People at the chairOur team consists of a diverse group of research assistants, doctoral students, postdoctoral research fellows, team assistants and is led by Prof. Dr. Nicole Bolleyer.
Below, you find information on the current and former team members. |
Our Team
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Prof. Dr. Nicole Bolleyer
Chair of Comparative Political Science Nicole Bolleyer is Chair of Comparative Political Science at the LMU Munich and Principal Investigator of the CIVILSPACE project.
She has published widely on political parties as well as civil society organizations in consolidated democracies. Her most recent monograph "Civil Society's Democratic Potential: Organizational Trade-offs between Participation and Representation" has just been published with Oxford University Press. Nicole Bolleyer studied Political Sciences and German Language & Literature at Mannheim University and at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (USA), and obtained her PhD in 2007 at the European University Institute in Florence (Italy). She worked as an assistant professor at Mannheim University, and later on took up a post as lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Exeter (UK). She was subsequently appointed as Associate Professor and became full Professor of Comparative Politics at Exeter in 2015. Contact: [email protected] | ||
Office
Dr. Adam Eick
Postdoctoral Research Fellow Adam Eick's research interests are the role of courts in the political process and governance in the EU multilevel system. In his PhD thesis, Adam analysed the use of EU soft law in national courts, asking how, why and to what effect non-binding instruments find their way into the judiciary.
He is a researcher in the ECR project "The Shrinking Space for Civil Society in Europe (CIVILSPACE)", led by Prof. Dr Nicole Bolleyer. Previously, he worked at the Freie Universität of Berlin in the DFG-ANR research project "Effects of EU Soft Law across the Multilevel System (EfSoLaw)". Contact: [email protected] |
Tamara Grechanaya, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow Tamara Grechanaya is a postdoctoral researcher funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and hosted by the Chair of Comparative Political Science. Her project aims to conduct a systematic, longitudinal analysis of pro-Kremlin digital propaganda, applying computational methods to a large-scale social media dataset. It examines how domestic narratives respond to shifting political conditions and how selected narratives are adapted to resonate with international audiences.
Her research lies at the intersection of political communication and democratization studies. She examines how opposition forces and autocratic actors use social media to influence public discourse and mobilize citizens in non-democratic contexts. Methodologically, she draws on diverse quantitative approaches, including reduced-form econometrics, automated text analysis, and multivariate techniques for survey analysis. Contact: [email protected] |
Paula Guzzo Falci, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Michael Neureiter, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
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Paula Guzzo Falci is a postdoctoral research fellow in the CIVILSPACE project. She holds a PhD in International Studies from the University of Trento, Italy.
Her research interests include religion and politics, particularly secularism studies, citizenship and belonging, and the rise of illiberalism in liberal democracies. Contact: [email protected] |
Michael Neureiter is a postdoctoral research felllow at the chair. His research focuses primarily on the attitudes and behavior of migrants in Europe. He is also interested in topics related to public opinion, particularly attitudes toward immigration, affective polarization, and political extremism.
He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Pittsburgh in 2018. Prior to coming to LMU in 2021, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh. Contact: [email protected] |
Ida Nørregaard, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
Michael Zeller, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
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Ida Nørregaard is a postdoctoral research fellow in the CIVILSPACE project. In her research, she focuses on public opinion, organizational values, and the circumstances under which decisions are influenced or underpinned by (moral) values. During her PhD, she examined when and why citizens accept recruitment discrimination against minority groups, as well as the value trade-offs that underpin such discriminatory recruitment decisions. Currently, her research centers on the (democratic) behaviors and values of civil society organizations, particularly when and why legal provisions reduce these organizations’ democratic behaviors. She is also interested in the social mechanisms that influence opinion and normative value formation, with a special interest in experimental philosophy.
Ida typically uses a mixed-methods approach in her research, combining conceptual analysis, experimental methods, and qualitative as well as (semi-automated) quantitative text analysis. Contact: [email protected] 
Clara Faulí Molas, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow Clara Faulí Molas is a Postdoctoral researcher in the DFG project “How Mainstream Parties Deal with Conflict: Rules, Practices, Responses”, led by Prof. Dr. Nicole Bolleyer. Her main research interests include electoral behaviour, political parties, representation, and EU politics. Previously, she held a postdoctoral position in the ERC Project ‘DeVOTE’ at the Department of Government of the University of Vienna. She completed her PhD at Trinity College Dublin with a dissertation on the role of environmental issues in European Parliament elections. Contact: [email protected] |
Michael Zeller studies political violence and far-right socio-politics, and collaborates with colleagues on other topics within the area of comparative politics. His research applies a diverse array of methodological techniques, especially qualitative methods such as qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and case study designs.
