Sonja Blum

Sonja Blum is a Professor of Comparative Political Science and Policy Analysis at the Faculty of Sociology, Bielefeld University, Germany. She has held this position since March 2023, following her acting professorship during 2022-2023. Prior to this appointment, she was a Fellow at the Public Governance Institute, KU Leuven (2017-2023) and a Research Associate at FernUniversität in Hagen (2017-2023). She previously served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at KU Leuven (2015-2017) and as a Senior Researcher at the Austrian Institute for Family Research, University of Vienna (2012-2017).

Blum earned her PhD (Dr. phil) in Political Science from the University of Münster in 2011 through the Graduate School of Politics (GraSP), following completion of her MA in Political Science at the same institution in 2007.

Her research focuses on Comparative Public Policy, Social Policy, Policy Design, Narrative Policy Analysis, Gender Politics, and Evidence-Based Policy. She specializes in comparative social policy research with particular emphasis on family and gender equality policies, social rights and inclusivity, and pension policy across European welfare states. Her methodological approach emphasizes qualitative research methods to analyze policy processes and design, with special attention to how evidence and narratives shape policy decisions during crises. She has developed expertise in narrative analysis within policy research and examines how policy narratives evolve during critical junctures like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blum's recent publications reveal a strong focus on policy responses to the pandemic, particularly regarding childcare policies across 28 European countries, as well as the role of evidence and narratives in crisis decision-making. Her work bridges theoretical frameworks like the Multiple Streams Framework with practical policy analysis, examining how problems, policies, and politics become coupled during policy formulation. She has made significant contributions to understanding policy deservingness, target group constructions, and the conceptualization of evidence in policy processes.

Professor Blum serves as a board member of the Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft (German Political Science Association) for the terms 2021-2024 and 2024-2027. She is a member of the College of the International Public Policy Association (IPPA, 2023-2027) and co-chairs the EGPA Working Group on Policy Design and Evaluation. Her editorial roles include Executive Co-Editor for Special Issues at the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis and membership on the editorial boards of Policy and Society, European Policy Analysis, and Social Inclusion. She also co-edits the book series 'Elemente der Politik' (Springer VS) and the International Review for Leave Policies and Research.

Her research group at Bielefeld University conducts comparative analyses of European welfare states, with particular attention to policy responses during crises, the role of narratives in policy-making, and the intersection of gender politics with social policy design. She maintains active collaborations with researchers across Europe through various international networks and projects focused on policy analysis and social policy reform.