Alberto López Ortega
Political Scientist, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
I am a postdoctoral researcher in Political Science at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Starting Fall 2024, I will be the Ramón Areces Fellow and Visiting Scholar for 2024-2025 at the Center of European Studies in Harvard University.
I specialize in comparative politics, electoral behavior, representation, and public opinion. I co-direct the electoral prediction market Predilect and co-lead WG1 at COST Action LGBTI+ Social and Economic (in)equalities (CA19103). Previously, I earned my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Zurich.
My research focuses on two key and interconnected challenges that modern democracies face: identity-based polarization and the erosion of sociocultural attitudes, particularly concerning LGBTQ+ perspectives, towards liberal democracy. I have also specialized in understanding the discrimination patterns against LGBTQ+ and other minority political candidates in the European context. My methodological expertise is in quantitative techniques, with a specific emphasis on experimental survey methods.