Javier Martínez-Cantó

I am the inaugural Ramón Areces Fellow and Visiting Scholar for 2023-2024 at Harvard University's Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies. I am also an affiliated Research Fellow at IBEI, where I collaborate with the Agenda Dynamics on Social Media project. Additionally, I am a member of the Quality of Democracy research group at the University of Barcelona. 

Before, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the research group of comparative politics at the University of Konstanz, where I served as Interim Professor of Comparative Politics during the 2022-2023 Winter Semester. I also developed research stays in Princeton's Department of Politics and Vienna's Department of Government. 

I earned my doctorate from the University of Bamberg–Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences, for which I received the Juan Linz Prize from Spain's Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies and the Hans-Löwel-Preise from the University of Bamberg for my dissertation. Before that, I studied at the University of Valencia and Pompeu Fabra University. 

My research explores the nexus of political representation, party politics, and the territorial distribution of power, with a focus on how personal characteristics of political elites interact with institutional settings to impact descriptive and substantive representation. I am particularly interested in how marginalized groups can enhance their influence. My research has been published in leading academic journals like Comparative Political Studies, Party Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties.

If you wish to discuss my research or access preliminary papers, please contact me via email or find me on Twitter or Bluesky at @javiermcanto. I welcome opportunities for collaboration and dialogue.