not worse than, Kirk’s.

Concerns About Our Children

He framed much of his concern around the well-being of children and urged tamping down “vocal radicals on both sides” and a return to centrist common ground, adding that while he’d never been a fan of Kirk, his first read is that Kirk is “generally good” — as, he believes, am I.

He noted that all of this was said within the good spirit of discourse. I’m taking him at his word. Originally this was going to simply be a message back to him. But the topic is super important and merits larger discussion. Plus, after hours upon hours of research and writing, I kind of want it to reach a larger audience than one.

What follows is organized around the themes laid out by that colleague — violence, children, “both sides,” and Kirk — and what the evidence actually says about them.

Chapters

A happy family is juxtaposed against scared children practicing for a school shooting.
A happy family is juxtaposed against scared children practicing for a school shooting.

Condoning or Condemning Violence & The Duality of People

If we want to end violence, we first need to understand what is leading people to violence. And solve those underlying problems. I don’t condone violence, nor do most people, I genuinely think, but it is important to know why people are angry, and what is leading them down those paths.

It is important to know where the divisions are and why they are widening. And, without a doubt, Charlie Kirk widened divisions and sowed violence. To not share and digest that information would be to put our heads in the sand.

Acknowledging this does not equate to condoning violence or saying that Charlie Kirk deserved to die.

I can truly say that I have never said anyone deserves to die. I don’t even like saying that I hate Trump or wish he would die. And it would be untrue if I did say that — because I only feel a deep sadness and disappointment when it comes to who Trump is and what he could do with his life. And I don’t generally think his death would make anything materially better — someone else would simply take his place and the cycle would continue.

And this is exactly how I feel about Charlie Kirk as well (and have said as much repeatedly.)

In that same vein, I think even killers and terrible criminals deserve a modicum of humanity and respect (and, to be clear, there is a large case to be made that people like Trump and Kirk have contributed to mass death and engaged in other terrible criminal activity) — even if they don’t return the kindness.

I have very strong beliefs — backed by evidence — that using dehumanizing language, even with criminals and killers, makes our society worse. And that things like capital punishment and corporal punishment make society more violent.

I can’t say that I’ve ever called Republicans, or even hard-right extremists, “animals” or “savages” or “terrible human beings” or “dumb” or “stupid.” The closest I might come to having said something like that is to say they’ve done terrible things or are fascists (which is more of a descriptor than an insult or slur).

At no point have I said Charlie Kirk is a bad person. At no point have I said he deserved to die or should rot in hell. And that’s because I don’t believe these things.

But, without a doubt, Charlie Kirk said and did terrible things. And this is worth ruminating on — especially now, when we are in a prime state for self-reflection. I hope we’ll all take the moment to ponder the role he undoubtedly played in the world around us, and, yes, his own death, so we can avoid repeating what happened to Charlie Kirk and others.

Charlie Kirk’s Beliefs & Impacts

Truthfully, I think all people have both flaws and good qualities. They are not entirely good or bad (Charlie and myself included). I kind of hate ascribing labels like that to people — because they are complex, and everyone believes themselves to be the hero of their story.

It would be oversimplistic to say that Charlie Kirk was a bad person. So, instead, I will say that I think he put far more hate, hurt, suffering, and discord into the world than he put healing, love, wonder, hope, and bridge-building into the world. I think he moved us backward as a society and devolved our discourse, instead of moving us forward and elevating discourse.

That view rests on two things: 1) a documented pattern of spreading false and misleading claims alongside inflammatory rhetoric, and 2) a large body of peer-reviewed research showing how misinformation and inflammatory rhetoric degrade public health, trust, and social cohesion.

Just a few examples of Charlie Kirk’s documented pattern of false claims:

  • He falsely claimed Maricopa County “intentionally reduced the polling places.” Independent verification shows the county increased the number compared with 2020.
  • He amplified an evidence-free rumor that actor Jamie Foxx was “paralyzed and blind” due to a COVID-19 vaccine; fact-checkers found no evidence for this.
  • He misled audiences by asserting “White House staff is not required to be vaccinated,” which contradicted federal policy.
  • He promoted unfounded claims casting routine voter-registration activity in Arizona as a coordinated effort to “inject chaos” into the election process; election experts said the claim lacked support.
  • He publicly supported false claims that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud. (It wasn’t. Trump’s own investigatory team said it was the “most secure election ever.”)

