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

    Governing new European democracies

    Blondel, J., Müller-Rommel, F. & Malovä, D., 2007, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 238 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  2. Published

    Governing Climate Change by Diffusion: Transnational Municipal Networks as Catalysts of Policy Spread

    Hakelberg, L., 2011, Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, 92 p. (FFU-Report; vol. 2011, no. 08).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  3. Published

    Governance Transfer by Regional Organizations: Following a Global Script?

    Börzel, T. A., van Hüllen, V. & Lohaus, M., 2013, Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, DFG Sonderforschungsbereich 700, 43 p. (SFB-Governance Working Paper Series; no. 42).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  4. Published

    Governance Transfer by Regional Organizations: Patching Together a Global Script

    Börzel, T. A. (Editor) & van Hüllen, V. (Editor), 2015, Palgrave Macmillan. 298 p. (Governance and Limited Statehood)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  5. Published

    Governancestrukturen in der Grenz- und Asylpolitik: starke europäische Agenturen, schwache mitgliedstaatliche Souveränität

    Dreyer-Plum, D. & Zaun, N., 2024, In: Integration. 47, 1, p. 4-20 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Governance approaches to address scale issues in biodiversity management – current situation and ways forward

    Mildorfová-Leventon, J., Newig, J., Schaal, T. & Velten, S., 2016, Lund: Lund University, 4 p. (MULTAGRI Policy Brief; no. 3/2016).

    Research output: Working paperResearch communication reportsTransfer

  7. Published

    Got Milk? How Freedoms Evolved From Dairying Climates

    Van de Vliert, E., Welzel, C., Shcherbak, A., Fischer, R. & Alexander, A., 01.08.2018, In: Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 49, 7, p. 1048-1065 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Good Governance

    Grotz, F., 2010, Lexikon der Politikwissenschaft: Bd. 1: A - M. Nohlen, D. & Schultze, R.-O. (eds.). München: C.H. Beck Verlag, p. 340-341 2 p. (Beck'sche Reihe; vol. 1463).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksArticles for encyclopediaTransfer

  9. Published

    Global Theories of Regionalism

    Iroulo, L. C. & Lenz, T., 07.12.2022, Handbook on Global Governance and Regionalism. Rüland, J. & Carrapatoso, A. (eds.). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 36-51 16 p. (Edward Elgar Handbooks).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  10. Published