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

    Introduction

    Smith, L. J., Baumann, I. & Wintermuth, S.-G., 09.06.2023, Routledge Handbook of Commercial Space Law. Smith, L. J., Baumann, I. & Wintermuth, S.-G. (eds.). Taylor and Francis Inc., 2 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksOtherResearch

  2. Published

    Legal aspects of ground-based infrastructure for space situational awareness

    Batura, O. & Peldszus, R., 09.06.2023, Routledge Handbook of Commercial Space Law. Smith, L. J., Baumann, I. & Wintermuth, S.-G. (eds.). Taylor and Francis Inc., p. 490-500 11 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  3. Published

    Expanding or defending legitimacy? Why international organizations intensify self-legitimation

    Schmidtke, H. & Lenz, T., 10.2024, In: Review of International Organizations. 19, 4, p. 753-784 32 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Life Satisfaction During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Human, Economic, Social, and Psychological Capital

    Delhey, J., Hess, S., Boehnke, K., Deutsch, F., Eichhorn, J., Kühnen, U. & Welzel, C., 10.2023, In: Journal of Happiness Studies. 24, 7, p. 2201-2222 22 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Market and network corruption: Theory and evidence

    Kravtsova, M. & Oshchepkov, A., 01.2024, In: Crime, Law and Social Change. 81, 1, p. 27-51 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Elements of Schwartz’s Model in the WVS: How Do They Relate to Other Cultural Models?

    Kaasa, A. & Welzel, C., 12.2023, In: Cross-Cultural Research. 57, 5, p. 431-471 41 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Climate Sceptics or Climate Nationalists? Understanding and Explaining Populist Radical Right Parties’ Positions towards Climate Change (1990–2022)

    Schwörer, J. & Fernández-García, B., 08.2024, In: Political Studies. 72, 3, p. 1178-1202 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Parlamentarische Minderheitenrechte in Zeiten der Polarisierung

    Koß, M., 01.06.2023, Mehrheit/Minderheit: Über ein notwendiges Strukturmerkmal des demokratischen Verfassungsstaats. Krüper, J. & Pilniok, A. (eds.). Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck Verlag, p. 73-95 23 p. (Beiträge zum Organisationsverfassungsrecht ; vol. 14).

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

  9. Published

    Leading indicators for the US housing market: New empirical evidence and thoughts about implications for risk managers and ESG investors

    Basse, T., Desmyter, S., Saft, D. & Wegener, C., 01.10.2023, In: International Review of Financial Analysis. 89, 12 p., 102765.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  10. E-pub ahead of print

    The Cool Water Effect: The Geo-Climatic Source of Western Exceptionalism

    Welzel, C., Kruse, S., Brunkert, L. & Brieger, S. A., 21.07.2025, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. 483 p. (Palgrave Studies in Maritime Politics and Security)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearchpeer-review