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Dr Judith Spirig
Biography
I am a Lecturer in Political Science at UCL. Previously, I was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich, where I also obtained my PhD in 2018. During my PhD, I was a visiting research student at the London School of Economics’s Government Department and Stanford University’s Department of Political Science. I have a BA in philosophy and business & economics from the University of Basel and an MSc in international development and humanitarian emergencies from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Research
In my research, I seek to find answers to questions about the determinants and consequences of exclusionary attitudes (in particular immigration attitudes) and judicial behaviour by leveraging in-depth case knowledge and quasi-experimental research designs. To do so, I collect novel data, employ both qualitative and quantitative methods and increasingly draw on historical records. A list of past and ongoing projects can be found on my website.
Publications
- Journal articles
- Spirig, J. (2024). "Politicians, Newspapers, and Immigration Referendums: Exploring the Boundaries of Media Effects". Political Communication, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2024.2321539
- Spirig, J. (2021) ‘When Issue Salience Affects Adjudication: Evidence from Swiss Asylum Appeal Decisions’, American Journal of Political Science, 67(1), pp. 55–70.
- Hangartner, D., Sarvimäki, M. and Spirig, J. (2021) ‘Managing Refugee Protection Crises: Policy Lessons from Economics and Political Science’, Journal of the Finnish Economic Association, 2(1).
- Book chapters
- Spirig, J., Hangartner, D. and Steinmayr, A. (2023) ‘Politische und ökonomische Auswirkukngen von Flüchtlingszuwanderung’, in O. Karas and J. Kohlenberger (eds.) So Schaffen Wir Das: Wie Wir Das Thema Asylum & Migration dem Linken und Rechten Rand Abnehmen und die Krise Überwinden. Vienna: edition a Verlag.
Teaching
I teach on the Quantitative Data Analysis (POLS0083) and Globalisation and Populism (POLS0055) modules.