S.J. Ploeg (Solange) MPhil

I am a PhD candidate and a lecturer at the Political History department. My PhD research is part of the international research project ‘The Voice of the People. Popular Expectations of Democracy in Postwar Europe’, led by Prof. Harm Kaal. I research how changes in the media landscape and the emergence of new media practices, such as opinion polling and television shows, influenced contemporary ideas on democracy and political representation in the Netherlands between 1945 and the 1980s.

I was trained at Leiden University (BA and MPhil in History, Program: 'Politics, Culture and National Identities, 1789-present') and the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. During my studies, I worked as a research trainee at Leiden University (project: ‘An Anthology and History of Dutch Political Eloquence') and interned at the Research Department of the Dutch House of Representatives. My research interests are Western-European 19th and 20th century political culture, political rhetoric, protest, media monarchies and the relationship between science and politics.

From 2021-2024, I have been a coordinator of the research group 'Patterns of Political Interaction' at the Radboud Institute for Culture and History (RICH). In Fall 2022, I was a guest researcher at the Media History department at Lund University, Sweden. Since September 2024 I coordinate the Masters programme Politiek & Parlement.

• The Voice of the People. Popular Expectations of Democracy in Postwar Europe

• RICH - Patterns of Political Interaction