Course Schedule

Veranstaltungen von Sarah Engler


Lehrveranstaltungen

European party systems from a comparative perspective (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Sarah Engler

Termin:
 wöchentlich | Donnerstag | 14:15 - 15:45 | 13.10.2025 - 30.01.2026 | C 14.202 Seminarraum

Inhalt: The seminar offers an overview of party systems in the old and new democracies of Europe. While the first part of the seminar deals with theories on political divides, party strategies, and voting behavior that have mainly emerged from a look at Western European democracies, the second part of the course focuses on party competition in Central and Eastern Europe. Core questions that we cover in this seminar among others: How can we understand and conceptualize political divides and to what extent do they differ across countries? How can we explain the success of green and populist radical right parties and the mainstream parties' reaction towards them? To what extent does the authoritarian past of post-communist countries still matter in party politics today? Is political competition always programmatic, or what other strategies do parties apply to attract voters?

Applied statistics: Citizens' conceptions of (an ideal) democracy and how to measure it (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Sarah Engler

Termin:
 wöchentlich | Montag | 14:15 - 15:45 | 13.10.2025 - 30.01.2026 | C 14.103 Seminarraum

Inhalt: What do people mean when they talk about democracy? Is it just free and fair elections or do they want more? Do all citizens understand the same when talking about democracy, and if not, why do they differ? In this class, we look at these questions first from a theoretical perspective, and then students explore them empirically by analysing individual survey data of the European Social Survey. The ESS asks respondents what they consider to be important for a democracy, and how they evaluate the state of democracy in their country looking at those aspects. Students will work with the statistical program STATA to explore these questions.

Democracy and Democratization in Post-Communist Europe (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Sarah Engler

Termin:
 wöchentlich | Donnerstag | 12:15 - 13:45 | 13.10.2025 - 30.01.2026 | C 14.203 Seminarraum

Inhalt: In this course, we take a look at the current state of democracy in post-communist Europe and the path that led to it. We learn which factors helped or hindered democratic progress and how these factors relate to theories of democratization in other regions. What role did external actors, such as the EU, have in democratic consolidation? How can we explain the large differences between the quality of democracy in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic? In the second part, we turn to the process of democratic consolidation. We explore how authoritarian legacies shaped party systems and elections, how EU accession affected democratic quality and we look at the rising political disillusionment, democratic skepticism, and the emergence of illiberal politics. In the third and final part, we analyze the recent wave of autocratization and its implications for the future of democracy in Europe. We discuss polarization as both a driver and consequence of backsliding, examine how citizens and the EU respond to democratic erosion, and ask whether democratic recovery is possible after illiberal rule. The class is structured in three thematic parts: (I) Theories of democratization (II) Democratic consolidation in Central and Eastern Europe (III) Democratic backsliding. We critically engage with the literature, discuss the theoretical and empirical approaches in detail and look at contemporary events and phenomena that are related to the research questions of the readings.

Research Seminar in Democracy Studies (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Sarah Engler

Termin:
 wöchentlich | Montag | 10:15 - 11:45 | 13.10.2025 - 30.01.2026 | C 7.019 Seminarraum

Inhalt: This class requires regular attendance in-person due to the format of the assignments. Online participation or non-regular attendance is not possible. In this course, students conduct a research project the field of democracy studies (building on the theories and concepts learned in the Module "Institutions of Democracy"). After some input sessions about research designs with a particular focus on democracy research, students identify a relevant research question which they will try to answer in the research project. The research project includes the elaboration and concretization of the research question and the theoretical framework, the elaboration of a research design, the collection of data, their processing, as well as the actual data analysis. The lecturer provides input sessions on comparative methods and accompanies the students' individual research projects. In addition, the participants give each other feedback on their research projects. The students present the project idea at the beginning and their empirical results at the end of the semester. Eventually, they report on their research project in form of a research paper.