Staff Profile

Research interests

Comparative politics: political behavior, policy responsiveness, health policy & politics, social policy, welfare states, quality of government, political corruption, quantitative research methods

Qualifications

• PhD in Political Science, Central European University
• MA in Political Behavior, University of Essex
• BA in Political Science, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration

Previous positions

• Acting Chair (Vertretungsprofessur), Department of Comparative Politics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Comparative Politics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
• Marie Curie Early Career Fellow, ELECDEM Network, Department of Political Science, Central European University

Roles and Responsibilities

• Open and Visit Days Coordinator 
• Research Cluster Leader, Governance and Political Organisations Research Cluster

In my research, I examine the effects of political institutions and social policies on political behaviour and social attitudes. My work contributes to existing debates on public responsiveness, policy feedback effects, health policy, health care attitudes, ideological voting, and political corruption. In addition to my thematic priorities, another focus of my work is on quantitative methods. I am particularly interested in new research designs, such as longitudinal studies and experiments, appropriate to measure causal effects and to disentangle the endogeneity between policies and political behavior. Some of the questions addressed in my research are presented below.

Public responsiveness to health policies:

How have European health systems changed within the last 30 years and how have citizens responded to those reforms? What explains health care attitudes? Is increased public attention a cause or a consequence of increased governmental activity in health care? Does health privatization make people less supportive of publicly provided health care? Do centre-right parties benefit from health privatization? How does ideology moderate public responsiveness to austerity measures in health?  

Social Policy Preferences:

          Does parenthood change individuals’ social policy preferences? Are mothers or fathers more likely to demand higher spending on daycare vs. education? How do voters respond to different political explanations of social policy reforms?

Quality of Government and Political Behaviour:

Are governments punished for low quality of government? Does corruption influence the extent to which voters choose ideologically their representatives? Does quality of government affect (perceived) economic security? Is inequality in economic security higher in countries with good or bad governance?

Undergraduate Teaching:

Lecturer POL1047: Power, Participation & Democracy: Comparative Perspectives 

Postgraduate Teaching:

Module Leader POL8061: Welfare Attitudes: A Comparative Politics Approach

• Burlacu D, Roescu A. Public Opinion and Health Care Attitudes. In: Ellen Immergut, Karen Anderson, Camila Devitt and Tamara Popic, ed. Health Politics in Europe: A Handbook. Oxford University Press, 2021.
• Burlacu D, Moise A. Romania. In: Ellen Immergut, Karen Anderson, Camila Devitt and Tamara Popic, ed. Health Politics in Europe: A Handbook. Oxford University Press, 2021.
• Burlacu D. Corruption and Ideological Voting. British Journal of Political Science 2020, 50(2), 435-456.
• Burlacu D, Lühiste M. Parenthood and social policy preferences: A gender and time sensitive examination. European Journal of Political Research 2021, 60(2), 255-274.
• Filipovič Hrast M, Immergut EM, Rakar T, Boljka U, Burlacu D, Roescu A. Health Care Futures: Visions of Solidarity and the Sustainability of European Health Care Systems. In: Peter Taylor-Gooby and Benjamin Leruth, ed. Attitudes, Aspirations and Welfare: Social Policy Directions in Uncertain Times. Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, pp.215-242.
• Burlacu D, Immergut EM, Oskarson M, Ronnerstrand B. The politics of credit claiming: Rights and recognition in health policy feedback. Social Policy and Administration 2018, 52(4), 880-894.
• Burlacu D. It's not only the economy, stupid! Good governance matters in elections. Electoral Studies 2014, 36, 173-185.
• Burlacu D, Toka G. Prospective Proximity-based Voting and the Type of Democracy. In: Jacques Thomassen, ed. Elections and Representative Democracy: Representation and Accountability. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, pp.60-78.