We research and teach on topics of (German) domestic politics and political sociology. This includes, above all, election, attitude and party research. A particular focus of our department are the areas of right-wing extremism, right-wing radicalism and right-wing populism.

Funding:
Head: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Kai Arzheimer
Employees: René Selbach

In the project "INSIDER - INner Security and DEmocratic Resilience. Conditions and interactions of police action in a pluralistic society", research teams from the universities of Trier and Mainz from the fields of political science, sociology and psychology are investigating the relationship between the police and society in Rhineland-Palatinate.

Specifically, the political science sub-project is concerned with the question of the extent to which political attitudes and value orientations of police officers differ from those of the general population and the extent to which work-related and other factors can influence these attitudes. To this end, two standardized, computer-assisted surveys of all members of the police force in Rhineland-Palatinate are planned. In addition to police officers, civil servants and salaried employees in the administration of the police headquarters will also be surveyed.

The aim of the entire project is to provide concrete recommendations on how to prevent prejudices among police officers and social groups. To this end, the research findings are to be used in the training of police officers. The research center of the Rhineland-Palatinate Police University is supporting the three-year study. The study is funded by the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior and Sport.

Head in Mainz: Dr. Jasmin Fitzpatrick

Against the backdrop of various crises (democratic, security, immigration, and climate change) marked by a continuing high level of mistrust of politics and the traditional media, are digital tools - particularly social networks - gaining in importance and influence during elections? Against the backdrop of a fast-changing online campaigning environment, increased mis/dis-information and AI generated content, this project explores the influence of digital and legacy media on the attitudes and electoral behavior of the citizenry in the 2024 European Parliamentary Elections across eight European countries.

To do so, the project conducts an online post-election survey examining the persistent role and importance of traditional drivers of electoral participation and choice (age, socio-professional category, gender, level of education, wealth, relationship to religion). It also looks at the influence of the (digital and legacy) media and digital campaign on the political efficacy and voting behavior of citizens. In order to answer these questions, an online survey was carried out among a representative sample of the population in seven European countries in the weeks following the election (10/06/2024 onwards). This post-election national survey will be used for both scientific publications and popular dissemination, particularly in the media. Once the main outputs have been published, the research data will then be made available to the scientific community via a data warehouse that complies with FAIR principles, as part of an open science approach.

Head: Dr. Alexandru Filip

Dr. Alexandru Filip has in the past worked on the topic of Euroscepticism as well as researching the so-called globalization trilemma: the degree to which countries can balance and pursue all three aspects - national sovereignty, liberal democracy and globalization.

In his previous work, Dr. Filip has explored trends in so-called "Euroseptic contagion", describing the way in which the success of Eurosceptic parties can influence mainstream party behavior. Further work in this area of research has also examined the way in which inclusive and exclusive identity characteristics explain individuals' propensity to support radical political parties. During his time at the Hertie School of Governance, Dr. Filip worked to describe the extent to which countries manage to navigate the often contradictory pursuit of national sovereignty, the protection of social cohesion, the preservation of liberal democracy, and the commitment to economic globalization. His work mapped the social, political and economic pressures countries face according to the aforementioned "globalization paradox" and their consequences.

In the coming year, Mr. Filip will be working on a series of articles exploring the dynamics of party/vote switching as well as examining (and comparing) the constituencies associated with these trends in more detail.

The moderate mainstream parties are experiencing a decline in voter support as more and more of their electorate is turning away from politics, be it because of globalization, immigration, rising inequality, the environment, general apathy and disenchantment with parties. However, significant parts of this electorate are not leaving the political stage, but are instead giving their vote to political actors outside the established mainstream, such as the far right, green parties or new social liberal parties.

However, these voters and voter groups are diverse and vary in their motivations, as do the (target) parties they vote for". This research agenda will examine which of these different groups of voters defect to which other parties (and explore the issues that cause such shifts), and examine the socio-demographic, economic, cultural and ideational characteristics of these party-switching dynamics.

Funding institution: COST Association /EU

Head in Mainz: Dr. Jasmin Fitzpatrick (Vice Chair of the COST Action)

The RELINK2 Action will intensify existing networking efforts of scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds and countries in the EU and beyond, to address two problems:

(1) How can democracies regain legitimacy and rebuild the link between representative institutions and citizens using the benefits of digital technologies?

(2) How can political organizations connect with digitally marginalised but politically active groups (the elderly) and with digitally active but politically marginalized ones (young citizens)?

