Academic interests and background
Erlend has a master's degree in the Political Science from the University of Oslo (UiO). He also has a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Oslo Nye Høyskole (ONH).
Erlend is particularly interested in European politics and representative democracy in Europe, and his master's thesis was a conceptual reconstruction of the concepts precommitment, responsibility and responsiveness, in light of the Norwegian affiliation to the EU. The Master's project was associated with the research projects The Representative Disconnect: Diagnosis and Strategies for Rectification (REDIRECT) and UIO:Democracy.