Matevž Tomšič, Ph.D. in Sociology, is a Professor at the School of Advanced Social Studies in Nova Gorica. He is also engaged at the Faculty of Information Studies in Novo mesto and at the Faculty of Media in Ljubljana. His research interests belong to the field of political sociology, i.e. elites, democracy and development in post-communist societies. In the recent period, his work focuses also on the role of media in relation to democracy. He took part in numerous national and international research projects. Currently, he is a Project Manager of the project Media Literacy and Active Citizenship for Sustainable Democracy (MELIA Observatory) which is part of the Danube Transnational Programme. He is (co)author of a number of domestic and international scientific publications, among them Elites in the New Democracies (Peter Lang, 2016) and The Challenges of Sustained Development. The Role of Socio-Cultural Factors in East-Central Europe (CEU Press, 2005). In addition to his scientific work, he publishes articles on politics, democracy, civil society, etc., in different Slovenian media outlets.