FernUni spezial

State and governance under the conditions of a changing statehood are the aspects upon which research as well as teaching activities are focused in our Chair I 'State and Governance' . Special attention is paid to the Federal Republic of Germany and the European Union as well as to the specific system of multi-level-governance which results from their mutual connections This implies an analytical emphasis on institutional structures in the tradition of government and administration research. This focus, however, is complemented by a perspective centred on actors and processes in accordance with the approaches of modern governance-research.

Governance is understood to stand for forms of interaction and coordination between actors within the state, between state and society and between the local, regional, national and European levels. Different modes of exchange, negotiation, enforcement or binding (obligatory) regulation of interests characterise the process of governing in the parliamentary and federal system of Germany, which is integrated in the multi-level system of the European Union.

The Research Interests in our chair are focused on diverse aspects of modern governance in a changing state. Our research projects investigate problems of the changing nature of statehood; of governance in the multi-level systems of Germany and the EU; of constitutional reform; and of conditions and changes of democratic government.

The teaching activities in this chair contribute mainly to supporting the Bachelor-Programme (BA) 'Politics and Administration' as well as the Master-Programme (MA) ‘Governance’. Modules in those study programmes supervised by this chair range from the Political System of Germany and the EU over Government and Administration to Governance as well as Federalism and Multi-Level Systems. Beside the BA- and MA-programmes, teaching activities in this division contribute also to the traditional Magister Artium-Programme (M.A.) in Political Science (major or minor subject) in the sections Political System of Germany in the EU; Democracy; Parties and Interest Mediation; and substantial parts of Political Theory. Training in Empirical Research Methodology in political science is currently located also in this chair.

Deutsche Version

FernUniversität in Hagen, Department of Political Science, 58084 Hagen