Skip to main content

Professor Michael Bruter

LSE Associate Vice President for Research, Director of the Electoral Psychology Observatory and Professor of Political Science.
Department of Government

Connect

About

About

Michael Bruter is the LSE’s Associate Vice President for Research, Director of the Electoral Psychology Observatory and Professor of Political Science. His research specialises in the fields of democracy, electoral psychology, political behaviour and research methods and is approach to democratic behaviours and crises is fundamentally people-centric and solution oriented.

Bruter’s radically original take has earned him significant awards and recognition. He was notably invited to present his research by the Nobel Prize at the 2024 Nobel Prize Dialogue on the future of democracy, the World Economic Forum and the European Parliament where he was the first social scientist ever invited to give the Parliament’s STOA (Science and Technology Panel) Annual keynote on the future of Science and Technology. He has similarly presented his research in other prestigious fora including the United Nations, Houses of Parliament, and International Day of Democracy.

Bruter’s awards have included being a winner of the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year in Social Sciences and the Economic and Social Research Council’s 10th Anniversary award for Outstanding International Impact, both jointly with Sarah Harrison.

Bruter has published 7 books including Inside the Mind of a Voter (with Sarah Harrison), Citizens of Europe, and the Future of our Democracies, as well as numerous articles in leading social science journals. He has been a principal investigator for multiple external grants totalling over 5 million euros from funders such as the European Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, Carnegie Corporation and Hewlett Foundation. His research has featured in the most prestigious media including the Economist, Time, Financial Times, etc and he has served as expert witness in electoral psychology in cases tried by the Irish High Court and Supreme Court. He has also worked with or advised multiple international organisations, the European Union, Council of Europe, and Electoral Commissions including Australia, South Africa, Sweden and many more.

Bruter’s current research spans areas that include democratic hostility, electoral ergonomics, intergenerational tensions in democracies, the concept of democratic hopelessness and solution-oriented research on the impact of democracy on citizens’ daily lives, interpersonal relationships and mechanisms of solidarity.