Research

My research examines decentralization and federalism, affective polarization, and intergovernmental relations. I adopt a comparative perspective and employ quantitative methods to study the interaction between political institutions and electoral behavior. My current work follows three research lines.

Research line 1

AI-GOV: Artificial intelligence, accountability and multilevel governance

I study the impact of artificial intelligence on multilevel governance and democratic accountability.

Project: AI-GOV (PID2025-174631NB-I00), 2026–2029, funded by the Spanish National Research Agency (AEI).

Research line 2

Polarization, partisan attitudes and democracy

Territorial affective polarization

With Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga, we explore territorial affective polarization from a comparative perspective in six countries: Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Territorial Affective Polarization: Concept, Prevalence, and Impact (with A. Garmendia-Madariaga), in progress

Polarization and cooperation

With Ignacio Jurado and Albert Falcó, we run large-scale behavioral experiments in Spain, Brazil and the United States to test whether affective polarization weakens everyday cooperation. People help less, and with lower quality, when the beneficiary backs their most disliked party. Out-group animosity matters more than in-group affection, personal rewards raise cooperation more than public-good incentives, and political tasks reduce cooperation. Polarization spills over even into minimal, impersonal cooperation.

Partisan animosity and cooperation: A Behavioral Experiment (with I. Jurado and A. Falcó), in progress

Shared power and distorted blame

With Lluís Orriols, we study how partisan and territorial biases distort the way citizens attribute responsibility when power is shared across levels of government.

Shared Power, Distorted Blame: Partisan and Territorial Bias in Responsibility Attribution (with Ll. Orriols), in progress

I am a collaborator in CONSENT, which studies why electoral losers accept being governed by the winners, and when that acceptance breaks down, using surveys, experiments and qualitative methods across more than 20 democracies. CONSENT is an ERC Consolidator Grant led by Ignacio Jurado at IPP-CSIC (grant agreement No. 101170551).

Losers’ Consent: Foundations, Causes, and Consequences of an Elusive Concept (with I. Jurado), Annual Review of Political Science, in progress

Research line 3

The political impact of crises

With Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga, we study how crises and disasters shape citizens’ trust, their views on who should hold power, and territorial divides.

Part of this research was funded by FEDCRISIS, Federalism Under Challenge: Crisis, Polarization and Populism (Spanish National Research Agency, PID2021-128287NB-I00), with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga (UC3M). It was also funded by the Fundación Ramón Areces through a Visiting Fellowship at the European Studies Centre, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford (academic year 2025–2026).

Papers

Disaster in a Distrustful Democracy: Public Reactions to the DANA Crisis in Spain (with A. Garmendia-Madariaga), in progress

How Disaster Divides and Unites along Territorial Lines (with A. Garmendia-Madariaga), in progress

Invited academic talks (2022–2026)

2026: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, MadridGarcía-Pelayo Research Seminar · “Disaster in a distrustful democracy: Public reactions to the DANA crisis in Spain” (with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga) · 16 April 2026
2026: University of SheffieldDepartment of Politics and International Relations · “Disaster in a distrustful democracy: Public reactions to the DANA crisis in Spain” (with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga) · 25 March 2026
2026: London School of EconomicsDepartment seminar, School of Public Policy · “Disaster in a distrustful democracy: Public reactions to the DANA crisis in Spain” (with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga) · 9 February 2026
2026: King’s College LondonDepartment seminar, Department of Political Economy · “Disaster in a distrustful democracy: Public reactions to the DANA crisis in Spain” (with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga) · 28 January 2026
2025: University of OxfordEuropean Studies Centre, St Antony’s College · “From two-party rule to polarization: Ten years of Spanish politics” · 11 November 2025
2025: University of OxfordDepartment of Politics and International Relations · “Polarization and cooperation” (with Ignacio Jurado and Albert Falcó) · 30 May 2025
2024: University of ZurichDepartment of Political Science (IPZ) · “Global challenges, IOs’ governance, and public attitudes towards (dis)integration: Evidence from climate change mitigation agreements” (with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga) · 18 November 2024
2024: CSIC, Madrid“Polarization and cooperation” (with Ignacio Jurado and Albert Falcó) · 13 March 2024
2024: University of BergenWorkshop “Territoriality and dynamics of regional and local voting” · “Crisis management and territorial preferences: Experimental evidence during the pandemic” (with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga) · 18 January 2024
2023: Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales, MadridSeminar “Una nueva gobernanza para el siglo XXI”, session “Gobernanza multinivel” · “La articulación de la gobernanza autonómica: Financiación y relaciones intergubernamentales” · 28–29 March 2023
2023: European University Institute, Florence“Crisis management and territorial preferences: Experimental evidence during the pandemic” (with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga) · 16 February 2023
2022: IE UniversityBrownbag Seminar · “Crisis management and territorial preferences: Experimental evidence during the pandemic” (with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga) · 2 December 2022
2022: University of BergenResearch seminar · “Crisis management and territorial preferences: Experimental evidence during the pandemic” (with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga) · 14 September 2022
2022: University of OsloResearch seminar · “Crisis management and territorial preferences: Experimental evidence during the pandemic” (with Amuitz Garmendia-Madariaga) · 13 September 2022
2022: UNED, DéniaSummer course “Los retos de la política en una España en cambio permanente” · “Desafíos políticos al modelo territorial tras la pandemia” · 8 July 2022