Publications

Journal articles, book chapters, and works in progress. * = (under)graduate student co-author

Book
Under Review

Architectures of Hate: U.S. Civil Society and the Undoing of Global LGBTQ+ Rights—And Democracy with It

Velasco, Kristopher

This book examines how U.S.-based civil society organizations have mobilized to undermine LGBTQ+ rights globally, revealing the interconnections between anti-queer advocacy and democratic erosion worldwide.

Journal Articles
2025

Sexuality, Cultural Similarity, and Immigrant Deservingness: Evidence from a Conjoint Survey Experiment

Hoffmann, Nathan I. and Kristopher Velasco

Public Opinion Quarterly (89)4: 1138–1153

Using a conjoint survey experiment, this study investigates how sexuality and perceived cultural similarity shape public attitudes toward immigrant deservingness in the United States.

Forthcoming

The Heart vs. the Head: How Nonprofit Use of Emotion and Cognition Attracts Donors and Volunteers

Messamore, Andrew*, Pamela Paxton, and Kristopher Velasco

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly

This study explores how nonprofits strategically deploy emotional versus cognitive appeals in communications, and how these different approaches influence donor giving and volunteer recruitment.

2025

‘Choppy Waters’: Navigating Political Generational Conflict in Social Movement Organizations

Seigler, Carolina P.*, Kristopher Velasco, and Pamela Paxton

American Sociological Review 90(6): 1092–1122

This article examines how political generational conflicts within social movement organizations create internal tensions and shape organizational strategies for navigating disagreements between older and younger cohorts.

2025

Sexuality, Migration, and LGB Policy: A Portrait of Immigrants in Same-Sex Couples in the United States

Hoffmann, Nathan I.* and Kristopher Velasco

International Migration Review 59(3): 1500–1529

This study provides a demographic portrait of immigrants in same-sex couples in the United States, examining how LGB-related policies in origin and destination countries shape migration patterns.

2025

Queer Data for Sociologists of Sexualities: Introducing SOGIESC Measurement & Methods During Political Suppression

Budnick, Jamie, Christina Pao*, and Kristopher Velasco

Sex and Sexualities 1(1)

This article introduces measurement approaches for sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) data, addressing methodological challenges during a period of political suppression of queer data collection.

2024

Assembling God’s ‘Last Best Hope’: The Expanding Reach of the World Congress of Families

Velasco, Kristopher and Jeffrey Swindle

Mobilization: An International Quarterly 29(4): 441–468

This study traces the expanding global reach of the World Congress of Families, analyzing how this conservative transnational network has grown its influence across countries and regions over time.

2024

Is Democracy Bad for LGBT+ Rights?

Velasco, Kristopher, Siddhartha Baral*, and Yun (Nancy) Tang*

Journal of Democracy 35(3): 131–148

This article interrogates the assumed positive relationship between democracy and LGBT+ rights, examining conditions under which democratic processes may actually hinder progress on sexual and gender minority protections.

2024

Political Dimensions of Rising Mixed-Citizenship, Same-Sex Couples: A Difference-in-Differences-in-Differences Analysis

Hoffmann, Nathan I.* and Kristopher Velasco

Social Forces 102(3): 1134–1156

Using a difference-in-differences-in-differences design, this article examines how political and legal changes around same-sex marriage have influenced the rise of mixed-citizenship same-sex couples in the United States.

2023

Transnational Backlash and the Deinstitutionalization of Liberal Norms: LGBT+ Rights in a Contested World

Velasco, Kristopher

American Journal of Sociology 128(5): 1381–1429

This article theorizes and empirically demonstrates how transnational backlash networks have contributed to the deinstitutionalization of liberal norms around LGBT+ rights, reshaping the global normative landscape.

★ 2024 Best Article, Human Rights Section, ASA
★ 2021 Steven C. Poe Award, ISA
2023

Individual Empowerment, Institutional Confidence, and Vaccination Rates in Cross-National Perspective, 1995 to 2018

Cole, Wade, Evan Schofer, and Kristopher Velasco

American Sociological Review 88(3): 379–417

This study examines how individual empowerment and institutional confidence jointly shape vaccination rates across countries, revealing tensions between personal autonomy and public health compliance from 1995 to 2018.

2023

Opposition Avoidance or Mutual Engagement? The Interdependent Relationship in Where Opposing Transnational LGBT+ Networks Locate

Velasco, Kristopher

Social Forces 101(4): 2087–2116

This article investigates whether opposing transnational advocacy networks in the LGBT+ space avoid each other or strategically co-locate, analyzing the spatial interdependence of pro- and anti-LGBT+ organizations.

2022

Women’s Participation in the Post-Liberal Era: A Global Perspective

Lerch, Julia C., Evan Schofer, David John Frank, Wesley Longhofer, Francisco O. Ramirez, Christine Wotipka, and Kristopher Velasco

International Sociology 37(3): 305–329

This article provides a global perspective on trends in women's participation across political, economic, and social domains in the post-liberal era, assessing whether earlier gains have stalled or reversed.

2022

Seeking Friends in Troubled Times: The Structure and Dynamics of Transnational LGBT Networks in Europe

Gonsalves, Tara* and Kristopher Velasco

Mobilization: An International Quarterly 27(1): 91–114

This study maps the structure and dynamics of transnational LGBT advocacy networks across Europe, analyzing how organizations form ties and seek allies during periods of political turbulence.

