Angelo Vito Panaro

Dr. Angelo Vito Panaro is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Political Science at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, where he works on the "Academic Freedom Index" research project in collaboration with the V-Dem Institute. Previously, he served as a postdoctoral researcher at Bielefeld University (2023-2024) and the University of Milan (2021-2023), and as an adjunct professor at the University of Bologna (2019-2024).

His educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Political Science (2021) from the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy
• M.A. in Economics (2016) from the Department of Economics, Bocconi University, Italy
• B.A. in Political Science (2012) from the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy

Dr. Panaro's research focuses on authoritarian regimes and comparative welfare states, with particular interest in how political institutions shape social policy outcomes. His work examines the politics of social redistribution, socio-economic inequalities, and EU social policy, with a specific emphasis on understanding welfare state dynamics in non-democratic contexts. He employs comparative methods to analyze regime changes and the resilience of democratic institutions during crises.

His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on authoritarian regimes and their social policies, with particular attention to post-Soviet states and the relationship between state capacity and social equality. His work bridges comparative politics and social policy analysis, examining how political institutions shape welfare outcomes across different regime types. A significant portion of his research investigates the surprising ways authoritarian regimes implement social policies to maintain legitimacy.

Dr. Panaro has received notable recognition for his work, including:

• The 2022 Carlo Maria Santoro Prize for the best paper presented by an early career researcher at the SISP conference (awarded jointly with Dr. Andrea Vaccaro)

As an educator, Dr. Panaro has taught courses on autocratization, comparative welfare states, global social redistribution and inequalities, and social policy. His collaborative work extends across multiple international institutions, including the V-Dem Institute, EUROSHIP network, and various European universities. He currently coordinates the Standing Group on Political Regimes of the Società Italiana di Scienza Politica (SISP) together with Dr. Tiziana Corda.

Dr. Panaro is actively involved with the Academic Freedom Index project at FAU and collaborates with the V-Dem Institute. His research connects with multiple international networks focused on social policy and political regimes, including the EUROSHIP network based at Oslo Metropolitan University.