School of Public Affairs

Organisational unit: Research School

Organisation profile

Leuphana School of Public Affairs is the academic and professional home to 1.000 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral students and 31 professors. 30 research associates and 17 professional staff members are working for us.

The main themes of the school are reflected in its study programs: The School of Public Affairs is currently responsible for three Majors and four Minors at Leuphana College, five Master’s programmes and five Doctoral research groups at Leuphana Graduate School as well as five continuing education Master's programmes at Leuphana Professional School. As a novelty in Germany, the Master of Law offers students the opportunity to obtain both a Master's degree in law (LL.M.) as well as the state law examination. With its emphasis on "Law in Context", this model degree programme transcends a classic-dogmatic perspective of jurisprudence by presenting the relevant contents from civil law, public law and criminal law against the backdrop of current societal challenges and transformations. 

Main research areas

Leuphana School of Public Affairs brings together the disciplines of Political Science, Law, and Economics under one roof. With 31 professorships, it establishes an innovative profile in Germany on issues of public affairs, gaining both national and international visibility and academic reputation.

The School conducts research on the major transformations of our time and thus continues to develop its existing research agenda on the future of democracy, evidence-based political decision-making and law in the context of societal transformation. In an interdisciplinary collaborative endeavour, the three subjects will, among other things, answer pressing questions about

  • the legitimacy and performance of democracies, whose integrative power is under threat, especially in light of recent upheavals in politics and society,
  • the role of the state with regard to the relationship between private-law and public-law regulation,
  • the justification of governmental intervention into market processes and their ex-post evaluation.
  1. Published

    The Power Politics of International Tax Cooperation: Why Luxembourg and Austria accepted automatic exchange of information on foreign account holders' interest income

    Hakelberg, L., 2014, San Domenico di Fiesole: European University Institute, 16 p. (EUI Working Papers; vol. 2014, no. 26).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  2. Published

    The Power to Resist: Mobilization and the Logic of Terrorist Attacks in Civil War

    Polo, S. M. T. & González, B., 01.11.2020, In: Comparative Political Studies. 53, 13, p. 2029-2060 32 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    The Price of Democracy. How Money Shapes Politics and What to Do about It.

    Leipold, A., 09.2020, In: Politische Vierteljahresschrift. 61, 3, p. 655-658 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsCritical reviewsResearch

  4. Published

    The principle of unjust enrichment

    Schall, A., 2025, Walter de Gruyter GmbH. 362 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  5. Published

    The principles of international space law and their relevance to space industry contracts

    Smith, L. J., 01.01.2013, Contracting for Space: Contract Practice in the European Space Sector. Smith, L. J. & Baumann, I. (eds.). Ashgate Publishing Limited, p. 45-58 14 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  6. Published

    The Principles of Public International Law and their Influence on Space Contracts

    Smith, L. J., 2011, Contracting for Space: Contract Practice in the European Space Sector. Smith, L. J. & Baumann, I. (eds.). Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, p. 45-58 14 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch

  7. Published

    The Quality of the KombiFiD-Sample of Business Services Enterprises: Evidence from a Replication Study

    Wagner, J. & Vogel, A., 01.2012, Lüneburg: Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg, 19 p. (Working Paper Series in Economics; no. 226).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  8. Published

    The Quality of the KombiFiD-Sample of Business Services Enterprises: Evidence from a Replication Study

    Vogel, A. & Wagner, J., 2012, In: Journal of Contextual Economics (JCE) - Schmollers Jahrbuch. 132, 3, p. 393-403 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    The Quality of the KombiFiD-Sample of Enterprises from Manufacturing Industries: Evidence from a Replication Study

    Wagner, J., 2012, In: Journal of Contextual Economics (JCE) - Schmollers Jahrbuch. 132, 3, p. 379-392 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    The Quality of the KombiFiD-Sample of Enterprises from Manufacturing Industries: Evidence from a Replication Study

    Wagner, J., 11.2011, Lüneburg: Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg, 23 p. (Working Paper Series in Economics; no. 217).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers