Research in turbulent times

Only those who have a good understanding of how and why order-generating processes function in complex social systems will be able to play a constructive role in shaping them. Practical political science theories, however, are not possible without solid empirical research. Our research follows precisely this guiding principle.

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Einblicke in unsere Forschung

SAFE-19 - Solidarity in the Covid-19 pandemic

The BMBF-funded, interdisciplinary research network with colleagues from the GESIS Institute for Social Sciences in Cologne is investigating what role solidarity plays for the attitudes and behaviors of German citizens in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. A multidisciplinary approach was chosen for this analysis. The project, led by Marianne Kneuer, examines the trade-offs between protecting health, protecting democratic freedoms and protecting the economy.

Crisis-Dialogue-Future

Open-ended debate is the core of pluralistic democracy. But how can civil society actors and local political decision-makers shape such disputes in a socially and culturally acceptable way? The “Crisis-Dialogue-Future” project researches and develops dialog instruments for constructive conflict resolution.

SOLDISK - Solidarity discourses in the migration crisis

The interdisciplinary research network funded by the state of Lower Saxony is investigating how solidarity has been reflected discursively during the migration crisis in Germany. The Micro sub-project, headed by Professor Kneuer, uses computer-based data analysis methods to examine discourses by citizens - both offline and online - to determine the extent to which solidarity or desolidarization phenomena arise, how solidarity is understood and what motives are found for solidary (or non-solidary) behaviour.

EFRE / SAB - Project: CouReg

Our latest project “CouReg - Courage and shaping our region / Mít kuráž a utvářet náš region” is dedicated to promoting democracy and civil courage in the border region. In university and school education modules, we want to “encourage democracy”.

PEGIDA, AfD and political culture

The PEGIDA demonstrations have sparked a fierce public debate. We have studied the phenomenon in detail since its beginnings in the fall of 2014 and have since published several studies. You can find these studies, including all data and other materials, here.

Research projects of the professorship

In addition to parliamentarism research and the evolutionary analysis of political systems, the chair's PEGIDA studies and the e-learning project “MOOC PolSys” have recently attracted a great deal of interest. Here you can find a compilation of all research projects.

Key publications of the professorship

On this page you will find a brief compilation of the most important publications of recent years. This also includes anthologies and particularly high-quality qualification papers by employees and doctoral students.

Research at the Chair

The Chair of Political Systems and Comparative Politics has been and is involved in a wide range of research activities. It is dedicated to very different fields of research and research projects. The focus is on democracy and autocracy, digital policy, solidarity, especially in crisis situations, and research into the socio-cultural foundations of political systems - i.e. their political culture. In all of this, a diverse range of instruments from empirical social research and comparative political science are applied and further developed.