SCEUS – Salzburg Center for European Union Studies
Belén Abdala is a postdoc researcher at the University of Salzburg, working on the DEUDEM Project, where she investigates the domestic politics behind EU responses to democratic backsliding and citizens’ attitudes toward democratic erosion. She completed her PhD with honors at the University of Vienna in 2025. Her dissertation focused on the political motivations behind (unequal) participation in politics, spanning from voting to candidacy. During her doctoral studies, she was a visiting researcher at the University of Zurich.
From April 2021 to May 2025, she was a predoctoral researcher in the DeVOTE Project, with a primary focus on the quantitative study of citizens’ meanings of voting. Previously, Belén coordinated the Political Institutions Program at the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (CIPPEC) in Argentina, where she led applied research projects on electoral reform, electoral administration, and political representation. She has also worked as a consultant for national and subnational governments, evaluating the implementation of public policies.
Belén holds a BA in Political Science from Universidad de San Andrés and an MA in Political Science from Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. Her research interests are grounded in the areas of comparative politics and public opinion, including the drivers of political participation, political behavior and attitudes, electoral administration and party competition.
More details on her research, publications, and academic activities is available at: https://www.belenabdala.com/.