And a few choice quotes highlighting his inflammatory and dehumanizing rhetoric:

  • “Islam is not compatible with western civilization.”
  • Reiterated Vivek Ramaswamy’s “…Transgenderism is a mental health disorder.”
  • “We must defeat these savages. Stand with Trump. Take back America. Get to work.”
  • “Allowing violent criminals to vote, including animals like the Boston Marathon Bombers.”
  • “The most critical fight for America’s future is removing 20 million illegal invaders.”
  • “They don’t want ‘refugees.’ They want the great replacement…”

And this matters because…

  • Misinformation erodes pro-social public-health behavior. A large randomized trial in Nature Human Behaviour (UK/US samples; >8,000 participants) found that brief exposure to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation reduced vaccination intent by ~6 percentage points. Reviews in Nature Medicine reach similar conclusions about the public-health harms of misinformation.
  • Vaccine skepticism is associated with preventable harm. A JAMA Internal Medicine analysis linking voter registration data to mortality in Florida and Ohio found substantially higher excess death rates among Republicans after vaccines became widely available — consistent with lower uptake driven by skepticism. (While the study does not attribute causation to any one figure, it demonstrates the stakes of misinformation-driven doubt.)
  • Incivility degrades democratic trust. A meta-analysis of experimental studies in Human Communication Research shows political incivility reduces political trust; classic lab experiments likewise found televised incivility undermines confidence in government. When public voices normalize incivility, discourse devolves.
  • Dehumanizing and hostile rhetoric increases openness to harm. Experimental work in PNAS shows that dehumanizing language (e.g. referring to people as “animals” or “savages”) increases instrumental violence against out-groups; cross-national studies link online hostility to offline aggression. (These studies speak to mechanisms — how rhetoric that strips opponents of full humanity can fuel real-world harm.)
  • Online hate and fear speech spread widely and correlate with offline incidents. Research using outages and quasi-experiments finds spikes in anti-refugee sentiment on social media predict more attacks on marginalized groups, such as refugees.

Additional notes regarding Charlie Kirk, his rhetoric, and its impact:

  • Kirk’s fetishization and idolatry of unlimited gun rights at the cost of any and all life — and his support for policies that ensure that — have without a doubt killed people. (See: “I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”)
    • Robust studies have found that comprehensive packages of firearm laws implemented together were associated with reductions in firearm deaths (especially when enacted nationally), that gun reform reduces mass shootings and accelerates decline in firearm deaths, and that that surrendering guns can lead to gigantic declines in suicides.
  • Meanwhile, Kirk’s attacks on transgender people, marriage equality, immigrants, and other marginalized groups contribute to murders and suicides in these communities as well — and makes America more dangerous overall by sowing division and discord.
    • Studies have found that things like marriage equality and transgender healthcare is strongly correlated with substantial reductions in suicides, suicide attempts, and suicide ideation, along with better mental health outcomes in general for people.

How am I Any Different?

Generally, I try to keep my beliefs grounded in reality, based on research from experts who know far more than me, and generally grounded in love, hope, compassion, and growth. I support things like universal basic income (UBI), universal healthcare, marriage equality, transgender healthcare, DEI, the separation of church and state, “defunding” the police, etc. because studies show these make individuals, communities, and countries safer, stronger, more resilient, and more cohesive:

