Chair of Political Sociology and Methods of Political Science
Our team looks into the relationship between politics and the society from different perspectives. We are particularly interested in the attitudes and the behaviour of political players. More specifically, we examine the voting behaviour in state parliament elections, MPs’ deviation from the official party line or the legislative process in policy areas such as agriculture. In this research, it is always also about how the context – like media coverage or the respective electoral system – influence attitudes and patterns of decision making.
Currently, we are on the one hand involved in a comparative project on the legislative behaviour of MPs in European parliaments. This research focuses on causes and consequences of intra-party conflicts related to parliamentary debates. On the other hand, the Chair places emphasis on agricultural policy and the development of rural areas. Here, the specific conditions of the rural region Vorpommern provide a starting point for our research. Finally, we analyse different aspects of politics in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Baltic Sea region.
Most of our teaching looks into research methods in political science and the topic of “Politics in Germany”. Additionally, we offer courses for students training to become teachers. In general we intend to integrate current research in our teaching.
