WZB - Berlin Social Science Center

Donald Trump’s presidency did not come out of the blue. Trumpist ideology can be neatly slotted into the history of American democracy. It is held up by the pillars of nationalism, evangelical Christianity, and an emphasis on ethnic identity, each of which is deeply rooted in the traditions and history of the United States, as Peter J. Katzenstein argues.

On June 19, 800 guests gathered at the Pierre-Boulez Saal for a grand celebration of the WZB’s 50th anniversary. Highlights included the world premiere of Jörg Widmann’s new piece, Labyrinth IV, as well as a performance by children from the art lab S27.

Anything you can do, I can do better: New research shows we aim higher when we observe our peers being ambitious. In the first ever laboratory experiment to investigate the peer effects of ambition, WZB researchers reveal how we adjust our own goals to match those of our peers, with important implications for educational outcomes and social mobility.

A new research project is investigating how democracies control intelligence services in their use of digital and transnational surveillance. GUARDINT is an international collaboration between the WZB, the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV), Sciences Po in Paris, King’s College London, and Lyon 3 University.

A new study by Marc Helbling and Daniel Meierrieks shows that climate change refugees are accepted by the public in Germany at a far higher rate than economic refugees.