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 behavior. 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 conceptualizes 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.
Some key publications:
Ban, C. and Bohle, D. (2020). "Definancialization, financial repression and policy continuity in East-Central Europe." Review of International Political Economy: 1-24. doi:10.1080/09692290.2020.1799841.
Bernardi, F. and Boertien, D. (2017). "Non-intact families and diverging educational destinies: A decomposition analysis for Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States." Social Science Research, 63: 181-191. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2016.09.004.
Checkel, J. Editor and Contributor. (2017). “Socialization and Violence.” Special Issue, Journal of Peace Research 54(5): 592-730.
Hangartner, D., Dinas, E., Marbach, M., Matakos, K. and Xefteris, D. (2019). "Does Exposure to the Refugee Crisis Make Natives More Hostile?" American Political Science Review, 113(2): 442-455. doi:10.1017/S0003055418000813.
Abbott, K. W., Genschel, P., Snidal, D. and Zangl, B. (2016). "Two Logics of Indirect Governance: Delegation and Orchestration." British Journal of Political Science, 46(4): 719-729. doi:10.1017/S0007123414000593.
Gërxhani, K. (2020). "Status ranking and gender inequality: A cross-country experimental comparison." Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 65: 100474. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2020.100474.
Asunka, J., Brierley, S., Golden, M., Kramon, E. and Ofosu, G. (2019). "Electoral Fraud or Violence: The Effect of Observers on Party Manipulation Strategies." British Journal of Political Science, 49(1): 129-151. doi:10.1017/S0007123416000491.
Boertien, D. and Härkönen, J. (2018). "Why does women’s education stabilize marriages? The role of marital attraction and barriers to divorce." Demographic Research, 38: 1241-1276. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26457075.
Hemerijck, A. (2018). "Social investment as a policy paradigm." Journal of European Public Policy, 25(6): 810-827. doi:10.1080/13501763.2017.1401111.
Abou-Chadi, T. and Immergut, E. M. (2019). "Recalibrating social protection: Electoral competition and the new partisan politics of the welfare state." European Journal of Political Research, 58(2): 697-719. doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12308.
Kostelka, F., Blais. A. (2021). “The Generational and Institutional Sources of the Global Decline in Voter Turnout.” World Politics 73(4): 629-67. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887121000149.
Rijt, A. v. d. (2019). "Self-Correcting Dynamics in Social Influence Processes." American Journal of Sociology, 124(5): 1468-1495. doi:10.1086/702899.
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.
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Juho Härkönen
Full-time Professor
Department of Political and Social Sciences
Dean of Postdoctoral Studies
Max Weber Programme for Postdoctoral Studies
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.
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Klarita Gërxhani
Full-time Professor
Department of Political and Social Sciences
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Arnout Van De Rijt
Director of Graduate Studies
Full-time Professor
Department of Political and Social Sciences
Welfare state and political economy
Impact on welfare states of globalization, deepening EU market integration and financialization, changing life-course risks; Dynamics and consequences of tax competition; diversity of European capitalisms and their capacity for adaptation to post-crisis challenges.
Professors: Dorothee Bohle, Philipp Genschel, Miriam Golden, Anton Hemerijck, Ellen Immergut
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Miriam A. Golden
Full-time Professor
Department of Political and Social Sciences
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Philipp Genschel
Full-time Professor - Joint Chair
Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
Department of Political and Social Sciences
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Anton Hemerijck
Full-time Professor
Director of Research
Department of Political and Social Sciences
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Ellen Margaretha Immergut
Head of Department
Full-time Professor
Department of Political and Social Sciences
Comparative politics and political behaviour
Trends and patterns in institutional design (also historical); electoral and party competition, electoral behavior, the rise of populism and authoritarianism; political protest, contentious politics, political events; policy responsiveness.
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Elias Dinas
Full-time Professor - Joint Chair
Department of Political and Social Sciences
Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
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Miriam A. Golden
Full-time Professor
Department of Political and Social Sciences
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Simon Hix
Stein Rokkan Chair in Comparative Politics
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Ellen Margaretha Immergut
Head of Department
Full-time Professor
Department of Political and Social Sciences
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Filip Kostelka
Full-time Professor
Department of Political and Social Sciences
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”.
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Jeffrey T. Checkel
Full-time Professor
Department of Political and Social Sciences
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.
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Miriam A. Golden
Full-time Professor
Department of Political and Social Sciences