Program Description

This subdiscipline deals with the most important stations and concepts of political thought in the perspective of democratic theory. It addresses the self-understanding and legitimacy of modern democracies under the conditions of globalization. The center of interest is the modern concept of freedom and democratic citizenship, the French-speaking political philosophy, diversity and gender as well as international research projects on politics and interculturality.

Through comparing Western Regimes constituent structures and processes of stable democracies and every countries’ special circumstances are meant to be explained. The analyses of this field mainly treat the political system of Germany as well as of the democratic confederation of the European Union. The filtered determinants of democratic governance shall set up the benchmark of a global democratization.

Exploring democracy and authoritarianism in the states of Central and Eastern Europe merely focuses on transformation societies (politics, culture, economy and social issues) and options of these nations with regard to foreign affairs. These are investigated through comparing analyses considering different constitutions, political actors and processes.

The field of International Politics primarily deals with the question, how consolidated democratic states (especially the USA and Germany) and democratically based institutions like the EU and NATO act out on the international stage through their foreign policy agenda. This subject is even more relevant since the long-lasting hegemony of the United States has weakened in the 21st century and new, partly non-democratic states have gained power. The core of International Politics consists of issues in global safety and economy.

The comparison of political regimes serves as a basis for application-oriented democracy science, which focuses on qualitative and quantitative processes for analyzing and measuring democracy. An in-depth method training is combined with a focus on content in the field of empirical Democracy, autocracy and transformation research.