Ethan vanderWilden (2024)

Ethan vanderWilden is a doctoral candidate in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Ethan studies public opinion and party politics in liberal democracies. Specifically, his research focuses on how narratives of the past affect modern politics: how do individuals think about the past, how do parties use historical narratives in their campaigns, and how do these affect voting behavior or other political outcomes?

Ethan’s dissertation explores nostalgia towards authoritarian history, mainly focusing on Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Germany. It asks the question: why is celebration of an authoritarian past acceptable in some places and at some times, but socially and politically costly in others? Relying on surveys and survey experiments, as well as qualitative process tracing of party speeches and documents, it documents nostalgia towards the past, examines how and why the prevalence of nostalgia changes, and considers the consequences of these changes for democratic stability. In doing so, the project helps us better understand how previously stigmatized ideas or political positions become legitimated.

The 2024 National Institute of Social Sciences Dissertation Grant will support the collection of original survey data and conference travel. Ethan holds a B.A. in Government and Physics from Colby College and an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.