Profile

I am a PhD-candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) and the University of Warwick. I started my PhD in October 2021 under a EUTOPIA PhD Co-tutelle Program. My main institution is the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and my two supervisors are Didier Caluwaerts (VUB) and Michael Saward (Warwick). Before starting my PhD, I studied the Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences (VUB) and the Master of Science in European and International Governance (VUB). I work and live in Brussels.

Research interests

I am primarily interested in the relationship between democracy and polarisation. In the current age of democratic resentment and disenchantment, I want to empirically and conceptually disentangle the way(s) in which polarisation can undermine or foster democratic societies. My research interests, therefore, include (but are not limited to):

• polarisation;
• conflict;
• democracy.

Publications

Bernaerts, K., Blanckaert, B., & Caluwaerts, D. (2022). Institutional design and polarization. Do consensus democracies fare better in fighting polarization than majoritarian democracies? Democratization, 30 (2), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2022.2117300

Caluwaerts D, Bernaerts K, Kesberg R, Smets L and Spruyt B (2023) Deliberation and polarization: a multi-disciplinary review. Front. Polit. Sci. 5:1127372. doi: 10.3389/fpos.2023.1127372