Fields of Research
The two main fields of my research are political theory and democratization studies.
In political theory, my works has primarily focused on the development of democratic theory between 18th and 20th century. In particular on theories that conceptualize democracy as a form of state organization (e.g., Montesquieu, Rousseau, The Federalist, Hegel, Weber) and theories that challenge this conceptualization (Marx, Luxemburg, Arendt, Mouffe/Laclau, Ranciere, Abensour).In addition, I have worked extensively on pragmatist theories of democracy and John Dewey’s contribution to modern political thought.
In democratization studies, my work has mostly analyzed constitution making processes and constitutional pratices in democratizing countries (e.g. Russian Federation, Turkish Republic, Weimar Germany). In more recent work I also study political parties and their potential role in future democratization processes and decision-making processes in citizens‘ assemblies.
Research Objects
Political ideas and concepts: democracy, autocracy, the people, (popular sovereigty), equality, constitution, separation of powers.
Institutions and practices: constitutions, laws, administrative action, judicial review, problem-solving, parties, citizens‘ assemblies.
Constitutions and constitutional courts: popular constitution-making, constituent assemblies, judicial social construction, hegemonic preservation.
Current research projects
Currently, I work on two projects. The first project explores theories of economic democracy. Broadly speaking, such theories argue that democratic principles and practices should be applied to economic relations and processes as well. The project begins with the assumption that a theory of economic democracy could be helpful in a political context were representative (liberal) democracy fails to solve problems that are largely produced in the economic sphere and citizens turn to self-professed populist leaders that provide simple solutions to complex problems.
In a second, transdisciplinary project that I currently conceptualize I undertake an empirical study of decision-making in citizens‘ assemblies. These bodies, often composed of randomly selected citizens that deliberate a specific policy problem or a broader politial issue, are identified in research on democratic innovations as promising institutions to overcome the disfunctionality of representative democracy and allow broader participation of citizens. I study the German citizens‘ assemblies that have been organized since 2019 and try to answer to what extent the decision-making process meets democratic standards and wheter or not these assemblies have contributed to a deepening of democracy in Germany.