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 (under review): 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

• Sipinen, Josefina; Belschner, Jana Birke; Anlar, Brittany (2024). Age gaps in political representation: Comparing local and national elections. (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)
• Belschner, Jana Birke (2024). Too young to win? Exploring the sources of age-related electoral disadvantage. (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; Garcia, de Paredes Marta (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)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.