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.
SNSF Assistant Professor of Comparative Political Behavior
Doctoral researcher
Doctoral researcher
Bertsou, E. (2026). Technocratic attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and the US. West European Politics, 49(2), 483–513. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2025.2463272
Eri Bertsou, Pradeep Krishnan, and Amber Zenklusen: (2025). Trust in scientists and their role in society across 68 countries. Nature Human Behaviour, 9(4), 713–730. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02090-5
Eri Bertsou, Pradeep Krishnan, and Amber Zenklusen: (2025). Perceptions of science, science communication, and climate change attitudes in 68 countries – the TISP dataset. Scientific data, 12(1), 114. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02090-5
Mede, Niels, Eri Bertsou, Pradeep Krishnan, Amber Zenklusen et al. (forthcoming). Perceptions of Science, Science Communication, and Climate Change Attitudes in 67 Countries. The TISP Dataset. Scientific Data. Preprint available here.
Cologna, Viktoria, Eri Bertsou, Pradeep Krishnan, Amber Zenklusen et al. (forthcoming). Trust In Scientists And Their Role In Society Across 67 Countries. A ManyLabs Study. Nature Human Behaviour. Preprint available here.
Bertsou, Eri, Daniele Caramani and Jelle Koedam (2024). “The ideological profile of the technocratic citizen.” European Journal of Political Research, published online. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12698.
Claassen, Christopher, Kathrin Ackermann, Eri Bertsou et al. (2024) “Conceptualizing and Measuring Support for Democracy: A New Approach.” Comparative Political Studies. published online. https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140241259458
Bertsou, Eri and Daniele Caramani (2022). “People Haven’t Had Enough of Experts: Technocratic Attitudes among European Citizens.” American Journal of Political Science. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ajps.12554
Bertsou, Eri (2021). “Bring in the Experts? Citizen Preferences for Independent Experts in Political Decision-Making Processes.” European Journal of Political Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12448.