Postdoctoral position in research project on party leader explanations for electoral defeat

The Department of Political Science at Aarhus BSS, Aarhus University, invites applications for a 2-year fulltime postdoctoral position to join a new research project on how party leaders explain electoral defeat, and how the content of their explanations influence support for the party leader among partisans and trust in democracy more broadly. The project is directed by Professor Martin Bækgaard. Professors Helene Helboe Pedersen and Henrik Bech Seeberg are also participating in the research group.

The starting date is February 1st, 2025 but can be flexible subject to mutual agreement.
The research project
The position is part of the project “Justifying Defeat: Party Leader Framing of Election Losses”, a 4.5-year project funded by The Independent Research Fund Denmark (6.2 million DKR). Shaping the story of the election outcomes is of key interest to party leaders and top candidates who want to maintain power. Such stories are also crucial to democracy, as questions about the legitimacy of an election may increase political polarization and lessen trust in democracy, as suggested by the run on the US Capitol in 2020. Yet, little is known about what strategies and explanations party leaders rely on when facing electoral defeat. Some leaders may seek to attribute responsibility to others, other leaders may want to call attention to aspects of the election where they were successful, while yet others may completely deny defeat.

In the project, we aim to explore how party leaders communicate to their partisans and the public at large when their party has experienced an electoral defeat. Specifically, the project focuses on what kind of explanations for the electoral result, the party leaders make use of, and what consequences the usage of various explanations have for party leader support and democracy.

The project is divided into three work packages. In work package 1, we will collect party leader explanations across time and countries from around the world. We will use these data to develop a typology of electoral defeat-explanations and moreover use qualitative interviews with former and current party leaders to explore how party leaders think about the communication of electoral defeats to partisans and the public. In work package 2, we plan to use the data collected in work package 1 to explore the conditions under which different explanations are used. Work package 3 will use randomized survey experiments to examine how the usage of the most prominent explanations uncovered in work package 1 influence partisan perceptions of the election result and the party leader as well as citizen trust in democracy among the broader electorate. There are rich opportunities for further developing the project by for instance exploring the role of opposing explanations from copartisans or competitors or by examining in large-N designs how the usage of specific explanations correlate with party leader survival.

Overall, the project contributes to general fields of research in elections, trust in democracy, political parties, and political communication. Job description
The postdoctoral researcher will be employed as part of and is expected to engage in collaborative research with the research group. The postdoc is expected to be present at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University at least three days a week on average, participate in project meetings, and be part of the broader research environment at the Department.

The postdoc will moreover be expected to take a leading role in developing, designing and coordinating research projects and publishing research in high impact journals. As part of the research group, the postdoc is also expected to provide support for project-related research, organizational, and administrative tasks.

Given the key goal of collecting and coding party leader explanations across a wide variety of countries, experience with computer assisted coding of big chunks of text and experience with large-N analysis of cross-national data will be positively evaluated.

The successful applicant will be part of a research project of high societal and research relevance and of a vibrant and supportive research team with an informal atmosphere. There will be excellent opportunities for intellectual development and mentoring as well as developing an independent research agenda within the context of the project.

The project offers funding for conferences, additional training, and good opportunities for developing a strong academic network.

In addition to the outlined research tasks, the positions entail teaching the equivalent of one course per year. Salary is highly competitive and set according to the Danish pay schedule. Your qualifications
Candidates must hold (or be close to completing) a PhD in Political Science or another field of relevance to the project. In addition to this the applicant should:

• have experience with quantitative content analysis
• have experience with analyzing cross-national datasets
• preferably have some experience with designing and administering surveys and experiments
• have an interest in understanding political communication of election results
• have an interest in conducting collaborative research
• be able to independently develop and pursue research ideas within the broader project
• have an excellent command of spoken and written English

Who we are
The Department of Political Science is one of the six departments at Aarhus BSS, one of the five faculties at Aarhus University. The department is among the largest and strongest political science departments in Europe, with particular strengths in the areas of political behavior, political psychology and political philosophy. In 2023, the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University was ranked as the top department in political science in continental Europe, according to ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking (ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects).

At the Department of Political Science, we emphasize a dynamic and flexible research and teaching profile characterized by pluralism and openness. With more than 100 academic staff members and 40 PhD students, we offer a lively, ambitious and highly collegial research and teaching environment with many international visitors and workshops and a clear international orientation. For more information about the Department of Political Science, please see: Further information
Applicants are encouraged to contact professor Martin Bækgaard prior to submitting their application to learn more about the project, the hiring process, and/or specific tasks. E-mail:

If you need help uploading your application or have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR Coordinator Mette Fisker Præstegaard, Tel.: +4593522807, E-mail: Place of work
Department of Political Science, Bartholins Allé 7, DK - 8000 Aarhus C

International applicant?
Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information here:

Please find more information about research opportunities at Aarhus University here:

Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU. You can read more about it here:
Terms of employment
The appointment is made in accordance with the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities as well as the circular on the Collective Agreement for Academics Employed by the State (in Danish).
The job content and qualification requirements are described in further detail in the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities. Application procedure
When you apply for this position it is mandatory to attach the following:

• Application
• Curriculum Vitae. You are encouraged to declare any periods of leave without research activity, including, for example, maternity leave, since your research activities are assessed in relation to your actual research time
• Education (diploma for master's, PhD and possibly higher doctoral degree)
• List of publications (the enclosed publications must be clearly marked on the list of publications)
• Publications. Up to three publications can be included in the application. In the event of several authors the publications must be accompanied by a co-author statement concerning the applicant's share of the collaborative work with the consent of the co-authors. This template may be used for the purpose.
• Teaching portfolio. The specific requirements regarding the documentation can be found here

Materials which cannot be uploaded together with the application may be submitted in three copies to Aarhus BSS HR & PhD, Aarhus University, Tåsingegade 1, 2nd floor, DK-8000 Aarhus C.

Read more about how to apply for an academic post at Aarhus BSS here The evaluation process
After the application deadline, an assessment committee is appointed. Please note that the assessment of applicants is based solely on the material received prior to the application deadline. For further information, see Guidelines for Assessment Committee, Aarhus BSS.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.

Aarhus University
Aarhus University is an academically diverse and research-intensive university with a strong commitment to high-quality research and education and the development of society nationally and globally. The university offers an inspiring research and teaching environment to its 38,000 students (FTEs) and 8,300 employees, and has an annual revenues of EUR 935 million. Learn more at

Department: Statskundskab, Inst. f./Department of Political Science

Deadline: 15 September 2024

Location: Aarhus C Bartholins Allé 7