Zeth Isaksson
Postdoctoral Researcher & Max Weber Fellow European University Institute · Florence
Why do people vote the way they do? I work on that question from two angles — the long shadow of history, and the rise of the radical right — using registry, archival, and survey data with causal-inference methods.
Badia Fiesolana · Fiesole
Why do people vote the way they do?
Most of my work comes back to that question, and to a hunch that goes with it: the patterns we see in politics today often mirror ones from the past. I am a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, working in comparative politics, historical political economy, political behaviour, and quantitative methods.
Empirically I work mostly with Swedish and post-socialist administrative and survey data, historical records, and quasi-experimental designs. My research has appeared in Electoral Studies, Party Politics, Acta Politica, the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties, Energy Policy, and Sociologia Ruralis, among others.
I received my PhD from Stockholm University in 2025 and have held visiting positions at the EUI, the WZB in Berlin, and Stockholm University's Department of Political Science.
I'm always open to new collaborations. Much of my research is single-authored — I think taking a project from first question to finished paper on your own is part of becoming a complete researcher — but the questions I care about are usually better in good company.
Two distinct profiles
My research runs along two distinct profiles. For the most part they stay separate — different questions, data, and literatures — but every so often they speak to one another.
The long shadow of history
I use registry, census, and archival data to follow political behaviour across long stretches of time, asking what earlier regimes leave behind. Much of this work is set in post-socialist Europe, where I trace how party membership, protest, and repression under authoritarian rule continue to shape turnout and partisanship decades after transition.
- Persistent Breeze from the Winds of Change: Political Behaviour Among Protest Participants After Democratic Transition
- Repression, Party Ties, and Political Beliefs: Ideological Continuities Among Voters After Socialism
- Behind the Wall: Did the Lack of Interaction Between East and West Contribute to the Rise of the Radical Right?
Structural and cultural roots of the far-right surge
Here I ask why support for the radical right has grown, and argue that neither economics nor culture explains it on its own. Working mostly in rural Sweden, I study how local shocks — school and business closures, alcohol access, infrastructure, candidate supply — combine with cultural attachments to move votes.
- How Car Culture Drives Political Preferences in Rural Regions: Evidence from Sweden
- Spirited Away: Access to Alcohol and Support for the Populist Radical Right
- Candidate Shortages and the Electoral Consequences for Radical Right-Wing Parties: Insights from Sweden
- Political Effects of Rural School Closures: Evidence from Sweden
- Political Expectations and Electoral Responses to Wind Farm Development in Sweden (with Simon Gren)
Under review & in preparation
- Legacies of Communism: State of the Art and Future DirectionsR&R
- Jumping on the Bandwagon or off the Sinking Ship: Electoral Support and Candidate SupplyR&R
- Social Mobility and Cross-Pressured PreferencesR&R
- From Repression to Participation: How Historical Political Repression Shapes Long-term Political ParticipationUnder review
- Social Mobility and the Two Faces of Gender BacklashUnder review
- Democratic Protests as a Catalyst for Long-term Political ParticipationIn preparation
- Beyond Borders: Landed Elites, Rural Conflict, and Diverging Political Behaviour in Transferred RegionsIn preparation
Funding
Structural Change, Education, and the Radical Right: The Political Realignment of Young Men in Rural Sweden
- 2026European University Institute — €1,265
- 2025Karl Staaf Foundation — 37,500 SEK
- 2025Stiftelsen Siamon — 11,000 SEK
- 2024European Consortium for Sociological Research — €1,750
- 2024Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation — 10,000 SEK
- 2024Gustaf Björklund Memorial Fund — 21,235 SEK
- 2024Elisabeth & Herman Rhodin Fund — 8,765 SEK
- 2017Best Bachelor's Thesis in History, Uppsala University — 10,000 SEK
- 2017Henrik Gahn Scholarship — 15,000 SEK
Courses & supervision
Courses
- Introduction to Quantitative Methods (PhD)European University Institute · Fall 2026
- GlobalizationStockholm University · Spring 2024, 2025
- Basic MethodsStockholm University · 2022
- External ExaminerUniversity of Oslo · Fall 2022
Supervision
- Master's theses2 · Stockholm University
- Bachelor's theses2 · Stockholm University
Training
- University Teaching & LearningStockholm University · 5 weeks
Presentations
- APSA Annual Meeting · Boston
- Max Weber Annual Conference · Florence
- Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES) · Stockholm
- Internal Seminar, EUI · Florence
- EPSA · Madrid
- Contested Solidarities (CEU) · Vienna
- Politics Inside & Outside Parliament in Central & Eastern Europe — Workshop · Stockholm
- Lunch Seminars in Comparative Politics, Lund University · Lund
- East European Politics Graduate Workshop · Online
- Life Styles and Politics — Workshop · Stockholm
- Political Behaviour in Central & Eastern Europe — EUI · Florence
- Sociologidagarna, Swedish Sociological Association
- EPSA
- SWEPSA
- Stockholm Sessions on Migration · invited · Stockholm
- Higher Seminar in Political Science, Linnaeus University · Växjö
- European University Institute · invited · Florence
- ESSHC
- ECPR General Conference
- SWEPSA
- Centre for Collective Action Research (CeCAR) · invited · Gothenburg
- Anti-Racism Working Group Seminar · invited · Stockholm
- Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) · invited · Stockholm
- Political Periodisations — Workshop · Uppsala
- SNES PhD Workshop · Malmö
- NESS
- SWEPSA
- Centre for Local Government Studies (CKS) · invited · Norrköping
- SWEPSA
Selected coverage
A recognised commentator on Swedish politics, featured across hundreds of national and international outlets — including one of the most-referenced Stockholm University researchers in a single day around the 2022 election.
- Sveriges RadioVarför växer det politiska gapet mellan män och kvinnor?2026
- SVTStora skillnader i ungas valdeltagande2024
- Associated PressSwedish conservatives close to election win amid crime fears2022
- Al JazeeraParties in Sweden election 'completely even' as far right surges2022
- Dagens NyheterHögervind bland unga ökar stödet för kärnkraft2022
The full record
A complete list of publications, grants, presentations, and service is in my CV.
Get in touch
Affiliation
European University InstituteDept. of Political & Social Sciences
Badia Fiesolana, Fiesole (Florence)