I am a PhD candidate at KU Leuven (Voting & Democracy research group) and University of Antwerp (M2P research group). My research is primarily situated in the fields of political behaviour, comparative politics, and political psychology, with a strong focus on quantitative methods and commitment to open science.
In my doctoral dissertation, titled Affective
Polarization and Democratic (In)stability in Europe: The
Role of Political Elites and (Non-)Partisans, I study
under which conditions affective polarization matters for
politics and democratic (in)stability more broadly. My core
claim is that affective polarization is neither uniformly
harmful nor uniformly benign; instead, it depends on the
interplay between two key players: political elites and
partisans.
During my PhD, I spent three months as a visiting
researcher at the Department
of Government of the University of Vienna. In Spring
2026, I will conduct a second research stay at the Department of Politics of Aarhus
University.
Education
Maastricht University | Maastricht,
Netherlands
M.Sc.
(research) in European Studies, August 2020 - July
2022
University of Antwerp | Antwerp,
Belgium
B.Sc.
in Medicine, September 2017 - July 2020
Publications (peer-reviewed)
Partisan Affect and Political Tolerance in the
Context of Shifting Norms: The Effect of Coalition Signals
towards the Radical Right
Vanagt, Praprotnik,
Russo
& Wagner
(2025) Journal of European Public Policy
Open-Access
Article (Replication
Files)
United in Success, Fragmented in Failure: The
Moderating Effect of Perceived Government Performance on
Affective Polarization between Coalition
Parties
Vanagt & Kollberg (2025)
European Journal of Political Research
Open-Access
Article (Replication
Files)
The Economic Divide That Isn’t: A Comparative
Study on Economic Hardship and Affective
Polarisation
Vanagt & Russo
(2024) Research & Politics
Open-Access
Article (Replication
Files)
Affective Polarization Among Radical-Right
Supporters: Dislike Differentiation and Democratic
Support
Vanagt, Praprotnik,
Russo
& Wagner
(2024) Politics and Governance
Open-Access
Article (Replication
Files)
Appraising Measurements of Affective Polarisation
in Multiparty Systems: Comparative Insights from the Low
Countries
Vanagt (2024) Politics of the Low Countries
Open-Access
Article
Work in Progress
Polarized Yet Committed: Why Affective
Polarization Might not Undermine Democracy
Work in Progress | Vanagt, Turkenburg &
Wagner
Re-Ostracizing the Radical Right?
Quasi-Experimental Evidence from an Election
Panel
Work in Progress | Vanagt, Jacobs,
Eck
& Pilet
Public support for the cordon sanitaire in
Belgium. Exploring the impact of
institutionalization
Work in Progress | Eck,
Pilet,
Jacobs
& Vanagt
Rethinking Political Identity in Europe: Partisan
and Ideological Attachment in Times of Affective
Polarization
Work in Progress | Russo
& Vanagt
Let’s (Not) Disagree: How Tolerance for
Disagreement Shapes Horizontal Affective
Polarisation
Work in Progress | Russo
& Vanagt | Pre-Print
The Low Countries (Belgium & the
Netherlands): Balancing National Diversity with
Supranational Integration
Work in Progress | Eck
& Vanagt. In Comparative European Politics
(Taylor & Francis Group)