Alexander Vogt currently works as a policy officer at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, where he is part of the secretariat of the newly created intergovernmental Steering Committee on Democracy (CDDEM). He holds a Master of Science in International Politics from KU Leuven, Belgium, and a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Vienna, Austria, as well as Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy and in Political Science, also from the University of Vienna. His academic and professional interests include the values and cultural aspects underlying democracy, processes of democratisation, and the challenges of democratic backsliding and erosion.