Staff Profile

I am a Reader in Comparative Politics and Public Opinion. My current research focuses on how political elites shape public opinion, with a specific focus on how they use social media in this regard.

Qualifications

• PhD in Political Science, Central European University (Budapest)
• MA in Political Science, Central European University (Budapest)
• BA in Political Science, Babeș-Bolyai University

Previous positions

• Research Fellow, Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES), University of Mannheim

Research Interests

My research interests include political behaviour in a comparative perspective; public opinion; political knowledge;  political communication, European Parliament elections; use of social media in electoral campaigns; and quantitative methods.

Current work and research projects

My current recent research agenda focuses on integrating tools provided by the analysis of social media data in the study of elite communication, public opinion, as well as in the elite-public interaction. In recent projects, I show how social media data can offer unique opportunities to study attitude formation and issue evolution, and how it offers political elites a new tool to inform the public in relation to new political developments

Additionally, I am also a core member of the European Elections Studies team. As part of the team, I have been involved in the planning, preparation, and implementation of the different components of the EES 2014 and EES2019. Currently, I am part of the core team that is responsible for preparing the 2024 EES project.

Undergraduate Teaching

Current modules

Module Leader POL2011: Democracy or Dictatorship?

Module leader POL3055:Applied Political Research with Quantitative Methods

Lecturer POL8065: Principles of Data Science for Political Research

Past modules:

Module leader POL2081: Research Methods in Politics

Lecturer POL1047: Power, Participation & Democracy: Comparative Perspectives 

Lecturer POL3045: Dissertation in Politics

Post-graduate teaching

Available as a dissertation supervisor for students interested in political behaviour, public opinion, elections, public opinion, and European Union politics.

• Articles

  • Lühiste M, Praet S, Popa S, Theocharis Y, Barbera P, Fazekas Z, Tucker J. When Fame Does Not Matter? Examining Gender Differences in Politicians’ Social Media Experiences. Politics & Gender 2025. In Press.
  • van der Brug W, Hobolt SB, Popa SA. The kids are Alt right? Age, authoritarian attitudes and far-right support in Europe. Journal of European Public Policy 2025, Epub ahead of print.
  • Stier S, Popa SA, Theocharis Y, Boyle B. Online election campaigning in changing political environments: A comparison of the 2014 and 2019 European Parliament elections. Party Politics 2025, epub ahead of print.
  • Schnaudt C, Popa SA. How procedural and economic performance shape political trust: Affective and cognitive foundations of the performance-trust nexus. Zeitschrift fur Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft 2023, 17, 31–57.
  • Ershova S, Popa SA. When parties collide: The impact of intra-EP dynamics on the delegation patterns in the EU. Journal of European Public Policy 2021, 28(9), 1474-1493.
  • Schäfer C, Popa SA, Braun D, Schmitt H. The Reshaping of Political Conflict over Europe: From Pre-Maastricht to Post-'Euro Crisis'. West European Politics 2021, 44(3), 531-557.
  • Hobolt SB, Popa SA, van der Brug W, Schmitt H. The Brexit Deterrent? How Member State Exit Shapes Public Support for the European Union. European Union Politics 2021, 23(1).
  • van der Brug W, Popa SA, Hobolt SB, Schmitt H. Illiberal democratic attitudes and support for the EU. Politics 2021, 41(4), 537-561.
  • Fazekas Z, Popa SA, Schmitt H, Barberá P, Theocharis Y. Elite-Public Interaction on Twitter: EU Issue Expansion in the Campaign. European Journal of Political Research 2021, 60(2), 376-396.
  • van der Brug W, Popa SA, Hobolt SB, Schmitt H. Democratic Support, Populism, and the Incumbency Effect. Journal of Democracy 2021, 32(4), 131-145.
  • Theocharis Y, Barbera P, Fazekas Z, Popa SA. The Dynamics of Political Incivility on Twitter. Sage Open 2020, 10(2), 1-15.
  • Popa SA, Fazekas Z, Braun D, Leidecker-Sandmann MM. Informing the Public: How Party Communication Builds Opportunity Structures. Political Communication 2020, 37(3), 329-349.
  • Rainsford E, Maloney W, Popa SA. The Effect of Unemployment and Low-Quality Work Conditions on Work Values: Exploring the Experiences of Young Europeans. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2019, 682(1), 172-185.
  • Braun D, Popa SA, Schmitt H. Responding to the crisis: Eurosceptic parties of the left and right and their changing position towards the European Union. European Journal of Political Research 2019, 58(3), 797-819.
  • Braun D, Popa SA. This time it was different? The salience of the Spitzenkandidaten system among European parties. West European Politics 2018, 41(5), 1125-1145.
  • Popa SA, Dumitrescu D. National but European? Visual manifestations of Europe in national parties’ Euromanifestos since 1979. Party Politics 2017, 23(5), 526-537.
  • Nulty P, Theocharis Y, Popa SA, Parnet O, Benoit K. Social media and political communication in the 2014 elections to the European Parliament. Electoral Studies 2016, 44, 429-444.
  • Dumitrescu D, Popa SA. Showing Their True Colors? How EU Flag Display Affects Perceptions of Party Elites’ European Attachment. American Behavioral Scientist 2016, 60(14), 1698-1718.
  • Popa SA, Rohrschneider R, Schmitt H. Polarizing without legitimizing: The effect of lead candidates’ campaigns on perceptions of the EU democracy. Electoral Studies 2016, 44, 469-482.
  • Popa SA, Theocharis Y, Schnaudt C. From seeing the writing on the wall, to getting together for a bowl: Direct and compensating effects of Facebook use on offline associational membership. Journal of Information Technology & Politics 2016, 13, 222-238.
  • Theocharis Y, Barberá P, Fazekas Z, Popa SA, Parnet O. A Bad Workman Blames His Tweets: The Consequences of Citizens' Uncivil Twitter Use When Interacting With Party Candidates. Journal of Communication 2016, 66(6), 1007-1031.
  • Popa SA. Political sophistication in Central and Eastern Europe: How can parties help?. Party Politics 2015, 21(3), 440-455.
  • Schmitt H, Hobolt SB, Popa SA. Does personalization increase turnout? Spitzenkandidaten in the 2014 European Parliament elections. European Union Politics 2015, 1(3), 1-54.
  • Hannagan RJ, Littvay L, Popa SA. Theorizing Sex Differences in Political Knowledge: Insights from a Twin Study. Politics & Gender 2014, 10(1), 89-114.
  • Littvay L, Popa SA, Fazekas Z. Validity of survey response propensity indicators: A behavior genetics approach. Social Science Quarterly 2013, 94(2), 569-589.

• Book Chapters

  • Braun D, Popa SA, Schmitt H. The impact of Eurosceptic challenger parties of the left and right on party competition over Europe. In: Maurizio Cotta and Pierangelo Isernia, ed. The EU through Multiple Crises: Representation and Cohesion Dilemmas for a "sui generis" Polity. Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2021.
  • Schnaudt C, Walter S, Popa SA. Subnational and National Territorial Identification. In: Westle B; Segatti P, ed. European identity in the context of national identity : questions of identity in sixteen European countries in the wake of the financial crisis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016, pp.63-92.

• Research Datasets/Databases

  • Popa SA, Hobolt SB, van der Brug W, Katsanidou A, Gattermann K, Sorace M, Toygur I, de Vreese C. European Parliament Election Study 2024, Voter Study. 2024. Cologne: GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences e.V.
  • Schmitt H, Hobolt SB, Popa SA, Teperoglou E. European parliament election study 2014, voter study. 2015. Cologne, Germany: GESIS Data Archive.