Thesis: 'The causes and consequences of negative partisanship in multi-party systems'

Katharina works on political behaviour, campaigns and gender. In an era of polarisation, voters often strongly dislike one or more political parties. In her dissertation project, Katharina studies the causes and consequences of these strong feelings of dislike, or negative partisanship, in multi-party systems. What does really disliking a party do to voters? How do parties try to get rid of their “toxic” reputations – and does it work? In particular, Katharina explores how parties might be using gendered strategies to become seen as more acceptable.

To answer these questions, she uses survey experiments, field experiments and causal inference methods. Katharina has conducted research in the UK, Canada, Germany and Norway, and has gained valuable experience working and partnering with civil society organisations, political parties and campaigns. Her research has been funded by the Berlin Social Science Center, the Canadian Consortium for Electoral Democracy, the Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics at Iowa State University and the LSE US Centre. Previously, Katharina has completed a Master’s degree in European Politics and Society at the University of Oxford (2018, with distinction) and an undergraduate degree at University College London (2016, with distinction).