Prof. Dr. Theresa Gessler

Research areas

• Democracy and democratic backsliding.
• Immigration and right-wing populism.
• Digitalization.
• Politics and gender.
• (Quantitative) research methods and text analysis.

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Publications

Recent Publications

Edited Volumes:

• Bojar, A., Gessler, T., Hutter, S., & Kriesi, H. (eds.). (2021). Contentious Episodes in the Age of Austerity: Studying the Dynamics of Government–Challenger Interactions: Bd. forthcoming. Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/contentious-episodes-in-the-age-of-austerity/3266F797F80705A8652E556ED2FE38B4

Journal Articles:

• Gessler, T., & L. Kaftan (2023). Communicating democratic subversions to citizens. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, Online First
• Gessler, T., & Wunsch, N. (2023). Who tolerates democratic backsliding? A mosaic approach to voters´ responses to authoritarian leadership in Hungary. Democratization, Online First.

 

• Engler, S., Gessler, T., Abou-Chadi, T., & Leemann, L. (2022). Democracy challenged: how parties politicize different democratic principles. Journal of European Public Policy, Online First.

 

• Gessler, T., & Hunger, S. (2022). How the refugee crisis and radical right parties shape party competition on immigration. Political Science Research and Methods, 10(3), 524–544. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2021.64

 

• Gilardi, F., Gessler, T., Kubli, M., & Müller, S. (2022). Social Media and Political Agenda Setting. Political Communication, 39(1), 39–60. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2021.1910390.

 

• Gilardi, F., Gessler, T., Kubli, M., & Müller, S. (2021). Social Media and Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Switzerland. Swiss Political Science Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12458

 

• Gilardi, F., Baumgartner, L., Dermont, C., Donnay, K., Gessler, T., Kubli, M., Leemann, L., & Müller, S. (2021). Building Research Infrastructures to Study Digital Technology and Politics: Lessons from Switzerland. PS: Political Science & Politics, First View, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096521000895

 

• Gilardi, F., Gessler, T., Kubli, M., & Müller, S. (2022). Issue Ownership and Agenda Setting in the 2019 Swiss National Elections. Swiss Political Science Review, 28(2), 190–208. https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12496

 

• Gessler, T., Tóth, G., & Wachs, J. (2021). No Country for Asylum Seekers? How Short-Term Exposure to Refugees Influences Attitudes and Voting Behavior in Hungary. Political Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-021-09682-1

 

• Borbáth, E., & Gessler, T. (2021). How Do Populist Radical Right Parties Differentiate their Appeal? Evidence from the Media Strategy of the Hungarian Jobbik Party. Government and Opposition, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2021.28

 

• Abou-Chadi, T., Breyer, M., & Gessler, T. (2021). The (re)politicisation of gender in Western Europe. European Journal of Politics and Gender, 4(2), 311–314. https://doi.org/10.1332/251510821X16177312096679

 

• Borbáth, E., & Gessler, T. (2020). Different worlds of contention? Protest in Northwestern, Southern and Eastern Europe. European Journal of Political Research, 59(4), 910–935. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12379

Book chapters:

• Kriesi, H., Hutter, S., Bojar, A., Altiparmakis, A., Gessler, T., Hunger, S., Pilati, K., & Schulte-Cloos, J. (2021). Introduction: A New Approach for Studying Political Contention – Contentious Episode Analysis. In A. Bojar, H. Kriesi, S. Hutter, & T. Gessler (eds.), Contentious Episodes in the Age of Austerity: Studying the Dynamics of Government–Challenger Interactions (S. 3–23). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009004367.003

 

• Gessler, T., & Hutter, S. (2021). Actor Configurations and Coalitions in Contentious Episodes. In A. Bojar, H. Kriesi, S. Hutter, & T. Gessler (eds.), Contentious Episodes in the Age of Austerity: Studying the Dynamics of Government–Challenger Interactions (S. 91–109). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009004367.008

 

• Gessler, T., & Hutter, S. (2021). Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Mapping Contentiousness. In A. Bojar, H. Kriesi, S. Hutter, & T. Gessler (eds.), Contentious Episodes in the Age of Austerity: Studying the Dynamics of Government–Challenger Interactions (S. 67–90). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009004367.007

 

• Gessler, T., & Kyriazi, A. (2019). Hungary – A Hungarian Crisis or Just a Crisis in Hungary? In S. Hutter & H. Kriesi (eds.), European Party Politics in Times of Crisis (S. 167–188). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108652780.008

 

• Gessler, T., & Schulte-Cloos, J. (2020). The Return of the Economy?: Issue Contention in the Protest Arena. In B. Wüest, H. Kriesi, J. Lorenzini, & S. Hausermann (eds.), Contention in Times of Crisis: Recession and Political Protest in Thirty European Countries (S. 128–146). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108891660.007

 

• Hutter, S., & Gessler, T. (2019). The Media Content Analysis and Cross-Validation. In S. Hutter & H. Kriesi (eds.), European Party Politics in Times of Crisis (S. 53–72). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108652780.003

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Vita

Short biography

Theresa Gessler studied Sociology, as well as History and Philosophy of Science in Frankfurt (Main) from 2009 to 2013, with stays in Madrid and Exeter. MA studies in Political Science at Central European University in Budapest (2013-2015). PhD thesis on 'Political conflict on immigration and democracy in Europe' at the European University Institute in Florence, completed in December 2019. Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Political Science and the Digital Democracy Lab at the University of Zurich (2019-2022). Appointment as Assistant Professor ('Juniorprofessorin') of Comparative Politics at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) in July 2022.

Personal webpage: www.theresagessler.eu

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