Comparative Government
Torsten Oppelland, apl. Prof. Dr
Ines Schildhauer
Research Focuses
- Democratic regimes and the conditions for their stability
- Autocratic and hybrid regimes
- Parties and party systems on regional, national and European level
- Political cultures and politics of memory
- Subnational government and federalism
Outline of the subdivision
Comparison is a method, not a content. At many universities, the term “comparative politics” developed into a synonym for comparing policies and their consequences; not in Jena though. We intentionally use the term “comparative government” to emphasize, that polities are in the focus of our teaching and research, with an emphasis on comparing political parties, party systems, political cultures, and federalism. This may seem like a very traditional approach at the first glance but a growing bulk of academic literature on “how democracies die” proves that it is not only a modern but also a necessary approach.