Sofia Renette

Sofia Renette is a Master's student in Political Science at Stockholm University whose academic interests include democratic analysis, comparative politics and international relations. For her thesis, she is researching the drivers behind vote choice in the Netherlands. 

The aim of this project is to find out whether voters are more affected by populist communication style ('thin populism') or the underlying host ideology ( 'thick populism'). To find out what is more appealing to voters, a choice-based conjoint analysis is used, in which participants choose between candidates who vary in their populist rhetoric and policy ideas. Furthermore, this study will analyze the differences between different aspects of populist communication styles - people-centrism and anti-elitism - as well as several different commonly-used host ideologies. Finally, this project will look at the difference between left- and right-wing voters. 

Before starting this Master's program, Sofia completed Bachelor's degrees in Communication Science and Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. She also has practical marketing & communications work experience in the non-profit arts sector. She is passionate about the interaction between politics, media and communication and hopes to explore this even further in the future, either in an academic or professional setting.