Affiliated Ph.D. Fellow, Cohort 2019

Research Interests

Comparative Political Economy, Public Opinion, Public Policy, Quantitative Research Methods.

Dissertation topic
The Revival of Partisan Politics: Re-examining the influence of party composition on public policy

Dissertation abstract
The effects of political partisanship on public policy are considered to have been gradually waning (Schmitt 2016). In fact, although recent empirical works in comparative research still control for partisan effects, usually as a “Left government” variable, it is done rather as a custom than with any serious intention to understand its mechanism. Accordingly, this doctoral project aims at reviving the sub-field of partisan politics to gain a better insight into how political parties, through their presence in both the legislative and executive branches, exert their influence on policy outcomes, given the assumption that parties have enough room to maneuver despite structural or institutional hindrances. The overarching question of my dissertation is, therefore, whether and to what extent do political parties determine public policy or policy outcomes in advanced societies of different welfare regimes.

Academic Supervisors
Nate Breznau