Chair of Political Sociology and Methods

Our team looks into the relationship between politics and the society from different perspectives. We are particularly interested in the attitudes and the behavior of political actors. More specifically, we examine the voting behavior in regional parliament elections, MPs’ deviation from the party line or the legislative process in policy areas like the development of rural areas. 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 makig.    

Currently we are on the one hand involved in a comparative project on the legislative behavior of MPs in European parliaments. This research focuses on causes and consequences of intraparty conflicts on the basis of parliamentary debates. On the other hand, agricultural policy and the development development of rural areas is a core research interest of the Junior Professorship. Here, the particular conditions of the rural region Western Pomerania provide a starting point for our research. Finally, we analyse different aspects of politics in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and the Baltic Sea regional policy.

Most of our teaching is in the area of political science research methods and the field of the German politics. Additionally, we offer courses for student teachers. In general we intend to reflect current research in our teaching.