Profile

Dr. Ben Stanley is a sociologist and political scientist. He researches voting behaviour, political parties, populism, and the state of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe.

He is currently a Principal Investigator in the research project “The dynamics of political attitudes and views” (2019-2022) and the NCN OPUS research project “Partisan bias or a climate of indifference? An investigation of actually-existing democratic values and their consequences in Poland” (2021-2024). He was also a Principal Investigator in the following research projects: “Measuring populism: a pilot study to improve existing questions” (2019-2020), the National Science Centre. „DIASPOlitic: Understanding the Political Dynamics of Émigré Communities in an Era of European Democratic Backsliding”, Norwegian Research Council, EUROPA (Europe in Transitions), A2–Values Under Pressure (2019–2020); „A Survey-Based Experiment on the Relationship Between Populism and Conspiracy Theories”, SWPS University BST grant (2019–2020); „The Winner-Loser Divide? A Comparative Analysis of Voting Behaviour and Cleavage Formation in Post-Communist Party Systems (WINLOSE)” (2013–2015); „Integration versus Demarcation? A Comparative Classification of Party Appeals, Voter Preferences and Candidate Attitudes in the European Parliamentary Elections of 2009” (2010).

Dr. Stanley has authored numerous publications, including: Pirro, A. L. P., & Stanley, B. (2021). “Forging, Bending, and Breaking: Enacting the “Illiberal Playbook” in Hungary and Poland”. Perspectives on Politics, (pp. 1-16); Bill, S., & Stanley, B. (2020). Whose Poland is it to be? PiS and the struggle between monism and pluralism. East European Politics, 36(3), (pp. 1-17); Stanley B. (2020), „A Comparison of Two Polish Party Leaders: Jarosław Kaczyński and Donald Tusk”, in: () S. Gherghina (Ed.), „Party Leaders in Eastern Europe” (pp. 171–195); Stanley B., Markowski R., Cześnik M. (2019), „Marginalization, not mainstreaming: Explaining the failure of fringe parties in Poland”, Party Politics; Stanley B. (2019), „Backsliding Away? The Quality of Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe”, „Journal of Contemporary European Research” 15(4), 343–353; Stanley B. (2008), „The thin ideology of populism”, „Journal of Political Ideologies” 13(1), 95–110.

At SWPS University, he teaches classes in comparative politics and psychology of politics.