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Staff Profile

Dr Sebastian Popa

Reader in Comparative Politics & Public Opinion

  • Email: sebastian.popa@ncl.ac.uk
  • Personal Website:
  • Address: Â鶹´«Ã½
    Room 4.16 Henry Daysh Building
    Â鶹´«Ã½ upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU
    United Kingdom
Background

I am a Reader in Comparative Politics and Public Opinion. My current research focuses on how political elites shape public opinion, with a specific focus on how they use social media in this regard.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Political Science, Central European University (Budapest)
  • MA in Political Science, Central European University (Budapest)
  • BA in Political Science, Babeș-Bolyai University

Previous positions

  • Research Fellow, Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim
Research

Research Interests

My research interests include political behaviour in a comparative perspective; public opinion; political knowledge;  political communication, European Parliament elections; use of social media in electoral campaigns; and quantitative methods.

Current work and research projects

My current recent research agenda focuses on integrating tools provided by the analysis of social media data in the study of elite communication, public opinion, as well as in the elite-public interaction. In recent projects, I show how social media data can offer unique opportunities to study attitude formation and issue evolution, and how it offers political elites a new tool to inform the public in relation to new political developments

Additionally, I am also a core member of the team. As part of the team, I have been involved in the planning, preparation, and implementation of the different components of theand . Currently, I am part of the core team that is responsible for preparing the 2024 EES project.


Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

Current modules

Module Leader POL2011: Democracy or Dictatorship?

Module leader POL3055:Applied Political Research with Quantitative Methods

Lecturer POL8065: Principles of Data Science for Political Research

 

Past modules:

Module leader POL2081: Research Methods in Politics

Lecturer POL1047: Power, Participation & Democracy: Comparative Perspectives 

Lecturer POL3045: Dissertation in Politics

Post-graduate teaching


Available as a dissertation supervisor for students interested in political behaviour, public opinion, elections, public opinion, and European Union politics.

 

Publications

  • Articles

    • Lühiste M, Praet S, Popa S, Theocharis Y, Barbera P, Fazekas Z, Tucker J. . Politics & Gender 2025, Epub ahead of print.
    • van der Brug W, Hobolt SB, Popa SA. . Journal of European Public Policy 2025, 33(2), 469-494.
    • Stier S, Popa SA, Theocharis Y, Boyle B. . Party Politics 2026, 32(1), 115-126.
    • Schnaudt C, Popa SA. . Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft 2023, 17, 31–57.
    • Ershova S, Popa SA. . Journal of European Public Policy 2021, 28(9), 1474-1493.
    • Schäfer C, Popa SA, Braun D, Schmitt H. . West European Politics 2021, 44(3), 531-557.
    • Hobolt SB, Popa SA, van der Brug W, Schmitt H. . European Union Politics 2021, 23(1).
    • van der Brug W, Popa SA, Hobolt SB, Schmitt H. . Politics 2021, 41(4), 537-561.
    • Fazekas Z, Popa SA, Schmitt H, Barberá P, Theocharis Y. . European Journal of Political Research 2021, 60(2), 376-396.
    • van der Brug W, Popa SA, Hobolt SB, Schmitt H. . Journal of Democracy 2021, 32(4), 131-145.
    • Theocharis Y, Barbera P, Fazekas Z, Popa SA. . Sage Open 2020, 10(2), 1-15.
    • Popa SA, Fazekas Z, Braun D, Leidecker-Sandmann MM. . Political Communication 2020, 37(3), 329-349.
    • Rainsford E, Maloney W, Popa SA. . The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2019, 682(1), 172-185.
    • Braun D, Popa SA, Schmitt H. . European Journal of Political Research 2019, 58(3), 797-819.
    • Braun D, Popa SA. . West European Politics 2018, 41(5), 1125-1145.
    • Popa SA, Dumitrescu D. . Party Politics 2017, 23(5), 526-537.
    • Nulty P, Theocharis Y, Popa SA, Parnet O, Benoit K. . Electoral Studies 2016, 44, 429-444.
    • Dumitrescu D, Popa SA. . American Behavioral Scientist 2016, 60(14), 1698-1718.
    • Popa SA, Rohrschneider R, Schmitt H. . Electoral Studies 2016, 44, 469-482.
    • Popa SA, Theocharis Y, Schnaudt C. . Journal of Information Technology & Politics 2016, 13, 222-238.
    • Theocharis Y, Barberá P, Fazekas Z, Popa SA, Parnet O. . Journal of Communication 2016, 66(6), 1007-1031.
    • Popa SA. . Party Politics 2015, 21(3), 440-455.
    • Schmitt H, Hobolt SB, Popa SA. . European Union Politics 2015, 1(3), 1-54.
    • Hannagan RJ, Littvay L, Popa SA. . Politics & Gender 2014, 10(1), 89-114.
    • Littvay L, Popa SA, Fazekas Z. . Social Science Quarterly 2013, 94(2), 569-589.

  • Book Chapters

    • Braun D, Popa SA, Schmitt H. . In: Maurizio Cotta and Pierangelo Isernia, ed. The EU through Multiple Crises: Representation and Cohesion Dilemmas for a "sui generis" Polity. Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2021.
    • Schnaudt C, Walter S, Popa SA. . In: Westle B; Segatti P, ed. European identity in the context of national identity : questions of identity in sixteen European countries in the wake of the financial crisis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016, pp.63-92.

  • Editorial

    • Hobolt SB, Popa SA, van der Brug W. . Journal of European Public Policy 2025, 33(2), 399-414.

  • Research Datasets/Databases

    • Popa SA, Hobolt SB, van der Brug W, Katsanidou A, Gattermann K, Sorace M, Toygur I, de Vreese C. . 2024. Cologne: GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences e.V.
    • Schmitt H, Hobolt SB, Popa SA, Teperoglou E. . 2015. Cologne, Germany: GESIS Data Archive.