  • Universal/large-scale UCTs improve family stability. A UCT (unconditional cash transfer) is essentially a UBI by a different name. And a robust body of research shows they don’t produce the mass work disincentives critics predict. They can also improve household stability and well-being — key ingredients of community resilience.
  • Universal healthcare saves lives. Multiple studies show that universal healthcare and other robust social healthcare programs are strongly associated with fewer deaths, better household stability, fewer evictions, and reduced infant mortality.
  • Marriage equality and transgender healthcare saves lives and measurably improve happiness and health for individuals and families. As noted above, studies have found that these are strongly correlated with substantial reductions in suicides, suicide attempts, and suicide ideation.
  • DEI and Affirmative Action lead to more cohesive, meritocracy-based societies. Studies show that DEI leads to less prejudice, safer communities, and — for what it’s worth — more sales, customers, market share, and profits. Meanwhile, studies show that Affirmative Action gets us closer to a meritocracy and levels the playing field in a deeply unfair world.
  • Separation of church and state leads to less hostile societies. Societies with lower state entanglement with religion (more neutrality/separation) tend to experience fewer religion-related hostilities, a building block of social cohesion.
  • Funding mental health assistance, unarmed responses to certain emergency calls, and preventative programs — instead of weapons and manpower — can reduce crime significantly. Studies show that when police funding is focused on more mental health teams, unarmed responders for specific calls, and prevention investments (such as summer job programs), crime of all types see significant reductions.

What About the Children?

So how do Charlie Kirk’s beliefs and rhetoric stack up when it comes to protecting or hurting children?

  • The misinformation he spread killed children and increased family instability. The research shows misinformation lowers vaccination and other pro-social health behaviors, which means more preventable illness and death for the kids themselves — and more kids losing parents, caregivers, and classmates.
  • His rhetoric has contributed to bullying, community tension, and child suicide. Incivility and dehumanization make real violence more likely; children live with the anxiety, bullying, and community tensions that follow, and targeted kids — LGBTQ+ and immigrant youth in particular — face higher rates of harassment, trauma, and suicide risk.
  • The policies he supported killed children. When public voices defend gun deaths as an acceptable trade-off, they help block the very policies proven to reduce youth shootings and suicides.

Charlie Kirk’s style of politics doesn’t just “polarize” — it traumatizes children, and in too many cases, it kills them.

But what about me? What are my views — and how do they impact children?

So now that you know Charlie Kirk’s views and their impacts, here’s a look at mine.

  • Kids do best when they have two or more consistent parental figures in the home, their home life is stable, and the adults raising them are materially supported (paid leave, food/housing security, child benefits).
    • Systematic reviews link paid parental leave with better infant and maternal health; large quasi-experimental studies show that increasing family resources reduces food insecurity and improves child outcomes.
  • Children need ample time with parents, especially during critical development stages. But they also need to be able to assert their independence and be treated with respect — especially as they get older.
    • Decades of research in self-determination theory finds that autonomy-supportive parenting (guidance without psychological control) is associated with better mental health and achievement; psychological control predicts worse outcomes.
  • Children benefit from a cohesive community that supports their growth (including teachers, neighbors, extended family, friends, church leaders, etc.).
    • Studies show that community “social capital” and collective efficacy are linked with better life chances for kids and lower neighborhood violence.
  • Children need a lot of outdoor time away from computers and devices. This benefits their physical health, mental health, and immune system. As they get older, there should be limits on their time online and engaging with social media or AI bots.
    • Meta-analyses and multi-country studies associate access to greenspace with better child mental and physical health. Evidence on screens is mixed (effects are usually small), but excessive and problematic use correlates with poorer well-being — so balanced limits make sense.
  • Children need to be able to explore. Curiosity needs to be encouraged. And adults need to give them truthful answers, even when they’re hard.
    • Studies show that autonomy-supportive, respectful communication improves motivation, mood, and coping; kids learn best when adults validate their perspective and offer real answers.
  • Children need to be able to be themselves. And they need to be able to explore the rich diversity of life and human experience to find out who they are.
    • The largest meta-analyses in social psychology show that (well-structured) contact with diverse others reliably reduces prejudice and improves intergroup attitudes. That’s important for both classroom climate and civic life.
  • Children absolutely must not be forced into a box or carry the burden of their parents unfulfilled dreams, desires, or expectations.
    • Research on psychological control consistently links “controlling”/invalidating parenting with poorer autonomy development and well-being.
  • Children’s outbursts and bad behavior need to be properly approached and treated as the attempts at communication that they are — instead of being punished to “teach them a lesson.”
    • Meta-analyses and RCT syntheses show parent-training approaches (PMT, PCIT, Incredible Years) reduce kids’ disruptive behavior and improve parent–child relationships. In contrast, spanking/corporal punishment is associated with worse outcomes across 100K+ children and multiple meta-analyses; major pediatric bodies advise against it.
  • Children deserve rigorous, truthful education — real history, systemic context, and critical thinking — focused on application, not rote memorization. Funding small classes and great teachers is critical to ensuring every student gets tailored attention.
    • Active-learning and critical-thinking approaches outperform rote methods in large meta-analyses; smaller classes and effective teachers are linked to long-term gains in earnings and college attendance (Project STAR RCT; value-added teacher studies). School finance reforms that increase spending also improve adult outcomes.
  • Children should grow up in non-violent environments — and our normalization of school shootings and other gun violence, instead of enacting common sense gun legislation, has had an incredibly damaging effect and made society as a whole more violent, stressed, and divided.
    • The strongest public-health evidence indicates some “common-sense” laws reduce shootings: purchaser licensing/permit-to-purchase is associated with sizable drops in firearm homicides/suicides; child-access prevention laws reduce youth injuries; Stand-Your-Ground and permissive carry laws are linked with higher homicides.
  • Intersex children should not be physically mutilated and forced into a binary box because society has been reduced to black and white thinking. At minimum, there should be a third sex / gender to ensure these kids grow up whole and healthy.
    • Multiple pediatric and endocrine consensus statements note the low-quality evidence for benefits of early, irreversible surgeries for differences in sex development and recommend caution and shared, patient-centered decision-making — deferring non-urgent surgery until the individual can participate.

