Democratic Resilience

The doctoral thesis project investigates how political parties and electoral processes shape the resilience of democratic systems. At a time when democracies are challenged by polarization, radical right actors, and institutional erosion, understanding the role of party competition and electoral dynamics is more urgent than ever. Potential questions include: Why do some parties act as guardians of democratic norms while others become vehicles for democratic backsliding? Which role do references to ideational legacies deriving from past experiences with democracy play in strengthening or weakening the democratic resilience of political systems?   How do democratic institutions and party strategies influence trust in elections? What can we learn from cases where democracies have weathered crisis—such as e.g. responses to authoritarian tendencies in Central and Eastern Europe? The project offers the opportunity to explore these and related questions in a comparative and theoretically grounded framework. The applicant should have an MA in political science or related field and a strong methodological background in either qualitative or quantitative methods.

In the International Relations and Peace and Security cluster, we welcome PhD projects that examine the mutual influence between liberal democracy and (aspects of) the international system, including international institutions, international norms, international organizations and sets of behaviors. Projects may take an inside-out perspective (exploring the influence of liberal democracy on the international system), an outside-in perspective (investigating how the international system influences liberal democracy), or a reciprocal approach examining the mutual interplay between the two.

The research project will investigate the role of private litigation in a democracy, in particular collective litigation, public interest actions or strategic litigation. There is an ongoing discussion about these phenomena and whether they support deliberative democracy by empowering citizens or are anti-democratic in the sense that they transfer excessive power to the judiciary in political questions. To answer this question, normative (legal doctrine, legal theory, political theory) but also empirical approaches are possible. The project can also focus on specific areas of private law, such as media and data protection law, climate litigation, capital markets or tort law in general. The exact study design will be discussed with a view to the interests and qualifications of the candidate.

Axel Halfmeier, Johanna Croon-Gestefeld

This PhD project explores the interplay between democratic institutions and environmental sustainability, addressing a pressing research gap: the lack of robust evidence on whether democracies outperform other regimes in sustainability governance, and which kind of established and novel democratic institutions make a difference. The project investigates how institutional structures and governance patterns within democratic systems affect both environmental performance (e.g., climate action, SDG implementation) and public support for democracy itself. A central focus lies on the transformative potential of democratic innovations – such as Citizens’ Assemblies – that may overcome political myopia and foster legitimacy, ambition, and implementation in sustainability policies. The research will combine comparative cross-national analysis, historical process tracing, and empirical case studies of democratic innovations. The successful candidate will engage in interdisciplinary collaboration, including law and comparative politics. This scholarship offers a unique opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge debates on democratic resilience and ecological sustainability in an era of accelerating environmental and political change.

Making judicial institutions and constitutions resilient

When liberal order, namely the rule of law, democracy and human rights are under executive pressure, courts often are of critical need for their safeguard. Yet, especially in countries which experience democratic backsliding courts often come under attack when doing so, as illustrated by recent examples in Europe and the United States of America. One PhD project should address how judicial institutions become more resilient against attacks from other branches and how judicial independence is created and sustained. Applications for original research projects that broadly fall into this scope, using any of the following methodologies (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, legal doctrine, comparative law etc.) are invited. A more specific thematic focus is possible, and any regional focus is welcome. The specific research focus/question may be narrower.