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SWPS University - Main page

Meet our Researchers

Ben Stanley

 

SWPS University is a leading research center in Poland. Results of our research find numerous practical applications in education, business organizations, and public administration. These discoveries require drive, courage, dedication, responsibility, and years of hard work. We would like you to meet the people behind the projects, see the research centers where they work, and discover the fascinating world of science, which improves the quality of life.

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Research Focus
political science

Ben Stanley, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at SWPS University’s Faculty of Social Sciences in Warsaw. Primarily, he is a researcher at the Center for the Study of Democracy, who also teaches at the Department of Social Studies.

Professor Stanley arrived in Poland shortly after obtaining his undergraduate degree in the UK. He intended to teach English in Poland for a few months and see a bit of the world. However, he ended up staying for three years and observing Poland’s transformation from a Communist state to a young democracy, finally free from Soviet rule. The longer he stayed, the more he got interested in the process of democratization and how citizens adapted to living in a very different political system.

Gradually, his interests evolved to include the way political parties and voters relate to each other, i.e. how political parties use ideological appeals to mobilize voters and how voters respond. He investigates the phenomenon of populism and attitudes towards democracy. His current project centers on answering the question why people declare a belief in the values and tenets of liberal democracy, such as political pluralism, constitutional courts, accountability of political elites, yet they behave like democratic hypocrites, which means they are willing to vote for parties that do not necessarily behave in accordance with those norms.

One of the key things that has sustained me throughout my academic career so far is knowing that I can decide, ultimately, to follow what is interesting to me; and knowing that I have that kind of autonomy and that kind of ability to decide the direction of the things that I want to study and questions that interest me. That, I think, is one of the most motivating things about being in academia.

Ben Stanley
Ben Stanley
Ph.D. / Associate Professor

Hear Professor Stanley speak about:

His research on liberal democracy, civic behaviors, and populism.

Professor Stanley talks about his evolving research interests in the discipline of political studies, which began with political theory and, thanks to the observation of the actual process of political system transformation in Poland, have moved towards investigating populism, democratic backsliding, and the gap between declared values and the actions voters take.

Read more about Professor Stanley's research

Research Center
Center for the Study of Democracy

The Center researches theories, models, and quality of democracy, including matters such as citizen participation in democratic and political processes, democratic innovations, social movements, and political views and attitudes. The goal of the Center is to improve the public sphere.
Center for the Study of Democracy


Video Series
Researchers of SWPS University

Meet our researchers. Hear them talk about their passion for finding answers to scientific questions and their commitment to providing solutions, which improve the lives of individuals and communities.

The project is financed by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange under the Welcome to Poland programme.

Meet our researchers