Parties and populism
Parties and populism research investigates the dynamics of political parties, their ideologies, and the rise of populist movements. It examines how parties mobilize support, engage with the electorate, and respond to the demands and grievances of the population.
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Professor Daniele Albertazzi
Professor of Politics
Biography
Daniele Albertazzi is Professor of Politics at the ۿ۴ý. He is also the Research Community Lead for Social Sciences, as well as the Co-Convenor of the Italian Politics Specialist group of the Political Studies Association (UK).
Daniele has been the principal investigator of several research projects focusing on right wing populism, Italian politics, political communication and party organisation. These have been funded by major British research organisations, such as the Leverhulme Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and The British Academy. At present, Daniele is leading “The survival of the mass party: Evaluating activism and participation among populist radical right parties (PRRPs) in Europe”. This is a large comparative project funded by the ESRC (Ref: ES/R011540/1) which pioneers the systematic comparative study of European populism thanks to unprecedented access to four populist radical right parties in Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Finland. The monograph summarising the findings of this project will be published by Oxford University Press in 2025.
Daniele has published widely on European politics in international journals, such as West European Politics, Party Politics and Government & Opposition. He has also published on Italian politics in international journals, such as Contemporary Italian Politics, Modern Italy and the Journal of Modern Italian Studies. He is the author, co-author or co-editor of several volumes, special issues of journals and monographs.
Daniele is regularly called upon as a key-note speaker, external supervisor, and media pundit on areas such as populism and democracy, the European radical right and contemporary Italian politics.
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Dr Mustafa Demir
Associate Research Fellow, Centre for Britain and Europe
Biography
Dr Demir is an Associate Research Fellow at the Centre for Britain and Europe (CBE), with a decade of expertise in international economic relations, political economy, and energy geopolitics. His recent works focus on geoeconomics, most recently publishing a report titled "Geopolitics Rewired: Energy Corridors and the Strategic Reordering of the Middle East."
Dr. Demir has an extensive publication record, including numerous peer-reviewed articles in top-tier journals and several books. His recent research explores critical topics such as energy security, trade corridors, and the dynamics of authoritarianism, populism, and securitization. He also writes on the role of religion in politics and the complex intersection of energy and geopolitics, with a particular focus on the European Union and its foreign policy.
As a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Dr. Demir has shared his knowledge by teaching modules on Political Economy, International Economic Relations, and Conflict Analysis.
Dr Simona Guerra
Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics
Biography
Since I was awarded my PhD (January 2009), I have established myself as a scholar and an expert in the field of Euroscepticism and European Studies. My dedication to high-quality and path-breaking research is demonstrated by my success in obtaining funded research grants (about 1,510,606.06 Euros).
This is supported by the numerous invited talks at the international level, by governmental/EU institutions, as keynote speaker/speaker at roundtables, as at the ECPR (with former Polish President and Nobel laureate Lech Wałęsa), UACES, and PSA. Further, at a rather junior stage I have become the first author of the chapter on public opinion and EU integration in the most used (OUP) textbook on the EU.
In 2013 I published my first monograph, with Palgrave, and co-edited a Special Issue of the Journal of Common Market Studies. Both were well received, among my publications, a book edited (and co-written) with a colleague (M. Caiani) on Euroscepticism, Democracy and The Media (Palgrave, European Sociology) (h 81), an articlepublished in the Journal of Communist and Postcommunist Studies (h 80), my monograph (h 50), and further articles on the Journal of Common Market Studies (h 29) and Perspectives on European Politics and Society (h 24) (see: Harzing, Publish or Perish 8.9).
I have also been the Co-Chief Editor of JCER, Journal of Contemporary European Research (2012-2017). While editor, it became a Q2 (SCImago) journal in 2014 (it was a Q3 journal in 2013, and Q4 in 2012, it had no previous ranking). I have just completed my office as founding Co-Chief Editor of the first GOA journal of the ECPR, Political Research Exchange (PRX) (2017-2023), that started publishing from 2019. Since then, PRX published five volumes with over 250,000 downloads across over 175 countries; in 2020 it was Indexed DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals; in 2021 Indexed by Scopus; Web of Science Emerging Sources Citation Index; in 2022 we recorded more than 50% submissions with female lead authors and in 2022, PRX achieved its first Impact Factor and Q1 Citescore, 2.4.
I was elected as a UACES Committee Member & Trustee in 2010 (2010–2013), and further co-opted till 2017. In 2021 I was elected as board member of the IPSA RC03 on European Unification, focusing on the study of European integration. My international visibility has resulted in my work as reviewer (for journals, publishers, British/international grant schemes - ESRC, Leverhulme, and in Belgium, Switzerland, Czechia, Poland, Croatia), examiner, research fellow, and visiting professor across Europe and at the EU institutions.
I further hold several teaching awards, from students at the University of Nottingham, Loughborough University and the University of Leicester, as Best Personal Tutor, Best Lecturer, Best Support Staff, Best Practice in Inclusive Learning and Teaching, and Best Implementer of Students’ Feedback.
My current project is investigating the presence and work of the early women of the European Assembly (1952-1969) thanks to the interest and support from the European Parliament and internal funding (ESRC and A&H IAA grants) and working on the Oxford Handbook of Polish Politics (OUP) with Katarzyna Walecka and Fernando Casal Bertoa.
I am interested in supervising research projects examining the process of European integration, attitudes towards the European Union, or women in the early (1950s and 1960s) stages of the European integration process.
Previous visiting positions include: Unitelma La Sapienza in Rome (2014-15), University of Sussex (2015-16), London School of Economics (2017), University of Zagreb (2018), Carlos III, in Madrid (2019), International Chair at ULB (2022),ۿ۴ýing Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges campus, 2020-22), and ۿ۴ýing Chair at Sapienza University in Rome (2023).
Below my previous appointments:
- ۿ۴ýing Professor, La Sapienza, Rome (May-June 2023);
- International Chair , ULB, Brussels (May-June 2022);
- Acting Head of School, University of Leicester (July 2018-January 2019);
- Deputy Head of School, University of Leicester (April 2017-August 2019);
- Associate Professor, University of Leicester (September 2016-June 2020);
- Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Leicester (April–September 2016);
- Associate Professor, 14/C3, by direct appointment of an Italian citizen currently working abroad, Scuola di Studi Internazionale and the Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale, University of Trento (art. 15 comma 6, D.R.n.563, 29.10.2013), January 2016, declined;
- Lecturer in Politics, University of Leicester (May 2012-April 2016);
- Lecturer in Politics, Loughborough University (September 2010-May 2012);
- Teaching Fellow, University of Nottingham (September 2008-August 2010);
- Research Associate, Cardiff University (April-September 2008);
- Graduate Associate Tutor, Sussex European Institute, University of Sussex (January 2005-June 2007).
Further, I have been guest lecturer for the Politics Summer School jointly organized by Canterbury Christ Church University and the Centre International de Formation Européen; for the MYEULINK project at the University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus; and the MA in European Studies, at the Università of Siena.
Dr Alia Middleton
Senior Lecturer in Politics, Co-Director of The Centre for Britain and Europe (CBE) and Undergraduate Admissions Tutor
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Dr Roula Nezi
Senior Lecturer in Political Science
Biography
I am Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the ۿ۴ý. My research examines developments in public opinion and political attitudes, political parties and party systems, and electoral behaviour. I am also interested in survey methodology and quantitative methods. My academic work has been published in a wide range of Q1 journals.