In the summer semester 2021 we offer the following courses:
Master's Programme Social Sciences
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Zoom-Meeting
Meeting-ID: 633 4076 1107
Password: 577360
Zoom-Meeting
Meeting-ID: 653 3843 2637
Password: 394768
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Im Rahmen dieses Projektseminars beschäftigen wir uns in drei thematischen Blöcken mit verschiedenen Dimensionen der Bundestagswahl.
Im Zentrum des ersten Blocks stehen die Wählerinnen und Wähler. Wir diskutieren verschiedene theoretische Ansätze zur Erklärung von Wahlverhalten und beschäftigen uns mit der empirischen Überprüfung dieser Erklärungsansätze.
Im zweiten Block betrachten wir die Bundestagswahl aus Sicht der Parteien und werden uns mit unterschiedlichen Aspekten des Parteienwettbewerbs um Wählerstimmen beschäftigen. Dabei werden wir sowohl theoretische Erklärungsansätze als auch unterschiedliche Forschungsdesigns zur Analyse des Parteienwettbewerbs kennenlernen.
Im dritten Block beschäftigen wir uns schließlich mit der Bildung von Koalitionen nach der Bundestagswahl, indem wir theoretische Ansätze und empirische Studien zur Erklärung der Regierungsbeteiligung, zur Verteilung von Ministerposten und zur Aushandlung des Koalitionsvertrags kennenlernen. Studierende werden theoretische Konzepte und Debatten der Wahl-, der Parteien- und der Koalitionsforschung kennenlernen, sie werden methodische Herausforderungen diskutieren und einen Einblick in empirische Forschungsarbeiten zu Wahlen im Allgemeinen und zur Bundestagswahl im Besonderen bekommen.
Auf Basis der im Sommersemester gewonnen Kenntnisse von Theorien und Forschungsdesigns der Wahl-, der Parteien- und der Koalitionsforschung werden Studierende ein eigenes Forschungsdesign zur Bundestagswahl entwickeln, auf deren Basis sie im Wintersemester ein eigenes Forschungsprojekt durchführen werden.
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A central normative justification for representative democracy is that elections are a means for citizens to exercise control over the actions of their representatives. In this course we will examine to what extent and under what conditions elections give citizens control over their leaders. The course will introduce students to the basic concepts, theoretical frameworks, and recent papers from the field of electoral accountability. The course will cover important barriers to accountability in democratic polities: (1) access to information, (2) voter coordination problems, (3) institutional barriers, (4) the availability of strong competence signals, and (5) behavioral constraints.
Prior knowledge of hypothesis testing and linear regression is required. Participants of the course should prepare a presentation and write an empirical research design paper to receive full credit.
The course provides an introduction to the design-based approach to causal inference. Topics include (1) randomised experiments, (2) matching, (3) regression, (4) difference-in-differences, instrumental variables (5), and (6) regression discontinuity designs. The course encourages students to think about the assumption necessary to make causal claims, to become a critical consumer of causal claims in the social sciences, and equip them to conduct their own research using the software R. Students will learn to prepare and analyse data.
Prior knowledge of hypothesis testing and linear regression is required, knowledge of R is an advantage. Participants of the course should prepare problem sets with R and write an empirical research design paper to receive full credit.
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Bachelor's Programme Social Sciences
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This course focuses on empirical analyses of polarization in today’s democracies. Students will be introduced to the central concepts of political polarization, and contemporary theories for the emergence and consequences of increasing societal tension.
This class combines institutional and behavioral approaches to look at polarization among party positions, political elites, and the broader society. The geographic focus will be on established democracies in Europe and the US. We start off with discussing the concepts of polarization in empirical social science and continue to review contemporary research in the field of comparative political behaviour. We then investigate different mechanisms that could explain rises in polarization, before looking at its consequences for a range of relevant outcomes.
Students should be familiar with statistical analysis to get an insight into contemporary theory-guided empirical research. A majority of the texts we discuss in class use quantitative methods to ground theoretical arguments in data. Participants of the course should prepare a presentation and write an empirical research design paper to receive full credit.
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Climate change and the environment are becoming central topics for politics and societies in many countries. This course introduces students to the politics surrounding the environment, with a focus on political behavior, party politics and policy-making. It will provide an overview of the main debates on the environment within political science, also integrating research from economics and social psychology. The focus will be - but is not limited to – established democracies in the Global North and on quantitative empirical research.
Prior knowledge of hypothesis testing and familiarity with quantitative methods is required. Participants should prepare a presentation and write an empirical research design paper to receive full credit.
Zoom-Meeting
Meeting-ID: 640 0984 4739
Passwor: polenviron
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Zoom-Meeting
Meeting-ID: 653 3843 2637
Password: 394768
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