

Professor
Political Science
Main research or teaching areas
- Comparative politics
- Political parties and governments
- Political behavior and political psychology
Current research and teaching
My research focuses mainly on political parties and coalition politics in parliamentary democracies, focusing on topics such as coalition formation, portfolio allocation, cabinet reshuffles, policy-making in multiparty governments, and legislative behavior. I also do research on political behavior/political psychology, focusing mainly on explaining affective polarization, political attitudes, voter behavior and radicalization.
I teach comparative politics, political psychology and research methods.
Seleected publications (since 2021)
Monographs and edited volumes
Hanna Bäck, Alejandro Quiroz Flores & Jan Teorell. 2024. The Selection and Tenure of Foreign Ministers Around the World. Cambridge University Press (Elements in International Relations).
Heike Klüver, Hanna Bäck & Svenja Krauss. 2023. Coalition Agreements as Control Devices. Oxford University Press.
Hanna Bäck, Marc Debus & Jorge Fernandes (eds.). 2021. The Politics of Legislative Debates. Oxford University Press.
Torbjörn Bergman, Hanna Bäck & Johan Hellström (eds.). 2021. Coalition Governance in Western Europe. Oxford University Press.
Peer-reviewed articles
Wolfgang C. Müller, Matthew Bergman & Hanna Bäck (Forthcoming). “Government Ideology and Labour Policy Reform in Good Times and Bad”. Journal of European Public Policy.
Hanna Bäck, Royce Carroll, Emma Renström & Alexander Ryan. (Forthcoming). “Elite Communication and Affective Polarization Among Voters”. Electoral Studies 84.
Maiken Røed, Hanna Bäck & Royce Carroll. 2025. “Who Polarizes Parliament? Partisan Hostility in Norwegian Legislative Debates”. Party Politics 31(1), 137-147.
Esther Calvo, Hanna Bäck & Royce Carroll. 2024. “Debating the populist pariah. Changing party dynamics and elite rhetoric in the Swedish Riksdag”. Political Research Quarterly 77(3), 950-961.
Hanna Bäck, Matthew Bergman & Wolfgang C. Müller. 2024. “Coalition Bargaining Time and Governments’ Policy-Making Productivity”. European Journal of Political Research 63(4), 1263-1285.
Wolfgang C. Müller, Hanna Bäck & Johan Hellström. 2024. “Coalition Dynamics: Advances in the Study of the Coalition Life Cycle”. West European Politics 47(1), 1-30.
Matthew Bergman, Mariyana Angelova, Hanna Bäck & Wolfgang C. Müller. 2024. “Coalition Agreements and Governments’ Policy-Making Productivity”. West European Politics 47(1), 31-60.
Hanna Bäck, Marc Debus & Michael Imre. 2024. “Populist Radical Parties, Pariahs, and Coalition Bargaining Delays”. Party Politics 30(1), 96-107.
Hanna Bäck, Johan Hellström, Johannes Lindvall & Jan Teorell. 2024. “Pre-Electoral Coalitions, Familiarity, and Delays in Government Formation”. West European Politics 47(1): 88-112.
Emma A. Renström, Hanna Bäck & Royce Carroll. 2023. “Threats, Emotions, and Affective Polarization”. Political Psychology 44(6), 1337-1366.
Adam Peresman, Royce Carroll & Hanna Bäck. 2023. “Authoritarianism and immigration attitudes in the UK”. Political Studies 71(3): 616-633.
Hanna Bäck, Wolfgang C. Müller, Mariyana Angelova & Daniel Strobl. 2022. “Ministerial Autonomy, Parliamentary Scrutiny and Government Reform Output in Parliamentary Democracies”. Comparative Political Studies 55(2): 254-286.
Kalle Ekholm, Hanna Bäck & Emma Renström. 2022. “Sympathizing with the Radical Right: Effects of mainstream party recognition and control of prejudice”. Journal of Social and Political Psychology 10(1): 141-157.
Henning Bergmann, Thomas Saalfeld & Hanna Bäck. 2022. “Party-System Polarization, Legislative Institutions and Cabinet Survival in 28 Parliamentary Democracies, 1945–2019”. West European Politics 45(3): 612-637.
Emma Renström, Hanna Bäck & Royce Carroll. 2021. “Intergroup threat and affective polarization in a multiparty system”. Journal of Social and Political Psychology 9(2), 553-576.
Hanna Bäck, Emma Renström & David Sivén. 2021. “The Social Network: How Friends’ Online Behavior and Belongingness Needs Influence Political Activity”. Policy & Internet 13: 209-232.
Hanna Bäck, Jan Teorell, Alexander von Hagen-Jamar & Alejandro Quiroz Flores. 2021. “War, Performance and the Survival of Foreign Ministers”. Foreign Policy Analysis 17.
Ulrich Sieberer, Thomas M. Meyer, Hanna Bäck, Andrea Ceron, Albert Falcó-Gimeno, Isabell Guinaudeau, Martin Ejnar Hansen, Kristoffer Kolltveit, Tom Louwerse, Wolfgang C. Müller, Thomas Persson. 2021. “The Political Dynamics of Portfolio Design in European Democracies”. British Journal of Political Science 51: 772-787.
Daniel Strobl, Hanna Bäck, Wolfgang C. Müller & Mariyana Angelova. 2021. “Electoral Cycles in Government Policy Making: Strategic Timing of Austerity Reform measures in Western Europe”. British Journal of Political Science 51: 331-352.
Before joining the department in Lund (2011), I was a junior professor at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES). I received my Ph.D. from Uppsala University (2003), and I have held post-doctoral fellowships at the European University Institute, and the University of Twente.
I am a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, and I am currently co-editor of the journal Research & Politics.
Projects
Several of my ongoing projects (with Emma Renström) are described here:
Research groups
Expertise (media)
- Political parties
- Government formation
- Voting behavior
- Political participation
Also see the blog: 'On power and politics'