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

    Democratic representation in the EU: Two kinds of subjectivity

    Kröger, S. & Friedrich, D., 01.02.2013, In: Journal of European Public Policy. 20, 2, p. 171-189 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Democratic representation in transnational citizens’ forums?

    Friedrich, D., 01.01.2014, Political Representation in the European Union: Still Democratic in Times of Crisis?. Kröger, S. (ed.). Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 161-180 20 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  3. Published

    Democratic Stress and Political Institutions: Drives of Reforms of Bicameralism in Times of Crisis

    Vercesi, M., 2022, In: Representation. Journal of Representative Democracy. 58, 1, p. 85-102 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Democratization

    Haerpfer, C. W., Bernhagen, P., Welzel, C. P. & Inglehart, R., 12.2018, 2 ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 520 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  5. Published

    Democratization

    Welzel, C. P. (Editor), Bernhagen, P. (Editor), Haerpfer, C. W. (Editor) & Inglehart, R. (Editor), 2019, 2 ed. Oxford : Oxford University Press. 520 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  6. Published

    Demokratie bedarf der Empathie der Erzieher: die DVParl: eine Vereinigung kritischer Freunde des Parlamentarismus

    Thaysen, U., 2002, In: Politische Bildung. 35, 4, p. 144-148 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Demokratie, Demokratisierung und das Demokratische: Aufgaben und Zugänge der Politischen Bildung

    Haarmann, M. P. (Editor), Kenner, S. & Lange, D., 01.07.2020, Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH. 290 p. (Bürgerbewusstsein)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  8. Published

    Demokratie in der Einwanderungsgesellschaft

    Münch, S., 01.07.2020, Handbuch Demokratie. Kost, A., Massing, P. & Reiser, M. (eds.). Frankfurt: Wochenschau-Verlag, p. 247-260 14 p.

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

  9. Published
  10. Published

    Demokratie ohne Mehrheit? Die Volksparteien von gestern und der Parlamentarismus von morgen

    Koß, M., 18.03.2021, München: dtv Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. 270 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsTransfer