Two questions define my research agenda
First, what are the origins of political divides? I’m especially interested in why voters find different things important and how that influences who they vote for. In my job market paper, forthcoming at the Journal of Politics, I argue that diverse coalitions of voters are harder to form as identity-based conflict gains in importance in voters’ minds. One important contribution of this piece is that it explains the decline of mainstream candidates and parties in Europe and the United States. In a world characterized by conflict over salient, divisive issues, uniting voters with diverse preferences using strategic ambiguity and broad appeals becomes increasingly difficult. Second, how can democracy be strengthened by re-engaging voters and bridging political divides? I am particularly interested in how politicians across Europe and the U.S. can build new, broad coalitions that include voters who are less likely to vote. What mainly draws me to coalition formation and re-engagement as a research topic is that there are many important questions left to ask: most of the existing research has focused exclusively on the causes underpinning the collapse of political coalitions, as opposed to potential remedies.
My methodological expertise is in the design, conduct, and analysis of randomized field and survey experiments which I am employing in collaboration with NGOs, political candidates, and parties. I also use quasi-experimental methods for causal inference As a researcher, I have learned the most from collaborations with societal organizations in ‘the field’. To learn even more, I’m actively looking for new organizations to work together with and help design their programs so that it becomes possible to evaluate the impact they have. If you are interested in what makes voters participate in democratic processes or have a program you want to evaluate, please reach out!
I also have a keen interest in political science methodology—particularly (quasi) experimental methods.
