About
Research Professor of Political Science · University of Antwerp
I am a Research Professor of Political Science (ZAPBOF, Hoofddocent) at the University of Antwerp and an Affiliated Researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen. My research focuses on political lying and disinformation, populism, democratic erosion, party politics, and European integration.
I am the Principal Investigator of DEMO-LIES (Deception in Democracy: Political Lying Accusations and Their Effects on Democratic Citizenship), a €1.5 million ERC Starting Grant (2025–2030). This large-scale comparative project studies how political actors make lying accusations and how citizens perceive political lies across Western democracies, combining quantitative text analysis of parliamentary speech, survey experiments, and cross-national public opinion data.
Before joining Antwerp, I was Associate Professor of Political Representation at Radboud University (2016–2025), and held visiting positions at the Université de Montréal (2023) and the Hertie School of Governance, where I completed my PhD (Summa Cum Laude) in 2016. I hold an MSc (with Distinction) from the London School of Economics, an MA (Magna Cum Laude) from KU Leuven, and a BA from Leiden University.
My work has been published in journals including Comparative Political Studies, European Journal of Political Research, West European Politics, Journal of European Public Policy, and Party Politics. I have received several grants and awards, including a KNAW Early Career Award (2021), an NWO Veni grant (2019), and an ERC Starting Grant (2024).
Affiliations
University of Antwerp
Research Professor of Political Science (ZAPBOF, Hoofddocent) · Department of Political Science · 2025–present
Radboud University Nijmegen
Affiliated Researcher · Department of Political Science · 2025–present
Research Interests
Political Lying & Deception
Lying accusations in parliamentary speech; citizen perceptions of political lies; effects on democratic attitudes and trust.
Populism & Democracy
Populist attitudes and democratic values; measurement of populism in parties and citizens; populist parties in Western Europe.
Party Politics & Representation
Party repositioning and credibility; reputational costs of policy change; political representation in multi-party systems.
European Integration
Public opinion on EU, Euroscepticism, contagion from challenger parties, EU solidarity and risk-sharing.
Public Opinion & Voting Behaviour
Electoral behaviour in the Netherlands and comparative Europe; survey experiments; political psychology.
Research Methods
Survey experiments, quantitative text analysis, comparative cross-national research design.
Editorial Roles
Co-Editor-in-Chief — Politics of the Low Countries
CurrentRadboud University Press · 2024–present
Specialized journal for politics in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Co-editor with Audrey Vandeleene (ULB). Diamond open access.
Editorial Board Member — Politics of the Low Countries
2020–2024
Lead Editor & Initiator — The Populism Seminar
Online seminar about populism research · 2021–2023
Editor (Data) — European Journal of Political Research: Political Data Yearbook
Wiley / ECPR · 2018–2021