Research Priorities
Due to its size, the department's research covers a broad range of the themes across the dsicpline. In the coming years there will be particular focus on four transversal research priorities: Democracy Studies, Digitalization, International Cooperation, Inequality and distributive politics.
Keynote lectures - Transversal Research Priorities
On the following webpage, you will find an overview of our current and completed research projects.
Democracy Studies
Our research on democracy addresses the processes of democratization, current tendencies towards autocratization, as well as the determinants, functioning, and consequences of democratic institutions, processes and policies. Our focus is both on the aggregate regime level and the political behavior of citizens in these regimes, and addresses the role of intermediary organizations in the interplay between the two. We place special emphasis on the relationship between democracy, development, and international relations.
Digitalization
Digitalization refers to the increasing use and spread of digital technologies in all areas of society. We study how digitalization impacts political actors, processes, decisions, power relations, and political-economic outcomes, as well as the ways in which politics shape digitalization.
International Cooperation
We study determinants, processes and outcomes of international cooperation and conflict, of international and supranational political (dis)integration, as well as the political determinants and consequences of economic international cooperation. Our research on international cooperation also encompasses studying the implications of international cooperation and conflict for domestic politics.
Inequality and distributive politics
Inequality refers to the unequal distribution of resources - including material resources, but also rights, risks and opportunities - between individuals, groups, or countries. We study the political processes that lead to the allocation and redistribution of these resources, as well as the implications of (un)equal distributions for political actors, processes, decisions, and outcomes at the aggregate and the individual levels.