I am a Researcher at the Institute of Comparative Politics. My research is positioned at the nexus of political behavior, political representation, and political economy. Generally, I am interested in how demography affects elections and policy, with a focus on youth's political participation and the political representation of young and future generations' interests. I have specific expertise in the empirical analysis of the causes and effects of electoral reforms, such as electoral quotas and youth enfranchisement, and have researched these topics across Western Europe and North Africa.

In 2023, I was awarded a Trond Mohn Starting Grant for my project "Representing the Future in an Aging Europe. The Politics of Demographic Change". The project will run from June 2024 to May 2028.

working papers

Belschner, Jana, Jacob Aars and Jo Saglie (R&R): Does Enfranchisement Increase Descriptive Representation? The Case of Voting Age Reforms. SSRN working paper: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4540073 

Belschner, Jana and Linn Sandberg (under review): Corrective or Exclusion? Citizen-Elite Toxicity and Political Equality Online. SSRN working paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4540106

Recent Publications:

Belschner, Jana, Raimondas Ibenskas, and Florian Weiler (2024): When do voters reveal candidate gender preferences? Evidence from individual-level ballot data. European Journal of Political Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12679

Belschner, Jana (2024): Too Young to Win? Exploring the sources of age-related electoral disadvantage. Electoral Studies. Vol. 88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2024.102748.

Sipinen Josefina, Jana Belschner, and Brit Anlar (2024): Age gaps in political representation: Comparing local and national elections. Electoral Studies. Vol.88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2024.102763.

Belschner, Jana (2023) Youth Advantage Versus Gender Penalty: Selecting and Electing Young Candidates. Political Research Quarterly, 76(1), 90-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/10659129211072559.

Belschner, Jana. (2022) Electoral Engineering in New Democracies. Strong Quotas and Weak Parties in Tunisia. Government & Opposition,57(1), 108-125. https://doi.org/10.1017/gov.2020.34 

Academic article

• Belschner, Jana Birke (2024). Too young to win? Exploring the sources of age-related electoral disadvantage. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke; Ibenskas, Raimondas; Weiler, Florian (2024). When do voters reveal candidate gender preferences? Evidence from individual-level ballot data. (external link)
• Sipinen, Josefina; Belschner, Jana Birke; Anlar, Brittany (2024). Age gaps in political representation: Comparing local and national elections. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2022). Youth Advantage Versus Gender Penalty: Selecting and Electing Young Candidates. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2021). Electoral Engineering in New Democracies: Strong Quotas and Weak Parties in Tunisia. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke; Marta Garcia, de Paredes (2020). Hierarchies of Representation: The Re-distributive Effects of Gender and Youth Quotas. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2018). The adoption of youth quotas after the Arab uprisings. (external link)

Academic lecture

• Muriaas, Ragnhild Louise; Belschner, Jana Birke; Bjånesøy, Lise Lund et al. (2023). Violence within Parties: Why young men and women react differently . (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2023). The Cost of Doing Politics Online: Sources, Types, and Consequences of Online Political Violence. (external link)
• Wang, Vibeke; Muriaas, Ragnhild Louise; Belschner, Jana Birke et al. (2023). Project workshop Cost of Politics. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2023). Critique or Exclusion? Exploring Group Inequality in Exposure to Online Political Toxicity. (external link)
• Wang, Vibeke; Belschner, Jana Birke; Bjånesøy, Lise Lund et al. (2023). Who cares? The acceptability of aggressive behavior in politics. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke; Aars, Jacob; Saglie, Jo (2023). Does suffrage increase representation? Voting age reforms and the recruitment of young politicians. (external link)
• Wang, Vibeke; Belschner, Jana Birke; Bjarnegård, Elin et al. (2022). Project workshop Cost of Politics. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2022). The Cost of Doing Politics Online: Gender Aspects of Political Violence. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2022). The Cost of Doing Politics Online: Gender Aspects of Political Toxicity. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2018). "The adoption of electoral quotas after the Arab uprisings" (paper presentation). (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2018). “Political recruitment of young men and women. The importance of resources”. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2018). “Political recruitment of young people. The importance of resources”. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2017). Barriers to political recruitment at the intersection of age and gender. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2017). Les quotas des jeunes en Afrique. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2017). The intersectional impact of gender and youth quotas. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2017). The adoption of electoral quotas after the Arab spring. (external link)

Briefs

• Belschner, Jana Birke; Muriaas, Ragnhild Louise; Wang, Vibeke (2023). Stortingskandidaters møter med vold: Er norsk politikk et trygt rom? . (external link)
• Wang, Vibeke; Muriaas, Ragnhild Louise; Belschner, Jana Birke (2023). Candidates' experience of violence in the Norwegian parliamentary elections of 2021. (external link)

Lecture

• Belschner, Jana Birke (2021). Junge Frauen in die Politik - Barrieren und Chancen für generations- und geschlechtergerechte politische Repräsentation. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2021). Politiker*innen als Ziel von Online Hate Speech. Umfang, Folgen, mögliche Gegenmassnahmen. (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2018). "The effect of quotas enforced by financial sanctioning mechanisms". (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2018). "Gender quota regulations in Europe". (external link)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2018). the determinants for youth’s participation in politics. (external link)

Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

• Belschner, Jana Birke (2020). Empowering Young Women? Gender and Youth Quotas in Tunisia. (external link)

Book review

• Belschner, Jana Birke (2020). [Book Review] Petra Ahrens, Katja Chmilewski, Sabine Lang, Birgit Sauer: Gender Equality in Politics. Implementing Party Quotas in Germany and Austria. (external link)

Popular scientific lecture

• Muriaas, Ragnhild Louise; Belschner, Jana Birke (2018). Democracy, gender equality, and economic development. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.