A core part of my research focuses on the areas of comparative politics and public opinion. The main themes of my work investigate the drivers of political participation, focusing on political behavior and attitudes, electoral administration and party competition. My PhD dissertation exemplifies these themes, exploring how political motivations shape participation, from voting to candidacy.

An additional strand of my research focuses on quantitative research methods, including causal inference techniques and computational approaches. Here, I use survey experiments, regression discontinuity designs and Large Language Models to explore how individuals express their preferences, attitudes and identities in open-ended survey responses.

Working Papers

On Inequalities in Political Participation

• “Voting as if Your Rights Depended on It: Understanding the Motivations of Minority Voters” (to be presented at EPSS 2026 & APSA 2024).
• Why do people run for office? Political motivations of first-time candidates” – with Carolina Plescia (draft available upon request, selected presentations: to be presented at ECPG 2026 & APSA 2024).
• “Discrimination-Driven Mobilization: How Sexual Orientation Shapes LGBT Political Activism” – with Semih Cakir, Jean-François Daoust, and Ruth Dassonneville.

On Voting Behavior and Turnout

• “Decoding the Vote: Mapping key theories and debates in the study of voting behavior” – with Jennifer Oser, Carolina Plescia and Aya Shoshan (MPSA 2025).
• “Election integrity, electoral participation and the meanings of voting” – with Anna Lia Brunetti (draft available upon request, EPSA 2025).
• “Globalization, meanings of voting and turnout: experimental evidence from the US” – with Cal Le Gall, Ming M. Boyer, and Carolina Plescia (pre-registration available here https://osf.io/shrpt).

On Democratic Backsliding

• “Embedded Democracies: How Multilevel Context Shapes Citizens’ Democratic Vigilance” – with Michael Blauberger (to be presented at ECPR 2026).
• “Who cares? Party political debates on democratic backsliding and EU counter-actions in six EU member states” – with Michael Blauberger, Arndt Wonka, Kinga Koranyi, Jasper Praet and Aleksandra Maatsch (to be presented at SGEU 2026).
• “On Crisis, Values and Competencies. Party Political Framing of EU Actions Against Backsliding in Six EU Member States Between 2010 and 2024” –with Michael Blauberger, Arndt Wonka, Kinga Koranyi, Jasper Praet and Aleksandra Maatsch (to be presented at ECPR 2026).