The Need for a Shared Reality: Charlie Kirk as a Human Being

Now, I know thus far I’ve been pretty critical of Charlie Kirk. But that’s not all there is to Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk was loved by his family. He was a motivational speaker who gave uplifting speeches that inspired many. He stood up for his Christian values and Constitutional ideals. He provided a platform for people with different views than him to speak.

This is all true. And many who exist in predominantly moderate and centrist Christian or conservative social spaces might only ever see this part of him, especially if they mostly experience him through social media or reels — because that is what the algorithm will feed you.

Similarly, for those who exist in more liberal, leftist, and hard-right spaces, they will see many of the problematic, misogynistic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, and xenophobic things he said, instead. They will see the stochastic terrorism he engaged in and the culture of hate he fostered that contributed to his death.

And this side of Charlie Kirk is also true. Both of these are who Charlie Kirk was.

It’s Not as Simple as Good vs. Evil

Let me be clear: The shooter is FULLY responsible for their actions. And violence should NEVER be the answer to disagreements. I’m hard-pressed to say that violence should ever even be the response to violence. (I would like to believe we can move beyond violence in general as the solution to our problems.)

But I stand by my belief that those actions do not exist in a vacuum. They are impacted by the environment they happen in — such as being swayed to join a culture war or having easy access to guns. We have to be able to talk about that fact plainly and realistically — yes, even posthumously — if we want to prevent future deaths like those of Charlie Kirk and Melissa Hortman. There is NO “good” time to talk about this. There is ONLY the time we have — which is now.

People are complex. I have said before that I do not like calling people “good” or “bad” because of this fact. The truth is that Charlie Kirk certainly put good into the world, but he also put hurt and hate into the world. These things can be simultaneously true. They are not mutually exclusive. Accepting this, and seeing how it ties into the violent world we’re creating, is key to stepping backward from it.

And you guys, my 74-year-old conservative Mormon mother can see this! She admires many of the things Charlie Kirk said, but has also found some of the things he said deeply disturbing and concerning. If she can see it, why can’t we?

Looking Inward to Heal from Trauma

I would wager that everyone in the United States has been traumatized from this in one form or another. For people on the Left it’s another unfortunate example of increasing gun violence and political extremism. For people on the Right it’s losing an icon and role model.

People on both the Left and Right need to ponder the complexity of Charlie Kirk as a human being and do some self-reflection in order to begin healing from this individual and collective trauma.

Maybe that means people on the Left could show a little more compassion for those reeling from an act of gun violence (even if those same people might not show compassion themselves when the shoe is on the other foot). And I will lead by example by saying that what happened to Charlie Kirk was a tragedy, it is my belief that it is always sad when human life is snuffed out, that my heart goes out to people who are hurting right now, and I truly do hope we all heal from this — individually and collectively.

