Ruben Mathisen

Ruben Mathisen is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen, Norway. His research focuses on democratic responsiveness, public policy, and political inequality, with a strong emphasis on how public opinion shapes policy outcomes across different demographic and economic groups.

His research interests include:

• Democratic representation and policy responsiveness
• Political economy of taxation and inequality
• Radical right politics and public trust
• Gender and socioeconomic disparities in political influence
• Comparative political behavior in Nordic and Western Europe

His recent publications analyze unequal policy responsiveness between men and women, taxation preferences of the public versus actual policy, and the effects of radical right governance on citizen perceptions. These works appear in leading journals such as the Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, and American Political Science Review. His research often employs survey experiments and comparative methods, contributing to broader debates on democratic accountability and representation.

Ruben Mathisen has received funding from the Research Council of Norway (project reference 275308) and collaborates with scholars across Europe. He has presented his work at major conferences including the American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Nordic Political Science Association (NOPSA).

He is actively contributing to academic discourse through co-authored book chapters and peer-reviewed articles, particularly in the volume Unequal Democracies: Public Policy, Responsiveness, and Redistribution in an Era of Rising Economic Inequality (Cambridge University Press, 2023).