My research focuses on electoral competition as a determinant of change and persistence in advanced democracies and relates to the fields of political behavior, comparative politics and political economy. In my dissertation I investigated the impact of electoral competition on the strategies and behavior of political parties as well as the effect of politicians' electoral vulnerability on policy outcomes.

My ongoing research explores parties’ and voters’ reactions to the transformations of post-industrial societies. It analyzes policy responsiveness to changing electoral demands as well as feedback effects of policies and elite behavior on public opinion and voting. Conceptualizing and measuring type and intensity of electoral competition remains at the core of my research.

An overview of my working papers can be found here:

• Electoral Competition, Political Opportunities, and Parties' Responsiveness to Voters' Issue Priorities. Under Review.
  
• Public Opinion, Institutions and Welfare State Change (with Ellen M. Immergut). Under Review.
  
• Voting Against the Establishment. The Effect of Government Congruence on Voting for Challenger Parties (with Eelco Harteveld). Under Review.
  
• How Issue Saliency Makes Parties Change Their Positions (with Christoffer Green-Pedersen, Peter B. Mortensen). Under Review.
  
• Linking Votes to Power. Measuring Electoral Competition at the Party Level (with Matthias Orlowski). Under Review.
  
• Incentives and Constraints: How Parties Emphasize Issues in Response to the State of the Economy (with Nicolas Merz). Conference Paper.
  
• Networked Populism: Characterizing the Public Rhetoric of Populist Parties in Europe (with Pablo Barbera, Whitney Hua). Conference Paper.
  
• Adaptive Behavior of Close Competitors - How Parties React to Voter Transitions (with Lukas Stoetzer). Conference Paper.
• Luxury Good Policies and Electoral Accountability for the Economy (with Mark Kayser). Conference Paper.