Research in Pillar 2: Governance, Institutional Change, and Civic Involvement in a Transnational Context

Research in Pillar 2 combines sociological, political science, and economic perspectives on individual, group, and institutional responses to globalization, Europeanization, and other processes of transnationalization. Doctoral candidates will be able to receive specialised supervision on the following topics:

• the challenges of globalization and Europeanization to democratic citizenship and representation;
• problems of credible commitment, compliance, transaction costs, trust, and democratic accountability in systems of multi-level governing;
• individual answers to political, economic, and social developments emanating from beyond the boundaries of the nation state;
• the adjustment of national institutions and systems of interest mediation; 
• the emergence of transnational norms and actors;
• the development of international organizations and institutions.

Externally funded research projects associated with Pillar 2 include, among others,

• the DFG Research Training Group (Graduiertenkolleg) "Markets and Social Systems in Europe";
• a DFG funded project on  attitudes on foreign and security policy in Germany and the United States.
• the DFG funded project "Theory of International Organisations and the United Nations Security Council"
• a NORFACE research grant for the study of " Temporary Migration, Integration and the Role of Policies"
• a NORFACE research grant for the study of "Causes and Consequences of Socio-Cultural Integration Processes among New Immigrants in Europe".

For more information on research projects, please visit the personal pages of our principal investigators.