Lucie Lu

I study international relations and political communication. My research investigates how authoritarian leaders use media to engage with a broad support base, shape the public’s perceptions of government performance, and counter-react to international criticism. My dissertation studies how soft autocrats use state-run media to communicate with their citizens when their domestic practices violate international norms, with a regional focus on China. My primary methodological interest is in the text as data for social science research, with related interests in machine learning and causal inference.