Shelley Liu

OFFICE

Shelley Liu is an assistant professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy. Her primary research and teaching focuses on issues relating to conflict, development, and state-building in fragile political contexts. Her ongoing research projects examine (1) how war shapes politics and development, (2) citizen agency in state legibility projects, and (3) the determinants of polarization, politicization, and disengagement. Liu's research has been published in the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Peace Research, PLOS ONE, Political Science Research and Methods, Politics & Society, and World Politics.

Prior to joining Duke faculty, Liu was an assistant professor at UC Berkeley, Goldman School of Public Policy. She holds a PhD in government from Harvard University (2020).

Ventura, Tiago, Rajeshwari Majumdar, Shelley X. Liu, Carolina Torreblanca, and Joshua A. Tucker. “Reducing Social Media Usage During Elections: Evidence from a Multi-Country WhatsApp Experiment.” Center for Open Science, March 23, 2026. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/zrsqw_v1.
Bowles, J., K. Croke, H. Larreguy, S. Liu, and J. Marshall. “Sustaining Exposure to Fact-Checks: Misinformation Discernment, Media Consumption, and Its Political Implications.” American Political Science Review 119, no. 4 (November 1, 2025): 1864–87. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055424001394.
Liu, S. X. “From Politicization to Vigilance: The Post-war Legacies of Wartime Victimization.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 69, no. 5 (May 1, 2025): 868–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220027241268533.
Liu, S. “Coercive Legacies: From Rebel Governance to Authoritarian Control.” Journal of Politics 86, no. 4 (October 1, 2024): 1129–45. https://doi.org/10.1086/729947.
Larreguy, H., and S. X. Liu. “When does education increase political participation? Evidence from Senegal.” Political Science Research and Methods 12, no. 2 (April 1, 2024): 354–71. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2023.37.