Chair of Comparative Political Behavior

The group of Comparative Political Behavior is primarily concerned with the study of citizen behavior, political psychology and political sociology,  empirical democracy research, comparative political cultures, causal inference, and social science research methods.

Our work focuses on citizens, on understanding and explaining how they behave, react, and relate to their political systems and others around them. At the same time, we maintain a comparative perspective that recognizes the influence of context, historical trajectories, diverse institutions and cultures around the world.

We are particularly interested in societal challenges to democratic systems, such as political distrust, populism, democratic backsliding, climate change, conspiracy theories and anti-science attitudes. Our scientific work is supported by the SNF and aims to strengthen perceived legitimacy and to rebuild political trust in democratic systems.