Biography

Natasha Wunsch ist seit 2023 ordentliche Professorin für Europastudien an der Universität Fribourg sowie Ko-Leiterin des Zentrums für Europastudien und Leiterin des Masterstudiengangs Europastudien. Zuvor war sie Assistenzprofessorin für Politikwissenschaft/Europäische Integration an der Sciences Po Paris, Senior Researcher an der ETH Zürich sowie Gastforscherin an der Harvard University und der University of Oxford. Sie ist derzeit Vorsitzende der ECPR Standing Group on the European Union.

Natasha Wunsch promovierte 2016 am University College London und habilitierte sich 2023 an der ETH Zürich. Zuvor absolvierte sie einen gemeinsamen Masterstudiengang in Europastudien und Politikwissenschaft an der Sciences Po Paris und der Freien Universität Berlin. Neben ihren akademischen Tätigkeiten sitzt sie im Wissenschaftlichen Beirat der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik sowie im Wissenschaftlichen Direktoriums des Instituts für Europäische Politik. Ausserdem ist sie Mitglied der Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group.

Ihre Forschungsinteressen liegen an der Schnittstelle zwischen europäischer und vergleichender Politik. Sie untersucht Prozesse der Demokratieförderung sowie demokratische Rückschritte vornehmlich im postkommunistischen Raum und interessiert sich für die Auswirkungen gegenwärtiger Herausforderungen für die liberale Demokratie auf die europäische Zusammenarbeit und den Prozess der europäischen Integration. In einem vom Schweizer Nationalfonds (Ambizione) finanzierten Forschungsprojekt untersucht sie derzeit die Rolle demokratischer Einstellungen von BürgerInnen in Prozessen demokratischer Erosion.

Research and publications

• Publications
  17 publications

  A new regime divide? Democratic backsliding, attitudes towards democracy and affective polarization
  THERESA GESSLER, NATASHA WUNSCH, European Journal of Political Research (2025) | Journal article

  A geopolitical turning point? Enlargement discourse after the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  Tom Hunter, Natasha Wunsch, Marie-Eve Bélanger, European Union Politics (2025) | Journal article

  The Demand Side of Democratic Backsliding: How Divergent Understandings of Democracy Shape Political Choice
  Natasha Wunsch, Marc S. Jacob, Laurenz Derksen, British Journal of Political Science (2025) | Journal article

  Radicalisation and discursive accommodation: responses to rising Euroscepticism in the European Parliament
  Natasha Wunsch, Marie-Eve Bélanger, West European Politics (2024) | Journal article

  Who tolerates democratic backsliding? A mosaic approach to voters’ responses to authoritarian leadership in Hungary
  Natasha Wunsch, Theresa Gessler, Democratization (2023) | Journal article

  Patterns of democratic backsliding in third-wave democracies: a sequence analysis perspective
  Natasha Wunsch, Philippe Blanchard, Democratization (2023) | Journal article

  Democratic backsliding as a catalyst for polity-based contestation? Populist radical right cooperation in the European Parliament
  Mihail Chiru, Natasha Wunsch, Journal of European Public Policy (2023) | Journal article

  From projection to introspection: enlargement discourses since the ‘big bang’ accession
  Natasha Wunsch, Nicole Olszewska, Journal of European Integration (2022) | Journal article

  From Cohesion to Contagion? Populist Radical Right Contestation of EU Enlargement
  Marie-Ève Bélanger and Natasha Wunsch, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies (2022) | Journal article

  Money, power, glory: the linkages between EU conditionality and state capture in the Western Balkans
  Solveig Richter and Natasha Wunsch, Journal of European Public Policy (2020) | Journal article

  Fostering institutionalisation? The impact of the EU accession process on state–civil society relations in Serbia
  Adam Fagan and Natasha Wunsch, Acta Politica (2019) | Journal article

  Transnational Learning and Civil Society Empowerment in the EU Enlargement Process
  Natasha Wunsch, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies (2019) | Journal article

  EU Enlargement and Civil Society in the Western Balkans
  Natasha Wunsch (Springer International Publishing, 2018), ISBN: 9783319918440 | Book

  Between indifference and hesitation: France and EU enlargement towards the Balkans
  Natasha Wunsch, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies (2017) | Journal article

  Coming full circle? Differential empowerment in Croatia’s EU accession process
  Natasha Wunsch, Journal of European Public Policy (2016) | Journal article

  Beyond instrumentalisation: NGO monitoring coalitions in Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia
  Natasha Wunsch, East European Politics (2015) | Journal article

  EU-Erweiterungspolitik auf dem Westlichen Balkan: Zwischen Stabilisierung und Integration
  Theresia Toeglhofer, Natasha Wunsch, Sicherheit & Frieden (2011) | Journal article
• Research projects

  Democratic Commitment: Why Citizens Tolerate Democratic Backsliding
  Status: Ongoing

  Start	01.05.2025
  End	31.10.2025
  Funding	SNSF  Open project sheet
  Why do citizens often fail to resist democratic backsliding? This book claims that political culture is key to explaining the electoral success and enduring public support for authoritarian-leaning leaders despite their open violations of democratic standards. It posits that heterogeneous understandings of democracy and a lack of liberal democratic commitment leaves important parts of the electorate vulnerable to buy-outs and illiberal appeals by political elites. Leveraging a mixed-methods design, the book presents extensive empirical analyses that combines focus groups, discourse analysis, and original survey data including two conjoint experiments in Hungary and Poland. Its findings show how, despite widespread generic support for democracy as a regime form, divergent understandings of democracy persist among citizens in both countries. Establishing the linkages between political culture and political behaviour, this monograph demonstrates the crucial role citizens’ democratic attitudes play in enabling the deepening and entrenchment of democratic backsliding. Its findings hold important implications for practical efforts to bolster democratic resilience and boost mass support for liberal democracy.

Teaching and courses

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