Meanwhile, people on the Right should really consider looking in a mirror as they grapple with this loss, because the bulk of domestic terrorism and gun violence is coming from your own house. 57%-90% of domestic terrorism is committed by right-wing extremists. 96%-98% of mass shooters are male. 52% of mass shooters are white. In mass shootings where political extremism is a factor (which is a small subset of mass shootings), essentially all have been linked to far-right extremism (split between white supremacy and anti-government ideologies). If you are looking for answers on how we can prevent tragedies like this in the future, the solution is quite literally in your hands.

If we can have a realistic, shared view of the world, and stop listening to people when they foment violence, tomorrow will be so much better. I truly do believe that we can all wake up tomorrow and decide things should be different, and they would be.

How to Build a Better World

Kindness and common ground can’t mean averting our eyes from lies, dehumanization, or policies that reliably traumatize and kill kids. We can argue about taxes and tactics; we can’t “both-sides” the acceptability of youth suicides, school shootings, or rhetoric that makes kids less safe and destabilizes their families and communities.

I’ll keep highlighting harmful policies and beliefs plainly — and offering evidence-backed solutions — because not doing so makes our world worse. I encourage everyone to reduce harm and keep more children alive by expanding belonging, applying compassionate, loving, evidence-based concepts to their own behavior and lives, and promoting supportive, uplifting, evidence-based policies.

If that’s “radical,” then so be it.

Sources & Citations

Charlie Kirk’s Misinformation

PolitiFact: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/nov/09/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-wrong-maricopa-county-did-not-reduce/

PolitiFact: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/jun/05/charlie-kirk/no-evidence-to-support-the-claim-that-jamie-foxx-i/

FactCheck: https://www.factcheck.org/2021/08/scicheck-charlie-kirk-misleads-on-white-house-vaccine-policy/

FactCheck: https://www.factcheck.org/2024/10/post-misrepresents-impact-of-voter-registrations-delivered-to-maricopa-county/

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/who-is-trump-ally-conservative-activist-charlie-kirk-2025-09-10/

CHarlie Kirk’s Dehumanizing & Hostile Language

Charlie Kirk on X: https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1796295900467486880

Charlie Kirk on X: https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1848151365303804387

Charlie Kirk on X: https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1929357064754589868

Charlie Kirk on X: https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1707444999573668100

Charlie Kirk on X: https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1936982278477107402

Charlie Kirk on X: https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1922355132710453697

Charlie Kirk Live in SLC: https://awakenaudio.podbean.com/e/charlie-kirk-live-in-slc/

Studies on Misinformation & Harmful Language

Measuring the impact of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on vaccination intent in the UK and USA: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01056-1

Misinformation: susceptibility, spread, and interventions to immunize the public: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01713-6

Social media and attitudes towards a COVID-19 vaccination: A systematic review of the literature: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9120591/

Excess Death Rates for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2807617

The New Videomalaise: Effects of Televised Incivility on Political Trust: https://www.asc.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/2021-03/The%20New%20Videomalaise-%20Effects%20of%20Televised%20Incivility%20on%20Political%20Trust.pdf

Dehumanization increases instrumental violence, but not moral violence: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1705238114

Social contagion of ethnic hostility: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1720317115

Fanning the Flames of Hate: Social Media and Hate Crime: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/centres/cage/publications/workingpapers/2018/fanning_the_flames_of_hate_social_media_and_hate_crime/

On the rise of fear speech in online social media: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2212270120

Studies on Gun Violence

Do Gun Buybacks Save Lives? Evidence from Panel Data: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1631130

Association Between Gun Law Reforms and Intentional Firearm Deaths in Australia, 1979-2013: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27332876/

The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States, Fourth Edition: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11630101/

How Gun Policies Affect Outcomes: What the Evidence Shows: https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy.html

Studies on LGBTQ Issues

Difference-in-Differences Analysis of the Association Between State Same-Sex Marriage Policies and Adolescent Suicide Attempts: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2604258

