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The position is 1 of 2 postdoctoral positions in the ERC Consolidator Grant project “SEE: Political Representation in Proportional Electoral Systems” (SEE, 2025-2030, 2 million Euros) led by Jorge M. Fernandes and hosted at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC, Madrid).

The position is focused on the analysis of political and economic data with a strong geographic component in European democracies.  The Research Fellow will carry out research work independently and collaborate on the project's research work. Main tasks include:

• Carrying out high-quality research toward the goals of the project, in an independent and  collaborative manner;
• Engaging in data collection, management and analysis, working theoretically and producing literature reviews;
• Authoring and co-authoring papers and publications in the framework of the project and with project members;
• Presenting research results and output at international conferences worldwide.

How to Apply
Please send a copy of CV, motivation letter, and writing sample to jorge.fernandes@csic.es.

Deadline: 28 February 2025

Short-listed candidates will be invited for an interview and to provide two reference letters.

Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• PhD in economics, geography, or political science (PhD candidates about to defend their thesis are eligible conditional on the successful thesis defense by the contract start date);
• Strong quantitative methodological background: excellent command of Stata/R, QGIS, and Python (desirable);
• Ability to collaborate within a team and to work independently taking individual initiative, gathered through previous experience;
• Excellent command of English.

Desirable

• Commitment to work with the ERC team and toward the goals of the ERC project in co-authored publications;
• Readiness to travel to conferences to present research output;
• Commitment to a multi-year postdoctoral position in Madrid.

Project Description

Political representation links geography and citizens’ voices. In recent years, citizens have used their voices to channel their grievances about being left behind. Events such as Trump’s election, Brexit, the French Yellow Vests, and the rise of extreme-right across Europe motivated researchers to investigate the causes and consequences of geographic divides in contemporary democracies.

However, most theoretical frameworks examining the interplay between geography and representation are rooted in the political, economic, historical, and sociological experience of the United States. Unlike the U.S., most European democracies employ proportional electoral systems, have strong political parties, stronger redistributive politics, and different urban organizations. Cities are denser, less segregated, and have more public transportation.

The primary motivation for this project is to break new ground by developing a theoretical framework grounded on the institutional, socioeconomic, and historical trajectories of proportional European democracies. I analyze representation at the level it takes place: the electoral district. The complexity of electoral districts in European proportional democracies forces legislators into difficult trade-offs. SEE will (1) map representation inequalities inside electoral districts; (2) understand legislators’ choices based on their preferences, biases, and partisan constraints; (3) identify and analyze the implications of legislators’ choices on citizens’ attitudes and reactions to representation; (4) create a theoretical and empirical framework to examine representation in the suburbs.

SEE will use a comparative and integrative multi-method approach to meet its goals with a sequential integration of cross-sectional observational data, elite and mass survey experiments, and focus groups in a diverse set of six European proportional democracies: Austria, Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.