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

    Who is responsible for corruption? Framing strategies of social movements in West Africa mobilizing against presidential term amendments

    Prause, L. & Wienkoop, N. K., 2017, In: Partecipazione e Conflitto. 10, 3, p. 850-873 24 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Who’s afraid of the articles on state responsibility

    Tams, C. J., 09.2023, Arbitration’s Age of Enlightenment?. Bull SC, C., Malintoppi, L. & Partasides KC, C. (eds.). Wolters Kluwer, p. 211-225 15 p. (ICCA congress series; vol. 21).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapter

  3. Published

    Why Abandon the Paradise? Stations’ Incentives to Reduce Gasoline Prices at First

    Wein, T., 01.12.2021, In: Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade. 21, 4, p. 465-504 40 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Why Being Democratic is Just Not Enough: The EU’s Governance Transfer

    van Hüllen, V. & Börzel, T. A., 01.2015, Governance Transfer by Regional Organizations: Patching Together a Global Script. Börzel, T. A. & van Hüllen, V. (eds.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 227-242 16 p. (Governance and Limited Statehood).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Why do German physicians reject managed care?

    Ehlert, A. & Oberschachtsiek, D., 01.01.2019, In: International Journal of Health Planning and Management. 34, 1, p. 87-99 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Why more West than East German firms export

    Wagner, J., 2007, Lüneburg: Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg, 13 p. (Working paper series in economics; no. 42).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  7. Published

    Why the future is democratic

    Welzel, C., 04.2021, In: Journal of Democracy. 32, 2, p. 132-144 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Why the Future Is (Still) Democratic

    Welzel, C., Kruse, S. & Brunkert, L., 01.01.2022, In: Journal of Democracy. 33, 1, p. 156-162 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Why women do not ask: Gender differences in fairness perceptions of own wages and subsequent wage growth

    Pfeifer, C. & Stephan, G., 29.03.2019, In: Cambridge Journal of Economics. 43, 2, p. 295-310 16 p., bey035.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published