alberto.lamalfa@unibo.it

Adresse courrier :
ULB - Campus du Solbosch
Avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 50 - CP 124
1050 Bruxelles

Adresse visiteur :
Bâtiment S, 11è étage - Bureau : S11.111
Avenue Jeanne, 44 - 1050 Bruxelles

 
 


 

Bio

Alberto La Malfa is a PhD researcher in Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna, working under the supervision of Prof. Filippo Tronconi. From September to November 2026, he is a Visiting Research Fellow at Cevipol (Université libre de Bruxelles), hosted by Prof. Nathalie Brack.

His doctoral dissertation, “The Political System of Misinformation”, treats misinformation not as a passing anomaly but as a structural feature of contemporary European democracies, examining how it is generated, disseminated, and reinforced through interactions among political elites, media, and citizens. Adopting a comparative perspective across European countries, with a particular focus on Italy, the project seeks to identify the mechanisms through which individual misperceptions are transformed into shared political “truths” capable of shaping public policy and democratic processes.

Beyond his primary research, his interests include populism, party organization, and the ways in which digitalization is reshaping internal structures and practices, as well as comparative political systems and party competition.

He is a member of the CONNECT Research Center, the Italian Political Science Association (SISP), the European Political Science Society (EPSS) and co-organizes the Early Career Researchers Roundtables at the University of Bologna. He has worked as a teaching assistant in political science at the University of Florence and at Middlebury University in Florence.


CV

  • Since June 2024 – PhD Researcher in Political and Social Sciences, Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna – doctoral fellowship of the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR).
  • September – October 2026 – Visiting Research Fellow, Cevipol, Université libre de Bruxelles.
  • February – May 2025 – Teaching Assistant, Middlebury University, Florence.
  • March 2023 – June 2024 – Teaching Assistant, University of Florence.
  • Full CV
 

Areas of research

  • Political disinformation and factual misperceptions
  • Democratic legitimacy and democratic backsliding
  • Populism and populist radical right parties
  • Party organization and digitalization
  • Political communication and hybrid media systems
  •  Comparative political systems and party competition

 
Teaching

       •    2025 – Teaching Assistant, History of Political Movements, University of Florence – Middlebury University, Florence (BA level). Course sheet

    •    2023–2024 – Teaching Assistant, Political Science, University of Florence (BA level). Course sheet

    •    2025 – Guest lecture – “Comparative Politics in the Digital Age”, University of Bologna (MA level): the evolution of radical right party organization in the digital age.

    •    2024 – Guest lecture – “Elections, Parties and Public Opinion”, University of Florence (MA level): populist radical right party organization and digital strategies.

Research

Doctoral dissertation (2024-2028) – The Political System of Misinformation: A Systemic Comparative Analysis of Informational Power Dynamics in Europe. The project approaches misinformation as a systemic property of European democracies and unfolds in three parts: a comparative quantitative analysis of the twenty-seven EU member states, focusing on informational regimes and their trajectories since 2000; in-depth case studies (Belgium, Finland, Greece and Poland); and an actor-level analysis of the Italian case, drawing on the MiMeSys project (“MIsperceptions, information disorder and polarisation between MEdia and political SYStems”), which surveys citizens, journalists and politicians on identical factual items and thus makes it possible to compare misperceptions across the three groups.
Parallel line of research on party organization, digitalization of party structures, far right and party competition in comparative perspective.

Publications

    •    La Malfa, A., & Lucidi, S. (2026). Is there life to the right of the radical right? Vannacci’s Futuro Nazionale in the rebirth of the Italian extreme right. Frontiers in Political Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2026.1906873

    •    La Malfa, A., Nunziata, F., & Tronconi, F. (2025). Giornalisti in Italia: informazione, percezioni, atteggiamenti politici. Zenodo. https://zenodo.org/records/15756593

    •    La Malfa, A., Nunziata, F., & Tronconi, F. (2025). Politici in Italia: informazione, percezioni, atteggiamenti politici. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15772710

    •    La Malfa, A. (2023). Cos’è il populismo? Il Riformista. https://www.ilriformista.it/dalla-brexit-e-trump-alle-elezioni-in-spagna-a-austra-passando-per-il-cambiamento-del-sistema-politico-italiano-cose-il-populismo-385850/


ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0001-5006-4737

 
Updated on September 7, 2026