Dr. Eric Guntermann is a political scientist and data scientist in the Travers Department of Political Science at UC Berkeley, where he also holds a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship. His research examines the links between political elites and ordinary citizens, including both the representation of citizens' preferences by governments and the influence of political elites on citizens' preferences. He is particularly focused on the influence of electoral systems and voting behaviour on representation, as well as inequalities in representation and the extent to which political institutions can reduce them.
Dr. Guntermann's Sproul Fellowship will allow him to expand his current research project, assessing the influence of far-right parties on public attitudes, to the Canadian context. While the far right has long been marginal in Canada, the populist People's Party of Canada saw significant increase in support between 2019 and 2021. Using panel surveys, his research will assess the effects of the PPC's campaign on its supporter's attitudes towards immigration and COVID-19 vaccinations.
Dr. Guntermann completed his undergraduate degree at McGill University, and received his Ph.D. in political science from the Université de Montréal. He also holds a master's of research in comparative politics from the Sciences Po in Paris. His research has been published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science and Canadian Public Administration, among numerous other journals. Among his recent projects was a study assessing the impact of greater public acceptance on the voting preferences of gay, lesbian, and bisexual Canadians. He was also formerly a postdoctoral researcher at the Canada Research Chair in Electoral Democracy.
