Current Research
My current research explores the dynamics of party competition and the strategies parties employ to address challenges posed by populist contenders. In 2023, I directed an ECPR Joint Sessions workshop in collaboration with Sophia Hunger (University of Bremen), bringing together empirical scholars to advance methodological innovations—including text-as-data, image-as-data, and qualitative approaches—to study these dynamics. This workshop laid the groundwork for a forthcoming Special Collection (Government and Opposition) focused on recent patterns in party competition and strategic responses to populism.
A central argument from my Ph.D. dissertation continues to inform this work: political actors' ideological beliefs shape their use of responsive signals versus committed ideological strategies when engaging with competitors in a multidimensional policy space. This research has culminated in a forthcoming article in Government and Opposition, which investigates how voters perceive the level of commitment in parties' programmatic and discursive strategies. The data underlying this study have been made publicly available on AUSSDA.
In another research vein, I examined the impact of populism on parliamentary processes and legislative behavior. My project, Conflict in Parliament, investigated populist actors' influence on voting patterns and policymaking within highly unified party systems. This work involved the retrospective collection of parliamentary voting records using image-as-data techniques and facial recognition software to analyze individual MPs' voting behavior in legislatures where such data was not publicly available. The project provided new insights into how populism reshapes legislative behavior in contexts of strong party discipline.
Beyond these endeavors, I am actively engaged in research leveraging computational methods, including machine learning and natural language processing, to study party adaptation and regional political strategies. My ongoing collaboration with Dr. Annika Werner examines shifts in core and peripheral policy issues in Western Europe, highlighting the interplay between ideological commitment and strategic adaptation in response to evolving political demands. In related research, I have been developing new automated methods, including an entropy-based measure to analyze 'policy focus' and 'ideological commitment' in political text, providing innovative ways to quantify these key dimensions in party behavior.
Additionally, I am collaborating with Dr. Katrin Praprotnik on a research project examining regional political parties in Austria. This work seeks to unpack the dynamics of regional party strategies and their intersection with national political developments. We recently submitted a grant proposal to the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and are revising it based on reviewer feedback. This project will further our understanding of multi-level political competition.
