Bartek Pytlas

Bartek Pytlas is a Professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, affiliated with the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Geschwister Scholl Institute of Political Science. Since October 2018, he has served as Principal Investigator for the DFG-funded project Anti-Establishment Politics in Europe: Issue Entrepreneurship, Voting Patterns and Counter-System Strategies of Representation. His academic career includes interim professorships at LMU Munich (2021) and the Geschwister Scholl Institute (2015-2018), following a doctoral degree in Comparative Politics from University Viadrina (2014).

• PhD (summa cum laude), University Viadrina
• MA in European Studies, University of Århus
• BA in Social and Cultural Sciences, European University Viadrina

Pytlas' research focuses on radical right politics, populism, and anti-establishment movements, analyzing their impact on democratic representation and party competition. His work employs computer-assisted qualitative content analysis and comparative frameworks across Europe. Recent publications examine mainstreaming of radical right ideologies, migration debates, and institutional changes in Central and Eastern Europe.

His 2021 article in JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies explores radical right strategies during the 2015-16 refugee crisis, while his 2021 Politics and Governance study analyzes Poland's Law and Justice Party. Earlier works address narrative framing in Slovakia and Hungary (2019), comparative radical right dynamics (2018), and foundational party competition theories (2015, 2012).

• Awards: Gero Erdmann Comparative Area Studies Award 2018
• Grants: DFG-funded project, Heinrich Böll Foundation scholarship (2011-2014)

As a member of the Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft and ECPR Standing Group on Extremism & Democracy, Pytlas contributes to academic discourse through peer reviews and conference participation.