Welcome to my webpage!
My name is Elsa Voytas.
I am a Research Scientist at Meta. Before Meta, I was an assistant professor of Quantitative Social Science at Dartmouth College and Political Science at IE University. My research examines how experiencing, remembering, and confronting past violence influences contemporary political decisions. I apply a range of methodological techniques, including field and survey experiments, causal inference, focus groups, and interviews, to ask how societies can advance social justice and build peace. As an instructor, I taught courses on quantitative methods and peace, justice, and conflict resolution.
Please email me for a copy of my CV. Photo by Katie Lenhart.Research
Publications
Balcells, Laia, Valeria Palanza, and Elsa Voytas.* 2022. "Do transitional justice museums persuade visitors? Evidence from a field experiment." The Journal of Politics.
Balcells, Laia and Elsa Voytas.* 2023. "What difference do museums make?" In The Oxford Handbook of Transitional Justice, edited by Jens Meierhenrich, Alexander Laban Hinton and Lawrence Douglas.
Voytas, Elsa and Benjamin Crisman. 2023. "State Violence and Participation in Transitional Justice: Evidence from Colombia." The Journal of Peace Research.
Balcells, Laia, Olwen Purdue, and Elsa Voytas.* 2024. "Remembering the past in ethnically divided societies." Nationalism and Ethnic Politics.
Voytas, Elsa. 2025. "More than money: the political consequences of reparations." American Political Science Review.
Balcells, Laia and Elsa Voytas.* 2025. "The Troubles and Beyond. The Impact of a Museum Exhibit in a Post-Conflict Society." American Journal of Political Science.
Argote, Pablo and Elsa Voytas.* 2025. "The Anti-Left Legacy of the Pinochet Dictatorship." Comparative Political Studies.
Under Review
"Shades of justice: victim responses to apology and punishment" (with Sarah Z. Daly).
"From Black Wall Street to Reparations: Racial justice museums and political change" (with Chaya Crowder).
"Communitarian appeals increase opposition to violent extremism: Experimental evidence from Bangladesh" (with Jason Lyall and Brendan Nyhan).
Working Papers
"Historical Narratives and Political Behavior in the US" (with Diego Ramos-Toro).
"Public Support for Post-Harm Compensation After Drone Strikes: A Cross-National Experiment" (with Jason Lyall).
* denotes equal authorship (listed alphabetically).
Teaching
Instructor of Record