Board
Postdoc, Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism
Mathea Loen is a postdoctoral fellow at Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism and the Department of Government (University of Bergen). She holds a PhD in political science from University of Bergen (2025). Loen is affiliated with the research project Child Protection Systems Across the World (CPS-World) and she is currently working with large-scale population survey data, examining public attitudes on child protection, family values and state-citizen relations.
Mathea’s research interests include human rights, social norms and networks, public opinion, and public discourse, specifically in relation to children’s rights, child protection, and family values in Europe.
Last publications:
Loen, Mathea (2025). Norm Adherence, Trust, and Citizens’ Compliance: Exploring Citizens Attitudes to Public Welfare Institutions Across Europe. Governance, 28 (3): https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.70037
Loen, Mathea, and Skivenes, Marit. (2025). The value of responsibility, certainty, and child rights for supporting state intervention in the family – An empirical study of populations in six european countries. Journal of European Social, Online First. Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/09589287241311148
Loen, Mathea; Skivenes, Marit (2023). Legitimate child protection interventions and the dimension of confidence: A comparative analysis of populations views in six European countries. Journal of Social Policy, 54(2): https://doi.org/10.1017/S004727942300003X
Loen, Mathea, and Siri Gloppen. 2021. “Constitutionalising the Right to Water in Kenya and Slovenia: Domestic Drivers, Opportunity Structures, and Transnational Norm Entrepreneurs” Water, 13(24): https://doi.org/10.3390/w13243548
Website:
https://discretion.uib.no/people/staff/mathea-loen/
Projects:
Legitimacy Challenges
2020 - 2025