DAMIEN BOL
Sciences Po Paris
I'm a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Sciences Po Paris. Before that, I was a tenured Professor in the Department of Political Economy at King's College London.
My work sits at the intersection of comparative politics and political behavior. I study how individuals experience and evaluate democracy, including its institutions and core values. Methodologically, I specialize in surveys and experiments, often conducted in Belgium, Canada, France, and the UK, which are my main countries of expertise. I’m particularly interested in methodological innovation, including how new tools such as AI can enhance, or sometimes complicate, these approaches. I've published over 40 papers in a range of journals, including World Politics, Comparative Political Studies, and the Journal of Public Economics.
Outside of research, I enjoy helping build academic communities. I was the Director of the Quantitative Political Economy Group at King's College London, which gathered around 50 faculty members and many PhD students. I currently direct the French Electoral Studies Network (REEF, Réseau d’Études Électorales en France), bringing together about 200 researchers from dozens of universities to coordinate data collection across institutions and disciplines for the upcoming French electoral cycle.
I’m a political scientist by training, but I often collaborate with economists to bridge the two disciplines. Political scientists would say that I'm as a rational-choice analyst, whereas economists would describe me as a behaviorist.
SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS
(for a full list, see here)
(2026) Renewing Democracy: How Exposure to Electoral Turnovers Reinforces Citizens' Democratic Support.
World Politics 78(4).
(2023) Public Support for Citizens' Assemblies Selected through Sortition: Evidence from 15 Countries.
European Journal of Political Research 62(3): 873–902 (with Jean-Benoit Pilet, Davide Vittori, and Emilien Paulis).
(2023) What Kind of Electoral Outcome Do People Think is Good for Democracy?
Political Studies 71(4): 1068–1089 (with André Blais, Shaun Bowler, David Farrell, et al).
(2022) Does the Number of Candidates Increase Turnout? Causal Evidence From Two-Round Elections.
Political Behavior 44(4): 2005–2026 (with Ria Ivandic).
(2021) Estimating Humanity’s Attitudes About Democracy and Political Leaders: Patterns and Trends.
Public Opinion Quarterly 85(4): 957–986 (with Christopher J. Anderson and Aurelia Ananda).
(2021) The Effect of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Political Support: Some Good News for Democracy?
European Journal of Political Research 60(2): 497–505 (with Marco Giani, André Blais, and Peter J. Loewen).
(2021) The Importance of Personal Vote Intentions for the Responsiveness of Legislators: A Field Experiment.
European Journal of Political Research 60(2): 455–473 (with Thomas Gschwend, Thomas Zittel, and Steffen Zittlau).