Welcome! I am a Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the European University Institute in Florence. My research focuses on the emergence and evolution of political mobilization in 19th and 20th century Europe, examining the role of social, political, and economic institutions—such as political violence, religion, and repression—in shaping these dynamics.
In Fall 2024, I was a visiting scholar at Yale University. At the EUI, I led the Research Analytics Unit and co-organized the Comparative Politics Seminar Series. Prior to my doctoral studies, I worked as a Research Assistant at the Institutions and Political Economy Research Group (IPERG) at the University of Barcelona.
Work in progress
Ne parlons pas de l’Affair Dreyfus: Antisemitic riots and polarization in Fin de Siècle France (with Simon Hix)
[Abstract]
Research on contemporary riots finds either a backlash against the forces responsible for the riots or an increase in the salience of the issuResearch on contemporary riots finds either a backlash against the forces responsible for the riots or an increase in the salience of the issues raised by the rioters. These competing effects are often difficult to unpack. We study the effect of rightwing antisemitic riots in France in the midst of the Dreyfus Affair on the 1898 elections. Combining historical municipal-level election data and novel information on the location of the riots, we find two main effects: 1) a backlash against the political forces responsible for the violence (a decline in electoral support for extreme right candidates); and 2) an increase in support for antisemitic candidates on the extreme left. These results contribute insights the consequences of political violence, suggesting that riots against an ethnic minority can have several and contrasting electoral implications, and that these effects already existed in the early years of democratic politics.
Anglicans, Dissenters and Electoral Behavior in 19th century Great Britain (with Carles Boix and Guillem Riambau)
[Abstract]
This paper examines the religious origins of political parties in Great Britain. To that avail, we digitize all 19th century censuses at the most micro level (Parish level). We merge these datasets to all electoral results in the 19th century and to the March 30, 1851, Religious Census. The latter is the only census in UK’s history to tally attendances for every single church and chapel in all of England and Wales. Our results indicate that support for Tories (Whigs) was significantly stronger where the Anglican Church (New Dissent) was stronger. These results are robust to the inclusion of various sociodemographic controls, suggesting that religion had an influence on party support over and above social class or economic interest.
Cuffs: Targeted Repression and Compliance under Autocracy (with Lorenzo Vicari and Andrea Xamo)
[Abstract]
In this two-fold project, we leverage granular archival sources on fascist Italy to inquire how incoming autocrats take hold of the administrative state. Then, we investigate the impact of state repression on electoral compliance and military mobilisation.
Other work
Temporary Disenfranchisement Revisited: A Report from the 2023 Montréal Replication Games on the Robustness of Recent Findings in the APSR (with Joris Frese, Alexandros Christos Gkotinakos, and Matthew Hepplewhite), I4R Discussion Paper Series, No. 87, Institute for Replication (I4R), s.l.
[Paper] [Repository]
