Nicholas Dias

Title

Postdoc

Primary affiliation

Nicholas Dias CV

Areas of expertise

  • Public Opinion
  • Political Psychology
  • Political Behavior
  • Voter Competence

Contact information

Email address

Research

My research is motivated by three interrelated questions: Are citizens good custodians of democracy? Why or why not? And how could democracy work better? My dissertation challenges the long-held belief that citizens’ policy opinions are often “unprincipled” — that is, inconsistent with their underlying values and interests. Instead, I argue that citizens’ opinions appear less principled than they are, due to flaws in how scholars have evaluated citizens’ opinions. In other work, I have studied polarization’s causes, consequences, and potential remedies.

Teaching activities

I love teaching, and I care a lot about my students. In Fall 2025, I will teach a seminar at Aarhus University on why millions of Americans voted for Donald Trump. I have led seminars on American politics and data science. Before pursuing my PhD, I taught journalists how to monitor social media for misinformation, check the authenticity of claims and images, and write effective corrections.