“Understanding differences in actual and perceived representation is vital for an inclusive and sustainable democracy.”

Political geography and sociology | Studying the challenges to contemporary democracy

Jaap van Slageren is an Assistant Professor in Human Geography and Spatial Planning. His research takes an interdisciplinary approach, combining insights from sociology, political science, and geography to examine democratic attitudes and political behavior. More specifically, his interests focus on inequalities and socialization of democratic norms, support for the populist radical right, the spatial distribution of voting behavior, and climate skepticism. In his teaching, Jaap specializes in making (quantitative) methodology and academic skills understandable.

Contact

Please do not hesitate to get in touch to discuss potential opportunities for collaboration. For publications, see Google Scholar. Follow Jaap van Slageren on Bluesky or LinkedIn, or send an email to j.vanslageren@uu.nl.

Jaap is a frequent guest of national and international media outlets, where he discusses elections, voting behavior, and democratic support. For example, in the following video, where he discusses the 2025 Dutch general election:

In a previous position, Jaap elaborated on his work on democratic norms in the following video: