Why on earth would anyone choose to do a PhD in democracy studies? How and why should we even study democracy? And what are the challenges and rewards of the PhD journey? We have asked these questions to democracy researchers, young PhD candidates, people who have given up on their PhD, fresh post-docs and established professors, as well as coaches, trainers, supervisors, and others. Their confessions, collected in 31 chapters, make up this book.

Lea Heyne: Lea Heyne is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. Her work focuses on the relationship between democratic quality, political attitudes, and electoral behaviour. Christian Ewert: Christian Ewert is a lecturer at the University of Zurich and a coach. He dedicates his research to democracy, governance and communication, and his coaching to leadership and personal growth.