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. 2023
  2. Published

    Special Issue of "Behemoth: A Journal on Civilisation" 16(1): Polizeiliche Performanzen von Gewalt (2023)

    Fink, F. (Editor) & Kretschmann, A. (Editor), 2023, Freiburg: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. 85 p. (Behemoth: A Journal on Civilisation; vol. 16, no. 1)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesSpecial Journal issueResearch

  3. Accepted/In press

    Testierfähigkeit (§ 2229 BGB)

    Boosfeld, K., 2023, (Accepted/In press) Historisch-kritischer Kommentar zum BGB. Schmoeckel, M., Zimmermann, R. & Rückert, J. (eds.). Mohr Siebeck GmbH and Co. KG

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions in collection of commentariesTransfer

  4. Published

    The Cool Water Effect: The Origin of Humankind's Emancipatory Turn

    Welzel, C., Kruse, S., Brunkert, L. & Brieger, S. A., 2023, 390 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  5. Published

    The rise and fall of GMOs in politics: party positions and mainstream party behaviour in Western Europe

    Schwörer, J., Vidal, X. R. & Vallejo, S. M., 2023, In: Environmental Sociology. 9, 1, p. 93-106 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    The rubber brick’s story: A cultural sociology of policing protest in Europe

    Kretschmann, A., 2023, In: European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology. 10, 2, p. 233 - 257 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Accepted/In press

    Widerruf des Testaments (§ 2253–2258 BGB),

    Boosfeld, K., 2023, (Accepted/In press) Historisch-kritischer Kommentar zum BGB. Schmoeckel, M., Zimmermann, R. & Rückert, J. (eds.). Mohr Siebeck GmbH and Co. KG

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions in collection of commentariesTransfer

  8. 2022
  9. Published

    Understanding european union law

    Davies, K., van Munster, M. & Düsterhöft, I., 30.12.2022, 8. Auflage ed. Taylor and Francis Inc. 227 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  10. Published

    The First 50 Contributions to the Data Observer Series - An Overview

    Wagner, J., 16.12.2022, In: Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik. 242, 5-6, p. 707-712 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  11. Published

    EU Policymaking at a Crossroads

    Heinelt, H. (Editor) & Münch, S. (Editor), 08.12.2022, Edward Elgar Publishing. 284 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  12. Published

    The EU at a crossroads. Negotiations about the multiannual financial framework 2021-2027: Introduction to the book

    Heinelt, H. & Münch, S., 08.12.2022, EU Policymaking at a Crossroads. Münch, S. & Heinelt, H. (eds.). Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 2-29 28 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review