Profile
The professorship of Prof. Dr. Hans Vorländer places a particular focus on the historical and cultural contexts of political order and the complex prerequisites for their creation, legitimacy and stabilisation. This requires a certain interdisciplinary perspective that is able to bring together and form a dialogue of political, legal, social and historical science approaches. This opens up a whole spectrum of research spanning the comparative analysis of political ideas, narratives, standards, practices and institutions, the change of democratic constitutional order subject to the conditions of global society, as well as the future conditions of national and transnational spaces.
The staff of the Chair of Political Theory and History of Political Thought also conduct research on current topics in theoretical democratic classification of rebellious and protest movements as well as on topics such as migration, refugees, immigration and integration. Particular emphasis is placed on the issue of how democracies are tackling these challenges and how these are changing the familiar democratic order. The research uses specific historical and current hot topics in order to discuss these from an analytical perspective as well as find solutions. Theoretical discussions are thus always linked with observations and analyses of institutional practices.
Center for the Study of Constitutioanalism and Democracy (ZVD)
The Centre for the Study of Constitutionalism and Democracy (ZVD) is directly affiliated with the professorship, providing an interdisciplinary research centre that acts as a forum for fundamental theoretical and empirical research to be performed on the social and cultural prerequisites for constitutionalism and democracy. The ZVD looks at the creation and development of democratic constitutional order in general and particularly at the ideas behind the modern concept of constitutional democracy. The ZVD aims to use this research to foster an ongoing exchange between the political, legal, social and historical sciences as well as at the international level.
Mercator Forum Migration and Democracy (MIDEM)
The Mercator Forum Migration and Democracy (MIDEM) has been part of the Centre for the Study of Constitutionalism and Democracy since 2017. Four research groups explore the question of how migration shapes, and is shaped by, democratic policies, institutions and culture. The formats, instruments and processes used in politics to deal with migration in democratic societies are investigated - focussing on individual countries and comparatively at the European level. MIDEM is a project of the Technische Universität Dresden in collaboration with the Duisburg-Essen University, funded by the Mercator Foundation.
Further collaborations
The work of the professorship also includes the ongoing transfer of knowledge to other areas of society. This includes cooperation with political education and advice institutions, with art and culture institutions, as well as a dialogue with the media and politics. The chair also maintains international exchanges with universities in France, Italy, Switzerland, Czechia, Poland, Great Britain, the USA and Brazil.