In this regard, RELINK2 aims to find answers to three research gaps: a) the main organisational consequences of the digital transformation and their impact on re-linkage strategies, b) effectiveness of digital transformations in re-connecting intermediary structures with society, c) implementation of political organizations' re-linking strategies to marginalized groups based on responsible use of digital tools. This requires an interdisciplinary and coordinated analytical framework.

The network will tackle challenges through research coordination objectives. Four Working Groups will be formed to bring in expertise on: 1) theoretical and 2) methodological challenges, 3) empirical analysis, 4) engagement and dissemination.

RELINK2 will provide new opportunities to strengthen the career development of specific target groups and disseminate knowledge to countries and political organizations with less capacity in the field of the Action.

The practical implication of the Action is to create impact beyond the network. RELINK2 will develop a strong cooperation with stakeholders to integrate a non-academic point of view, identify good practices, and prepare recommendations. The Action aims to meet its objectives through a knowledge production and exchange with relevant stakeholders.

Head: René Selbach, M.A.

While party identification is considered one of the strongest determinants to explain voting decisions in general, it has long been underestimated, if not ignored, when it comes to researching voting behavior in favor of radical right-wing populist parties. More recent studies emphasize the importance of party identification by arguing that a lack of identification with established parties or even negative attitudes towards these parties are necessary preconditions for voting for populist parties. In Western Europe, however, it is the radical right-wing populist party family that experiences the greatest rejection among the population. In contrast to the group of voters of radical right-wing populist parties, the large group of those who have negative attitudes towards a radical right-wing populist party is likely to be very heterogeneous. Although voter heterogeneity is well known in the literature, it is rarely adequately modeled. The aim of the dissertation project is therefore to combine the state of research on negative party identification and voter heterogeneity in the context of research on voting behavior and radical right-wing populist parties in order to answer the following questions: What factors lead to negative party identification towards right-wing populist parties, to what extent does the strength of the factors vary between different subgroups of the electorate, and what are the consequences of negative party identification towards radical right-wing populist parties for voting behavior in general? To answer these questions, representative survey data will be analyzed using advanced analytical techniques such as multiple group comparisons and structural equation modeling.

Electoral Integrity in Germany: A Reassessment of the Quality of Democratic Elections from the Citizens' Perspective

Head: Dr. Paula Windecker (doctoral project)

The scientific concept used to determine the quality of elections is called electoral integrity. Existing research relies primarily on expert surveys and focuses on defective democracies and semi-democratic systems to measure electoral integrity and assess its determinants and consequences. Instruments that measure electoral integrity from the perspective of the population are less sophisticated and often have considerable weaknesses. Furthermore, there is no consensus on the definition of electoral integrity, which further calls into question the validity of existing measurement instruments. It therefore remains unclear how citizens perceive electoral integrity, especially in established democracies where experts usually rate electoral integrity very highly.

Campaigns by populist initiatives and parties, as well as technical and human failures related to the conduct of elections, together with developments that can be observed in Germany and other established Western democracies, such as strong vote losses for established parties, social polarization, disenchantment with politics and the use of new, alternative forms of participation, could be reflected in more differentiated and possibly more ambivalent assessments of electoral integrity by the population than expert judgements suggest. This makes Germany, as a prime example of a high degree of electoral integrity in expert representations, an exciting case for my project. How does the German population perceive electoral integrity? The aim of my dissertation project is to make these assessments visible in all their differentiation with the help of a new measuring instrument. The starting point is a critical evaluation of the concept and the prevailing definition of electoral integrity before a new measurement instrument is developed, empirically tested and applied. Both classic survey research methods and survey experiments are used in the process

Political parties in the context of technological change

Dr. Jasmin Fitzpatrick (habilitation project)

Technological achievements change human coexistence. In the political science debate, the focus can be on how technologies change processes such as elections or voting. However, technologies can also be the subject of political science issues. Technologies polarize not only within societies when it comes to ethical standards regarding their use. There is also a constant need for discussion and research with regard to their universal availability, as this is directly linked to questions of inequality and justice (e.g. O'Neil 2017, Eubanks 2018).

Since the 1960s, a social science research field has been dealing with the diffusion of innovations (Rogers 2003), covering various areas of technological developments (e.g. also the diffusion of fertilizers in agriculture). The present research programme takes a meso perspective by focusing on adaptation processes of political organizations. Technological change is considered in two facets: (1) digitalization processes of political parties and (2) reactions of political actors to technological change. These facets focus on different areas of political science and address questions within these that form the basis of the submitted papers.

The following courses are offered by the research unit in the current semester: