As part of prof. Wunsch’ SNSF Project on Liberal Commitment in Europe, dr. Joep van Lit joined the European Studies team in March 2026. We welcome him and are delighted to have him with us.

Joep’s work focuses on the defence and resilience of democracies, specifically against incumbent-led autocratization. Using case-studies, elite interviews, and cross-national survey experiments, Joep studies who the democratic defenders are, what strategies they pursue, and when they are effective. Joep received his PhD (cum laude) from Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, where he is still affiliated as a postdoctoral researcher.

At the University of Fribourg, Joep will be working on prof. Wunsch’ team, researching citizens’ commitment to liberal democracy, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The project aims to cross-nationally explore and explain to what extent citizens are committed to liberal democracy, how this shapes their (political) identity, and what behavioural consequences their commitment has.