Ludger Helms is full professor of Political Science and Chair of Comparative Politics at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. His research interests focus on comparative political institutions, political elites, and executive politics and leadership. He is the author of some 150 scholarly publications in those fields. His work has appeared in such journals as The British Journal of Politics & International Relations, Democratization, European Political Science Review, Government and Opposition, and West European Politics. His latest book publication is the co-edited Oxford Handbook of Political Executives (2020).