About

The first year I was allowed to vote (2015) was a sweeping victory for the radical-right Law and Justice (PiS) party, which won the presidency in May and formed a government in November. PiS has been ruling Poland for the past eight years, and the question of the causes of its continuing popularity has been at the forefront of my research agenda. In pursuing my bachelor's and master's at the University of Amsterdam, I supplemented my in-depth knowledge of the case with classical political science theories. In my master's thesis, under the supervision of Eelco Harteveld and Sarah de Lange, I looked into attitudes between supporters of contending radical right parties in France, Poland, Italy, and the Netherlands. I found the radical right electorate to be more diverse than often assumed, with Poland emerging as an extreme case of within-block hostility. Currently, I am pursuing a doctorate at the Universite Libre Brussels in the project 'Post-truth and political parties'. The project aims to explain why and when political actors utilize conspiracy narratives. I will work on developing a database on the frequency and framing of conspiratorial frames in Poland. Furthermore, I will conduct interviews with Polish politicians to unravel the rationale behind utilizing conspiratorial strategies. In the last stage of the project, I will build on my master's thesis to investigate the role of conspiratorial frames in fostering political divides. Additionally, I explore how technocracy and populism might constitute mutually reinforcing forces in representative democracies. By utilizing a novel TAESD dataset, I am working with Bartek Pytlas and Nick Martin on developing a novel technopopulist index that would allow for disentangling if technocratic and populist claims coalesce in Facebook communication of political parties. Beyond an academic engagement, I contribute to the Polish media by infusing contemporary political debates with political science insights. So far, I have written reviews of Polish editions of academic books by Micheal Sandel and Jan Werner-Muller and commentary pieces about radical-right mainstreaming and anti-populism. In contributing to The Loop, I hope to continue bridging the gap between academic writing and journalistic commentary.

Research Interests

Europe (Central and Eastern), Comparative Politics, Populism, Immigration, Neo-Marxism, Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Quantitative, Party Systems

Current/Upcoming Events

Piotr has not yet registered for any ECPR events.

Standing Groups and Research Networks

• Affective Polarization
• Knowledge and Governance
• Political Communication
• European Union
• Extremism and Democracy