I teach undergraduate courses including quantitative methods and globalization. I am also open to supervising both master's and bachelor's level projects, particularly those focused on political behavior and Central and Eastern Europe.

My research is within the fields of political science and political sociology, with a particular focus on political behavior and Central and Eastern Europe. My dissertation project examines how historical institutions affect contemporary political behavior, focusing on how experiences from autocracies shape political behavior after democratization, primarily using quantitative methods.

In addition to my dissertation, I have researched the rise of the Sweden Democrats, especially within the framework of urban and rural polarization. I have also conducted research on inter-municipal cooperation and environmental and energy policy.

 

Research interests

Comparative politics, political economy, environmental politics, quantitative methods, and political sociology with a particular interest for historical political economy.

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Political expectations and electoral responses to wind farm development in Sweden

  2024. Zeth Isaksson, Simon Gren. Energy Policy 186

  Article

  Wind energy expansion has influenced electoral behavior by decreasing support for incumbents, primarily explained by not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) arguments. However, how does the establishment of wind farms shape electoral behavior when municipal politicians can veto such establishments? Analyzing Sweden, this study shows that voters respond not only by retrospectively evaluating past constructions but also by evaluating parties differently based on their expectations. Our results indicate that parties more likely to approve turbine constructions are punished more than those less expected to do so. Additionally, we find no evidence that the construction of wind turbines influences support for either Green or radical right-wing parties. In conclusion, this study show that the political repercussions of wind farm expansion are multifaceted, influenced by a combination of past actions, future expectations, and the ideological stances of political parties.

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• The political effects of rural school closures-Evidence from Sweden

  2023. Zeth Isaksson. Journal of Rural Studies 100

  Article

  In times of economic hardship, local governments often resort to school closures. These are often directed towards struggling rural communities, already experiencing substantial depopulation. The affected communities often react with fierce protests against responsible politicians. However, the political effects of school closures have mostly been overlooked in previous research. By using a novel geocoded dataset on all rural school closures in Sweden between 2013 and 2020, this study explores their political ramifications. The results show that school closures decrease the trust in municipal politicians and have negative effects on the support for the incumbent, an effect that is most pronounced for left-leaning parties. This study contributes to the literature on rural school closures and welfare retrenchments and expands previous research on social decommissioning in rural areas to include educational policies.

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Show all publications by Zeth Isaksson at Stockholm University