Home>Three Sciences Po PhD Students Published in the Prestigious American Political Science Review
8 April 2026
Three Sciences Po PhD Students Published in the Prestigious American Political Science Review
Congratulations to Malo Jan, Luis Sattelmayer, and Théodore Tallent, three fourth-year PhD candidates at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE) at Sciences Po, on the publication of a joint article in the prestigious American Political Science Review, the world’s leading journal in political science. This highly selective publication accepts fewer than 5% of submitted articles.
« Our research shows that the effectiveness of a climate policy is not measured solely by its direct impact on emissions, but also by the way it – and the behaviour of those implementing it – is perceived by the public. Political actors leading by example thus plays a key role in the legitimacy of, and support for, more stringent climate policies. »
Malo Jan
PhD candidate at the CEE, PhD topic: political polarisation around climate change in Western Europe
« What I find particularly striking in our study and our findings is how much the design of policies and the messages they convey determine whether or not they are accepted by the public. The fact that our idea works even on issues as contentious as climate protection through a carbon tax – which, let us recall, sparked the Yellow Vests movement – is compelling evidence of this. »
Luis Sattelmayer
Early Stage Researcher at the CEE, PhD topic: the decline of traditional centre-left and centre-right parties
« This work, which grew out of field-based exchanges, helps us better understand how citizens make sense of climate action, while also offering a concrete response to current ecological backlash. By adopting measures – sometimes admittedly “symbolic” – that signal to citizens that the government takes their concerns and demands for exemplarity and inclusion seriously, it becomes possible to build majority support for climate action. »
Théodore Tallent
PhD candidate at the CEE, PhD topic: geographical divides and citizens’ perceptions of climate policies: an obstacle to the success and acceptability of the low-carbon transition in Europe?
The substance of the article: the acceptance of climate policies and its effect on public action
Entitled “More than Symbols: The Effect of Symbolic Policies on Climate Policy Support”, the article by the three PhD students examines the acceptance of climate policies and the implications this has for public action.
Using survey experiments and qualitative interviews conducted in France, the authors show that “symbolic” climate policies (such as banning private jets in France or requiring ministers to travel by train within the country) can significantly increase support for more “costly” and in principle unpopular climate policies (for example lowering motorway speed limits or banning domestic flights), while also enhancing perceptions of fairness and the credibility of elites and government.
A paper based on interdisciplinarity and mixed methods
This achievement highlights the scientific excellence of these young PhD candidates and of their training at the School of Research and the CEE, as well as the culture of interdisciplinarity that characterises our university. Their mixed-methods article draws on:
- the Ecology and Environment Barometer from the ELIPSS survey conducted by the Centre for Socio-Political Data (CDSP) at Sciences Po,
- a second survey funded by the CEE,
- qualitative interviews.
Preparation of this article also benefited from feedback received notably during the CEE Prepub seminar and from a presentation within the Political Behaviour and Institutions (PoBI) group of our European university alliance CIVICA. One of the three authors, Théodore Tallent, is also an affiliated researcher at the Centre for Sustainability at the Hertie School (a CIVICA member university).
Far from remaining confined to the academic world, the findings presented in this research article have already reached national and international mainstream media, and will soon be the subject of an article on Sciences Po’s website, Conférence.
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