Research
Current third-party funded research projects
Residential mobility and the realignment of electoral politics in established democracies (RESPOL), 2025–2030. Starting Grant funded by the European Research Council (ERC).
Polarization through and in referendums: mapping polarization within and beyond the party system, 2022–2028. Emmy Noether grant funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Legacies of democratic transition. Explaining the success of the populist radical right in eastern Germany, 2023–2025. Funded by Fritz Thyssen Foundation.
Working Papers
“Unequal Turnout among First-Time Voters: The Role of Efficacy Beliefs” (with Susanne Garritzmann, Sigrid Roßteutscher, Birgit Becker, all Goethe-University of Frankfurt, Thorsten Faas, Freie Universität Berlin, Max Jansen, Goethe-University of Frankfurt, and Armin Schäfer, Johannes Gutenberg-University of Mainz) – under review
“Ideological and affective polarization in multiparty systems” (with Felix Grünewald and Nelly Buntfuß, Chemnitz University of Technology) – available on SocArVix
“What’s in a Name? Local Name Recognition as a Universally Applicable Mechanism for Friends-and-Neighbors Voting” (with Tilko Swalve, University of Hanover)
“Make Up Your Mind! Opinion formation and polarization in EU referendums” (with Felix Grünewald and Nelly Buntfuß, Chemnitz University of Technology)
“Left behind and Voting Right: Residential Sorting and Populist Radical Right Support in Eastern Germany” (with Mark A. Kayser, Hertie School and Dani Sandu, Chemnitz University of Technology)
“When and why do parties support direct democracy? Evidence from the positions of political parties on the expansion of direct democracy in Germany”
“At the geographical and ideological fringes. The success of populist radical right parties in peripheral regions” (with Dominik Kevický, Masaryk University Brno)
“A Measured Response? Ideological Attitudes Influence how Populist Communication on Social Media Affects the Reactance to and Support of Pandemic Restrictions” (mit Julian Bornemeier, Sonia Kampel, Björn Junge und Frank Asbrock, all Chemnitz University of Technology)
Work in Progress
“Citizen Forecasting in a Mixed Electoral System’’ (with Lukas Stötzer, Humboldt-University Berlin, Mark A. Kayser, Hertie School, and Andreas Murr, University of Warwick)
Media and Blogs
I also occasionally write for media outlets and blogs about my research and data analyses I do in my ‘free time.’ See below for a selection of posts.
- “Sie dürfen wählen, sie dürfen nicht, sie dürfen wählen…”, Verfassungsblog, 19 November 2022
- “Minderheitsregierungen sind besser als ihr Ruf”, Tagesspiegel Causa, 24 January 2020
- “Fakescience - eine Warnung vor dem Hashtag”, Tagesspiegel Causa, 21 July 2018
- “Am Scheideweg - Sind die Grünen nur eine Partei des Westens?” (with Julian Zuber, Tagesspiegel Causa, 8 November 2016
- “Zu jung zum Wählen?” (with Thorsten Faas, Sigrid Roßteutscher and Armin Schäfer), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 8 September 2017
- “A far-right party just won seats in three German state parliaments. Here’s why.”, The Monkey Cage, 22 March 2016
- “Voters seem to respond to the ‘reported’ rather than the ‘real’ economy”, LSE Democratic Audit UK, 9 September 2015
- “Direct democracy is ill-fitted to engaging the politically disengaged, but popular with more active citizens”, LSE Democratic Audit UK, 30 July 2015
- “Simultaneity of Local Elections and Turnout in the 2014 European Election in Germany”, Making Electoral Democracy Work Blog