★ 2018 Best Paper HM, Global & Transnational Sociology, ASA
2022

Deconstructed and Constructive Logics: Explaining Inclusive Language Change in Queer Nonprofits, 1998–2016

Velasco, Kristopher and Pamela Paxton

American Journal of Sociology 127(4): 1267–1310

This article traces how queer nonprofits adopted increasingly inclusive language between 1998 and 2016, identifying deconstructed and constructive institutional logics that drove organizational naming and framing changes.

2021

Can Government Intervention Increase Volunteers and Donations? Analyzing the Influence of VISTA with a Matched Design

Messamore, Andrew*, Pamela Paxton, and Kristopher Velasco

Administration & Society 53(10): 1547–1579

Using a matched design, this study evaluates whether government intervention through the VISTA national service program increases volunteering and charitable donations in communities where members are placed.

2021

Nonprofits: A Public Policy Tool for the Promotion of Community Subjective Well-Being

Ressler, Robert W., Pamela Paxton, Kristopher Velasco, Lilla Pivnick*, Inbar Weiss*, and Johannes Eichstaedt

Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory 31(4): 822–838

This article investigates whether nonprofits serve as effective public policy tools for promoting community-level subjective well-being, analyzing the relationship between nonprofit density and community happiness.

2021

Donations in Social Context

Ressler, Robert W., Pamela Paxton, and Kristopher Velasco

Nonprofit Management & Leadership 31(4): 693–715

This study examines how social context shapes charitable giving, analyzing the community-level factors that encourage or discourage individual donations to nonprofit organizations.

2021

Does Use of Emotion Increase Donations and Volunteers for Nonprofits?

Paxton, Pamela, Kristopher Velasco, and Robert W. Ressler

American Sociological Review 85(6): 1051–1083

This article tests whether nonprofit organizations that use emotional appeals in their communications are more successful at attracting donations and volunteers compared to those using more rational approaches.

★ 2021 Best Article, Public & Nonprofit Division, Academy of Management
2020

A Growing Queer Divide: The Divergence between Transnational Advocacy Networks and Foreign Aid in Diffusing LGBT Policies

Velasco, Kristopher

International Studies Quarterly 64(1): 120–132

This article documents a growing divergence between transnational advocacy networks and foreign aid as mechanisms for diffusing LGBT policies across countries, revealing how these two forces increasingly operate at cross-purposes.

★ 2021 Best Paper, LGBT Section, ASPA
2019

Do National Service Programs Improve Subjective Well-Being in Communities?

Velasco, Kristopher, Pamela Paxton, Robert W. Ressler*, Inbar Weiss*, and Lilla Pivnick*

American Review of Public Administration 49(3): 275–291

This study evaluates whether national service programs like AmeriCorps improve subjective well-being at the community level, using longitudinal data to assess the impact of service member placements.

2019

Revisiting Declines in Social Capital: Evidence from a New Measure

Weiss, Inbar*, Pamela Paxton, Kristopher Velasco, and Robert W. Ressler*

Social Indicators Research 142(3): 1015–1029

This article introduces a new measure of social capital and uses it to reassess claims about declining social capital in U.S. communities, offering a more nuanced picture of civic engagement trends.

2018

Human Rights INGOs, LGBT INGOs, and LGBT Policy Diffusion, 1991–2015

Velasco, Kristopher

Social Forces 97(1): 377–404

This article examines how the presence and activities of human rights INGOs and LGBT-specific INGOs drive the cross-national diffusion of LGBT-protective policies from 1991 to 2015.

★ 2017 Best Paper, Human Rights Section, ASA
★ Best Paper HM, Global & Transnational Sociology, ASA
Book Chapters & Other Publications
2018

Gender and Democratization

Paxton, Pamela and Kristopher Velasco

In Democratization (2nd Edition), edited by Christian Haerpfer, Patrick Bernhagen, Ronald F. Inglehart, and Christian Welzel. Oxford University Press.

This chapter reviews the relationship between gender equality and democratization, examining how women's political participation shapes and is shaped by democratic transitions and consolidation.

2016

A New County-level Measure of Social Capital

Paxton, Pamela, Inbar Weiss*, Lilla Pivnick*, Robert W. Ressler*, and Kristopher Velasco

Final Report. Corporation for National and Community Service, Office of Research and Evaluation. Washington, D.C.

This report develops and validates a new county-level measure of social capital for the Corporation for National and Community Service, enabling more precise tracking of civic engagement across U.S. communities.

Manuscripts & Works in Progress
R&R

The Geography of Immigrants in Same-Sex Couples in the United States

Hoffmann, Nathan I.* and Kristopher Velasco

Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies

Under Review

Born Under Constraint: State Regulation and the Changing Ecology of LGBT+ NGO Foundings

Baral, Siddhartha*, Yun (Nancy) Tang*, and Kristopher Velasco

Under Review

The Logic of Queer Justice: Disaggregating Global Pathways for Recognizing Homosexual Behaviors, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity

Velasco, Kristopher and Su Ertekin-Taner*

On-Going

Money After Marriage: Domestic Liberal Settlement and Reactive Transnationalization

Rojas Cabal, Sebastián* and Kristopher Velasco

On-Going

From “Christian” to “Nationalist”: How the World Congress of Families Made Anti-Gender Anxieties Central to Contemporary Transnational Illiberalism

Swindle, Jeffrey and Kristopher Velasco

On-Going

Geopolitical Earmarking: Donor Identity and the Moral Politics of LGBTQ+ NGO Funding

Baral, Siddhartha, Alessandra Rister Portinari Maranca*, and Kristopher Velasco

On-Going

Sexuality and the State: Toward A Comparative Sociology of Sexual Statecraft

Velasco, Kristopher