The Impact of Institutional Discrimination on Psychiatric Disorders in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: A Prospective Study: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2009.168815

Structural Stigma and LGBTQ+ Health: A Narrative Review of Quantitative Studies: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanpub/PIIS2468-2667%2823%2900312-2.pdf

Pubertal Suppression for Transgender Youth and Risk of Suicidal Ideation: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31974216/

Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender-Affirming Care: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2789423

Association Between Gender-Affirming Surgeries and Mental Health Outcomes: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/2779429

Antitrans Policy Environment and Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Transgender and Nonbinary Adults: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2822715

Studies on UBI / UCT

The Labor Market Impacts of Universal and Permanent Cash Transfers: Evidence from the Alaska Permanent Fund: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2Fpol.20190299

Cash transfers and labor supply: Evidence from a large-scale program in Iran: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304387818306084

Unconditional cash transfers and mental health symptoms among parents with low incomes: Evidence from the 2021 child tax credit: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10148983/

Studies on Universal Healthcare

Changes in mortality after Massachusetts health care reform: a quasi-experimental study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24798521/

Association Between State-Level Medicaid Expansion and Eviction Rates: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2800212

Progress towards universal health coverage and inequalities in infant mortality: an analysis of 4·1 million births from 60 low-income and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2019: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X%2824%2900040-8/fulltext

Studies on DEI & Affirmative Action

A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16737372/

Inclusive Anti-Bullying Policies and Reduced Risk of Suicide Attempts in Lesbian and Gay Youth: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3696185/

Does Diversity Pay?: Race, Gender, and the Business Case for Diversity: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000312240907400203

Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257%2F0002828042002561

Are Affirmative Action Hires Less Qualified? Evidence from Employer-Employee Data on New Hires: https://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/dps/pdfs/dp111396.pdf

The effects of affirmative action in higher education: https://collaborate.princeton.edu/en/publications/the-effects-of-affirmative-action-in-higher-education

Affirmative action and its race-neutral alternatives: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004727272300021X

How does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Meta-analytic tests of three mediators: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.504

Social capital I: measurement and associations with economic mobility: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04996-4

Studies on the Separation of Church & State

Global Restrictions on Religion Rise Modestly in 2015: https://www.pewforum.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2017/04/Pew-Research-Center-Religious-Restrictions-2017-FULL-REPORT.pdf

Studies on Police Funding

A community response approach to mental health and substance abuse crises reduced crime: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abm2106

Mobile Crisis Response Teams Support Better Policing: Evidence from CAHOOTS: https://www.nber.org/papers/w33761

Summer jobs reduce violence among disadvantaged youth: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25477459/

Studies on Child Development

The Effects of School Spending on Educational & Economic Outcomes: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w20847/w20847.pdf

Do Teachers Feel Active Shooter Drills Work? A Study of Effectiveness, Safety, and Decisions to Transfer or Quit: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2372966X.2025.2500910

Meta-meta-analysis on the effectiveness of parent-based interventions for the treatment of child externalizing behavior problems: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6157840/

The Efficacy of Parent Management Training With or Without Involving the Child in the Treatment Among Children with Clinical Levels of Disruptive Behavior: A Meta-analysis: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10796477/

Effectiveness of the Incredible Years parent training to modify disruptive and prosocial child behavior: A meta-analytic review: https://www.incredibleyears.com/hubfs/The%20Incredible%20Years-%20Resources%20and%20Files/WP%20Files/Menting-de-Castro-Matthys-2013.pdf

Spanking and child outcomes: Old controversies and new meta-analyses: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27055181/

Effective Discipline to Raise Healthy Children: https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/142/6/e20183112/37452/Effective-Discipline-to-Raise-Healthy-Children

Parental Psychological Control: Maternal, Adolescent, and Contextual Predictors: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712087/full

A moment of autonomy support brightens adolescents’ mood: Autonomy support, psychological control and adolescent affect in everyday life: https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.13942

Measurement of Parental Autonomy Support: A Review of Theoretical Concerns and Developmental Considerations: https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/2020_McCurdyWilliamsEtAl_Measurement.pdf

Parental Psychological Control: Maternal, Adolescent, and Contextual Predictors: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712087/full