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Sebastian Thieme

Postdoctoral Fellow, RESPOND project


Sebastian Thieme received his Ph.D. in Politics from New York University and his M.Sc. in Political Science and Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Following postdoctoral appointments at Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST), Sebastian is now a postdoctoral researcher at the CEE, where he works with Professors Cyril Benoît (CEE, CNRS) and Mihaly Fazekas (Central European University) on the RESPOND project. Among other goals, the project seeks to examine corruption and favoritism in policy-making by collecting and using data on legislative and regulatory processes from European Union members states as well as neighboring countries.

Research

Sebastian’s research focus is on American politics, comparative politics, and political economy, with a sustained interest in political institutions, lobbying, legislative politics, campaign finance, polarization, and quantitative methods. One theme in his research is how private interests seek to influence the policy-making process. A second theme is how political institutions (such as elections, unified vs. divided government, or party leadership) affect political and economic decision-making. A third theme is how to assess and improve measures of important political concepts.

Teaching Experience

At New York University, Sebastian taught undergraduate classes for seven courses (on American politics, quantitative methods, and political theory). His responsibilities included teaching weekly recitation classes, developing recitation content, holding office hours, as well as grading course assignments.

Publications

n.d. “(When) Are Lobbying Expenditures a Good Proxy for Lobbying Activity?” (Forthcoming at Political Science Research and Methods)

2023. “Institutional Constraints on the Executive, Investment, and Elections,” with Brandice Canes-Wrone and Christian Ponce de León. Presidential Studies Quarterly 53(2): 273-292.

2021. “A Direct Test of Legislative Gatekeeping.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 46(4): 855-888.

2020. “Moderation or Strategy? Political Giving by Corporations and Trade Groups.” Journal of Politics 82(3): 1171-1175.

Recent Conferences

2024

  • Copenhagen Money in Politics Conference, Copenhagen Business School & Princeton University
  • Interdisciplinary Workshop on Identity and Politics, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST)
  • IAST-Oxford-Sciences Po Paris Conference in Political Economy, Toulouse

2023

  • American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles
  • APSA Pre-Conference: Frontiers in Money in Politics Research, University of South-ern California
  • European Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Glasgow
  • IAST-Oxford-Sciences Po Paris Conference in Political Economy, Paris

Selected Prizes and Awards

2022: APSA Legislative Studies Section’s Jewell-Loewenberg Prize in Subnational Politics for the best article in the field published in LSQ in the previous year.

2022: Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST) Multidisciplinary Grant, joint with Bence Bago and Zoe Purcell

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