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Research

An overarching meta-theoretical continuity spanning the members of the SPS Department’s research is our interest in the interplay of institutional dynamics with micro behaviour. Whereas the long-term traditional focus of the department was on macro-institutional structures, such as party systems, institutions of interest-intermediation, welfare state regimes and class structures, our current research conceptualises institutions dynamically by studying the interactions between institutions, both formal and informal, and their behavioural context. This applies to the analysis of the impact of party competition on public policies, changing family structures and their consequences for inequalities, changing norms of governance and conflict and their implications for political and geo-political dominance.

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Research Themes:

Inequality & social demography

Trends and patterns of educational, labour market and health inequalities by social class, gender and ethnicity; social mobility; cumulative and compensatory advantage; family change and family dynamics; life course research.

Analytical sociology

Micro foundations of social life: trust; conflict & cooperation; collective action; norms; status, and social networks – and how they explain employment, gender differences, development, crime, corruption, informal economy, migration, ethnic conflict, movements, science practices.

Welfare state and political economy

Impact on welfare states of globalisation, deepening EU market integration and financialization; Changing life-course risks; Dynamics and consequences of fiscal and regulatory competition; Diversity of European political economies and their capacity for adaptation to post-crisis challenges; the EU’s perma- and poly-crisis.

Comparative politics and political behaviour

Trends and patterns in institutional design (also historical); electoral and party competition, electoral behaviour, the rise of populism and authoritarianism; political protest, contentious politics, political events; policy responsiveness.

IR and security

International relations theory; humanitarian intervention; civil wars; comparative foreign policy; international and European security; Europe’s external relations and “Europe in the world”.

Political Economy of Development

How political institutions change with economic development; politics and policy issues in developing nations; interactions of politicians and voters in developing nations; differences between developing and developed countries.

Computational Social Science

Digital media and politics; computational text analysis; machine learning; AI and social science; registry data linkage; meta-science.

 

Some key publications:

Page last updated on 21/05/2025