Christopher Wratil

Research projects

2014 - ongoing
Debates in the Council of the European Union (DICEU)
This project studies politics in the Council of the European Union from videos of its public deliberations. Since 2006 the EU's primary legislative body has to meet in public whenever national ministers negotiate over EU legislative files (e.g. EU directives and regulations). The DICEU database makes available transcriptions of ministers' speeches in the Council as well as human codings of the negotiations. This data is used in quantitative text analysis and item-response theory models. The project will provide novel insights on how governments' positions in the Council change in response to domestic factors such as changes in the government's composition, public opinion and economic developments. It will also improve our understanding of the dynamics of inter-governmental bargaining in the Council, most importantly, on which arguments national ministers use to influence their peers and how conflict is resolved within the Council.
Associated researchers
- Sara B. Hobolt; Sven-Oliver Proksch
Funding partner
- Fritz Thyssen Foundation; The Leverhulme Trust
2017 - ongoing
Intersections of democratic representation
The study of representation has been a major research field in quantitative political science, and it has been accompanied by a range of conceptual innovations by political theorists working on the topic. Yet, although many quantitative scholars are familiar with the conceptual literature, even the most complex quantitative studies have tended to rely on a simplistic and unidimensional modelling of representative processes, refusing to operationalize the more sophisticated conceptions of representation theorists have developed. In this project, we develop four remodelled conceptions of representation that are both sensitive to theorists’ conceptual impulses and operationalizable for quantitative scholars. In doing so, we advance a new research agenda on representation that moves significantly beyond the status quo of the field.
Associated researchers
- Fabio Wolkenstein
Funding partner
- funding applications planned
2018 - 2021
Rebels in representative democracy: The appeal and consequences of political defection in Europe
This project employs advanced survey data analysis, experimental approaches, and social media analysis to uncover when and why voters like rebel politicians at different levels of government. The project will characterise the nature of rebellion by looking at how politicians communicate with citizens. Our survey experiments will tease out the impact of different theoretical causal mechanisms that could explain why voters like politicians who show independence from their party or the system as a whole. Do voters like rebels because they truly value their “independence?” Do they value rebels only when they perceive that rebellion pulls policy in an ideological direction they prefer? Do they truly value behaviour that undermines the system? Are there differences in how voters perceive individual members rebelling from the party line compared with views of populist parties who rebel against the entire system? And, are there differences across different voters and countries? In answering these questions, the project will provide a deeper understanding of why voters support rebellious behaviour and why politicians engage in it. Our answers will help us to understand when and how rebellion undermines, or alternatively, supports democracy across Europe and beyond.
Associated researchers
- Sven-Oliver Proksch; Jonathan Slapin; Dominik Duell
Funding partner
- Fritz Thyssen Foundation