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Prof. Dr. Tobias Lenz

Tobias Lenz
21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C4.004
Fon +49.4131.677-2461, tobias.lenz@leuphana.de
Professor, Professorship of International Relations
Associated member, Leuphana Center for Cooperative Security (LCCS)

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Vita

Prof. Dr. Tobias Lenz is Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Science (IPW) at Leuphana University. His research interests include international organizations and the comparative study of regional integration processes. In his ongoing research, he analyzes factors influencing the institutional design of regional organizations over time, the influence of EU institutions on other regional organizations, and the dynamics of self-legitimation in regional organizations.

Tobias Lenz is currently head of a Leibniz Junior Research Group entitled “Sources and Consequences of Legitimation Strategies of Regional Organisations” (LegRO) funded by the Leibniz Association at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg. He has recently completed a project funded by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony under its Research Cooperation Lower Saxony-Israel program on the impact of organizational overlap on the authority of international organizations (together with Yoram Haftel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem). He has held fellowships and visiting positions at the European University Institute, the Free University of Amsterdam, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the Free University of Berlin. He obtained his doctorate (PhD) in International Relations at Oxford University in 2012. More information about Tobias Lenz can be found here.

  • since 03/2020: Professor of International Relations, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany
  • 09/2019 – 02/2020: Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Leibniz Junior Research Group “Sources and Consequences of Legitimation Strategies of Regional Organizations” (LegRO), German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg, Germany
  • 09/2015 – 08/2016: Max Weber Postdoctoral Fellow, European University Institute, Florence, Italy
  • 12/2013 – 08/019: Assistant Professor (Juniorprofessor) of Global Governance and Comparative Regionalism, University of Goettingen and German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg, Germany
  • 12/2011 – 11/2013: Postdoctoral fellow on the ERC project “Causes and Consequences of Multilevel Governance”, directed by Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks, Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 2007 – 2012: Dr.Phil in International Relations, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, United Kingdom (defended in Nov. 2011)
  • 2005 – 2007: M.Phil in Politics: European Politics and Society, St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, United Kingdom
  • 2001 – 2004: BA in European Studies, University of Osnabrück, Germany

Projects

  1. Party Competition, Populism, and Sovereignty Transfer to International Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Project manager, academic) , Alexandr Burilkov (Project manager, academic)
    →

    Project: Research

  2. The Authority of International Organizations and Institutional Overlap
    Tobias Lenz (Project manager, academic) , Yoram Z. Haftel (Project manager, academic)
    →

    Project: Research

  3. Sources and Consequences of Legitimation Strategies of Regional Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Project manager, academic)
    →

    Project: Research

  4. Diffusing the EU Model? The European Union’s Influence on Regional Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Research

View all projects

Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. Interorganizational Diffusion in International Relations: Regional Institutions and the Role of the European Union
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 2021 Oxford , 255 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

  2. The Rise of International Parliaments: Strategic Legitimation in International Organizations
    Frank Schimmelfennig (Author) , Thomas Winzen (Author) , Tobias Lenz (Author) , Jofre Rocabert (Author) , Loriana Crasnic (Author) , Cristina Gherasimov (Author) , Jana Lipps (Author) , Densua Mumford (Author) , 2020 1 ed. Oxford , 368 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Book › Research

  3. A Theory of International Organization
    Liesbet Hooghe (Author) , Tobias Lenz (Author) , Gary Marks (Author) , 2019 Oxford , 224 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

  4. Measuring International Authority: A Postfunctionalist Theory of Governance
    Liesbet Hooghe (Author) , Gary Marks (Author) , Tobias Lenz (Author) , Jeanine Bezuijen (Author) , Besir Ceka (Author) , Svet Derderyan (Author) , 2017 Oxford , 928 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

  5. From Geopolitics to Geoeconomics: The European Union's Promotion of Regional Integration in Latin America, 1980s - today
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 2009 Saarbrücken , 128 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research

View all publications

Journal contributions

  1. IO Overlap and the Allocation of Delegation: Evidence from the African Organizational Complex
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Mona Saleh (Author) , Yoram Z. Haftel (Author) , 01.07.2026 , in: International Interactions, 52, 4 , p. 630-660 , 31 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  2. Comparative Regionalism beyond Europe versus the Rest
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Fredrik Söderbaum (Author) , 01.09.2025 , in: Review of International Studies, 51, 5 , p. 889-905 , 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  3. Expanding or defending legitimacy? Why international organizations intensify self-legitimation
    Henning Schmidtke (Author) , Tobias Lenz (Author) , 01.10.2024 , in: Review of International Organizations, 19, 4 , p. 753-784 , 32 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  4. Globalising the Study of Diffusion: Multiple Sources and the East African Community
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Mariel Reiss (Author) , 01.10.2024 , in: Journal of European Public Policy, 31, 11 , p. 3703-3731 , 29 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  5. The Legitimation of International Organizations: Introducing a New Dataset
    Henning Schmidtke (Author) , Niklas Krösche (Author) , Swantje Schirmer (Author) , Tobias Lenz (Author) , 01.02.2024 , in: International Studies Perspectives, 25, 1 , p. 86-110 , 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. The Evolution of Comparative Regionalism: A New Typology
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Fredrik Söderbaum (Author) , 01.03.2026 , p. 345–354 , 10 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

