Ari Bersch is currently a first-year MPhil student in Comparative Government at University College. His research interests include voting behavior, political communication, political parties, the impact of artificial intelligence on politics, and the role of public opinion in shaping foreign policy.
Before arriving at Oxford, Ari graduated summa cum laude from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, USA, with a BA in Government and Mathematics. His Government honors thesis, "When Populists Come to Power: A US-UK Comparative Analysis," explored how right-wing populist leaders changed their rhetorical styles and policy approaches once coming to office and when running for re-election—and how voters in the two countries responded to those changes. For this project, Ari won the Philo Sherman Bennett Prize for the best departmental honors thesis. He has also conducted research into US public opinion on Social Security reform and cultural preferences and biases across different artificial intelligence models, presenting this work at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Midwest Political Science Association Conference, and the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Teacher Education.
