About

Petra Guasti is an Associate Professor of Democratic Theory at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences. Between 2016 and 2021, she served as a senior researcher, an Interim Professor, and an adjunct lecturer at Goethe University Frankfurt. In April 2021, she completed (cumulative) habilitation in political science at Goethe University Frankfurt, and in January 2024, habilitation in political science at Charles University in Prague. In March 2019, she completed an eight-month Visiting Democracy Fellowship at Harvard University’s Ash Centre for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Her research focuses on the reconfiguration of the political landscape and revolves around three themes – representation, democratisation, and populism. Petra's research has appeared in Democratic Theory, Democratization, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, European Political Science, East European Politics and Societies and Cultures, Politics and Governance, and East European Politics, among other places. She has been an expert for the Bertelsmann Transformation Index and Sustainable Governance Indicators for over a decade. In 2024, she became the SGI regional coordinator for Central Europe. In 2020, she was appointed to the expert board of the Nation in Transit (Freedom House). Between 2022 and 2025, Petra is a co-PI of SYRI (National Institute for Research on the Socio-Economic Impact of Diseases and Systemic Risks), supported by the CZ National Recovery Plan EXCELES Programme. In SYRI, Petra also leads a PA5 team of 20 researchers working on polarisation, populism & democratic resilience. Petra is part of Horizon AUTHLIB—Neo-Authoritarianism in Europe and the Liberal Democratic Response. She leads the Charles University team and the work package on minipublics. Since 2024, she has been a co-PI of Horizon INSPIRE, where she also leads a work package on co-producing learning and action with public officials and citizens. Since 2009, Petra has been a Convenor of the ECPR Standing Group for Central and Eastern European Politics (from 2011, with Prof. Terry Cox). Since 2023 she co-edits with Mattia Zulianello the ECPR's The Loop blog #FutureOfPopulism. In 2024 she was elected to the ECPR executive committee.

Research Interests

Europe (Central and Eastern), Civil Society, Comparative Politics, Democracy, Democratisation, European Union, Gender, Governance, Integration, Parliaments, Political Participation, Populism

Current/Upcoming Events

Standing Groups and Research Networks

• Political Representation
• Central and East European Politics
• Democratic Innovations
• Extremism and Democracy
• The Sciences of the Democracies
• Law and Courts