Michael Zeller is a member of the Radicalisation Awareness Network Policy Support (RAN PS), the European Research Community on Radicalisation (ERCOR) Researchers’ Directory. You can find his personal website at: https://michaelzeller.de/ Contact: [email protected] |
Doctoral Students
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Emma Gordon, M.A.
Doctoral Student |
Thareerat Laohabut, M.A.
Doctoral Student |
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Emma Gordon is a research fellow at the chair. Her research interests lie at the intersection of democratisation and small-state studies. In her doctoral research, she is examining the reasons for high rates of democratization in small island states.
She studied at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand where she obtained her Bachelor's and Master's degree. Contact: [email protected] |
Thareerat Laohabut is a research fellow at the chair and PhD researcher affiliated with the CIVILSPACE project. In her PhD project “New parties after breakthrough in multilevel systems”, she is exploring the trajectory of new parliamentary parties, who secure parliamentary representation for the first time at any governmental level in multilevel systems, from breakthrough to re-election. It aims to develop a systematic understanding of the internal dynamics of newcomer parties in complex institutional settings, understanding agency in constrained institutional settings.
She is a scholarship recipient and graduate of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Programme in European Politics and Society. She studied at Charles University (Czech Republic), Leiden University (Netherlands), and Pompeu Fabra University (Spain). Her research interests include party politics, party behavior and competition, multilevel system, as well as regime transition and politics in authoritarian regimes. Contact: [email protected] |
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Julián Manzano Gómez, M.Sc.
Doctoral Student Julián Manzano Gómez is a PhD researcher at the chair, affiliated with the CIVILSPACE project. His research interests include judicial politics, the politicization of judicial institutions in EU Member States and Spanish Politics. Before starting his PhD here at LMU, he completed a MSc in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics. He also holds a Postgraduate diploma on Survey and Data Analysis by Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS) as well as a Double Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Law by Complutense University of Madrid. Contact: [email protected] |
Moritz Kern, M.Sc.
Doctoral Student Moritz Kern is a doctoral student at the chair. His research interests lie in the comparative analysis of policy decisions, their root causes, and outcomes in democracies and autocracies, with a particular focus on crisis contexts.
In his doctoral research, he examines the interplay between democracy, policy trade-offs, and outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic, assessing how different political regimes navigated key policy challenges and their implications. He holds a BSc in Business Administration and Management from the University of Mannheim and HEC Paris and a MSc in Development Management from the Department of International Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Prior to his doctoral studies, he worked as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and is currently on a leave of absence to pursue his academic research. Contact: [email protected] |
Student assistants
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Juan Dupetit
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Hannah Laier
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Contact: [email protected]
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Contact: [email protected]
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Nina Maucher
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Antonia Steber
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Contact: [email protected]
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Contact: [email protected]
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Liesl Winternitz
Contact: [email protected]
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Former members of the chair
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Prof. Dr. Daniela Braun (Saarland University)
Daniela Braun is a former member of the chair of comparative political science. Since 2022 she is Professor of Political Science with a focus on European integration and International Relations at Saarland University. |
Dr. Vanessa Boese-Schlosser (WZB Berlin)
Vanessa Boese-Schlosser is a former member of the chair of comparative political science. Since 2023 she is a postdoctoral research fellow in the research unit "Transformations of Democracy" at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. You can find here personal website here. |
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Dr. Nicolas Fliess (Max-Planck-Institute Goettingen)
Nicolas Fliess is a former postdoctoral researcher of the chair of comparative political science. Since September 2023 he is a postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Goettingen. |
Dr. Philipp Schroeder
Philipp Schroeder is a former postdoctoral researcher of the chair of comparative political science. His book, Putting Courts Under Pressure: When Lawmakers Push Constitutional Boundaries, is published by Oxford University Press. Since 2025 he is an employee of the Munich Re company. |