  2. Institutional Change
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 01.01.2026 , 4 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research

  3. Global Theories of Regionalism
    Lynda Chinenye Iroulo (Author) , Tobias Lenz (Author) , 07.12.2022 Cheltenham , p. 36-51 , 16 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

  4. EU Entrepreneurship, Norm Diffusion and the Parliamentarization of Regional Economic Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , 31.05.2019 Cheltenham , p. 70-87 , 18 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

  5. Vergleichende Regionalismusforschung
    Tobias Lenz (Author) , Kai Striebinger (Author) , 01.01.2017 Wiesbaden , p. 39-56 , 18 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Activities

  1. Diskursreihe Ethik im Gespräch
    Thomas Kück (Speaker) , Tobias Lenz (Speaker)

    Activity: talk or presentation in privat or public events › Research

  2. How Overlap Interacts with Delegation: Evidence from the Complex of Economic Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Oral presentation)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  3. Against the Tide: The Resilience of Liberal Norms in Regional Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Oral presentation)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  4. Against the Tide: The Resilience of Liberal Norms in Regional Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Oral presentation)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  5. Discovering Cooperation: A Theory of Endogenous Institutional Change in International Organizations
    Tobias Lenz (Speaker)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

View all activities

Press / Media

  1. O-Ton zum Thema Nawalny/ Russland
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  2. Die Europäische Union: Ein Modell unter Druck
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  3. Politikwissenschaftler Lenz über Krisen der EU
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  4. Die Gemeinschaft Südostasiatischer Staaten: Interview mit Tobias Lenz
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

View all press/media coverage

Prizes

  1. Lehrpreis der Fakultät für Sozialwissenschaften
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Education

  2. Postdoktoranden-Stipendium
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  3. Max Weber fellowship
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  4. European Union fellow am Colorado European Union Center of Excellence
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  5. Pre-doctoral fellow an der Kolleg-Forschergruppe „The Transformative Power of Europe“
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

View all prizes

Courses

BA - Kolloquium
Tobias Lenz
Das Kolloquium bietet eine Orientierung für Studierende, die ihre Bachelorarbeit schreiben. Die Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer erhalten die Möglichkeit, ihr eigenes Vorhaben vorzustellen und zu diskutieren. Besprochen werden darüber hinaus Fragen im Zusammenhang mit der Bachelorarbeit (Themenfindung, Fragestellung, Theorie, Aufbau, Formalia, Zeitmanagement und Motivation, häufige Fehler).

LITERATUR
Thomas Plümper, Effizient schreiben, 3. Aufl., München: Oldenbourg 2012.
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-10-12 at 16:15
Room: C 7.319 Seminarraum
Qualitative content analysis and legitimacy in international relations
Tobias Lenz
Dieses Lehrforschungsprojekt befasst sich mit der Frage, wie ausgewählte Strukturen, Prozesse und Ergebnisse der (internationalen) Politik von den handelnden Akteur:innen gerechtfertigt, d.h. gegenüber wichtigen Akteuren begründet, also legitimiert werden. Dabei geht es weniger um die normative Frage, ob Strukturen, Prozesse und Ergebnisse grundsätzlich legitimierbar sind bzw. wie sie idealerweise legitimiert werden sollten. Das ist weitgehend der Gegenstand der politischen Theorie. Stattdessen wollen wir wissen, wie sie tatsächlich legitimiert werden. Dazu erstellen Sie in kleinen Forschungsgruppen (3-4 Teilnehmer:innen) eigenständig eine empirische Analyse von Legitimationsmustern in einem ausgewählten Bereich der Politikwissenschaft bzw. internationalen Beziehungen unter Verwendung der Methode der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse.

Das Seminar gliedert sich in vier Teile, die Sie bei der schrittweisen Planung und Erstellung der Analyse unterstützen. Zu Beginn des Semesters verschaffen wir uns einen Überblick über die zentralen Konzepte und theoretischen Ansätze der politikwissenschaftlichen Analyse von Legitimationsmustern. Im zweiten Teil geht es um die Grundlagen von Forschungsdesign und und die Methode der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse. Im dritten Teil widmen wir uns der Erstellung eines Kodierleitfadens und im abschließenden Teil stellen Sie Ihre Ergebnisse der Seminargruppe vor.
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-10-12 at 12:15
Room: C 5.019 Seminarraum
The liberal international order under pressure
Tobias Lenz
Pundits and scholars alike agree that the liberal international order (LIO) is in crisis, maybe even in decline. Two reasons are argued to be at the root of this crisis: power shifts towards states with less liberal visions of liberal order and the rise of populist parties that contest core tenets of liberalism within core liberal states. This English-speaking seminar will examine the "decline thesis" through an in-depth reading and discussion of seminal texts. Topics of discussion include: the nature of the LIO and its historical genesis; the current state of the LIO and the causes of its alleged decline; alternative visions of world order; and contemporary struggles over world order in selected issue areas.
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-10-12 at 10:15
Room: C 7.013 Seminarraum