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Current Research Projects

Political Legitimacy in Times of Crisis
Head
Dr. Heiko Giebler, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels
Staff
Dr. Constanza Sanhueza
Student assistant:, Sandra Horvath
Duration: December 2017 to December 2020
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research
Observatory of Political Texts in European Democracies (OPTED)
Head
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels, Prof. Dr. Swen Hutter
Duration: October 2020 - September 2023
Funding: Europäische Kommission
LATINNO: Innovations for Democracy in Latin America
Head
Thamy Pogrebinschi
Staff
Fátima Ávila Acosta, Melisa Ross, María Constanza Castro Orduña, Gisella Jacqueline Vogel Sánchez
Guest: Iná Chaves
Duration: December 2015 to May 2021
Funding: Open Society Foundation
GLES German Longitudinal Election Study, 2009-2021
Head
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels
Staff
Dr. Aiko Wagner, Dr. Heiko Giebler, Philippe Joly
Duration: January 2009 - June 2021
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)
The Manifesto Project
Head
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels
Staff
Tobias Burst, Dr. Pola Lehmann, Sven Regel, Dr. Andrea Volkens, Lisa Zehnter
Research Assistants: Leila van Rinsum, Paul Muscat, Student Assistants: Juliane Hanel, Leonie Schwichtenberg, Marvin Müller
Duration: October 1979 - unlimited
Funding: WZB since October 1989 and DFG since October 2009
Democracy Barometer
Head
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Merkel
Prof. Dr. Daniel Bochsler (Centre for Democracy Studies Aarau)
Staff
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels, Dr. Heiko Giebler
Marc Bühlmann (Universität Bern)
Duration: 2005-
Funding: NCCR Demokratie, University of Zurich, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation

Completed Research Projects

Critical Junctures and the Survival of Dictatorships. Explaining the Stability of Autocratic Regimes
Head
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Merkel
Staff
Dr. Alexander Schmotz, Dr. Johannes Gerschewski, Dag Tanneberg
Prof. Christoph Stefes, PhD
Duration: 2011-2014
Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DGF)
Digital Democracy in Latin America: How ICT-based innovations may improve democracy
Head
Thamy Pogrebinschi
Duration: July 2016 to August 2017
Funding: Porticus
European Social Survey Round 6
Staff
Dr. Sonia Alonso, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Merkel
Hanspeter Kriesi (University of Zurich), Leonardo Morlino (Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane), Pedro Maglhaes (Universidade de Lisboa), Mónica Ferrín (European University Institute), Mark Franklin (European University Institute), Mariano Torcal (Pompeu Fabra University), Braulio Gómez (Institute for Advanced Social Sciences), Alexander Trechsel (European University Institute), Radek Markowski (Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities), Todd Landmann (University of Essex)
Duration: July 2010 - September 2015
Funding: ESS
Bringing the Right back in. The Right and Democracy in Contemporary Latin America
Staff
Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser
Juan Pablo Luna
Duration: 2011
Funding: Fritz Thyssen Stiftung
The Ambivalence of Populism: Threat or Corrective for Democracy?
Staff
Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser
Cas Mudde
Duration: 2010
Funding: VolkswagenStiftung
The Political Sociology of Cosmopolitanism and Communitarianism
Head
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Merkel, Prof. Dr. Ruud Koopmans, Prof. Dr. Michael Zürn
Staff
Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser, Dr. Onawa Promise Lacewell, Prof. Dr. Céline Teney, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels, Prof. Dr. Pieter de Wilde
Duration: 2010-2014
Funding: WZB
Regional Manifestos Project
Staff
Dr. Sonia Alonso
Braulio Gómez (University of Deusto), Laura Cabeza (University of Deusto)
Duration: 2008-2015
Funding: Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain
PIREDEU Providing an Infrastructure for Research on Electoral Democracy in the European Union
Head
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels
Staff
Dr. Heiko Giebler
Duration: Januar 2008 - Dezember 2011
Funding: FP7 European Union
Democratic Innovation: Theoretical and Practical Challenges of Evaluation
Staff
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Merkel
Duration: 2008
Funding: Fritz Thyssen Stiftung/WZB
The Denationalization of Problem Perceptions and the Assignment of Responsibility to Political Institutions
Staff
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Merkel, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels
Duration: September 2007 - December 2008
Funding: WZB
The Future of Representative Democracies
Staff
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Merkel, Dr. Sonia Alonso
Duration: December 2007
Funding: European Science Foundation (ESF)
Crafting Ethnicity: Ethnic Political Mobilisation in Western Parliamentary Democracies and its Consequences for Democratic Accountability
Staff
Dr. Sonia Alonso
Duration: September 2005 - Summer 2008
Funding: WZB
The Challenge of Integration. Cultural Heterogeneity and Democracy in European Metropolises
Head
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Merkel
Christian Henkes, Álvaro Morcillo-Laiz, Anne Stuhler
Duration: January 2005 - March 2008
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)
Dritte Wege: Europa als Handlungsraum für sozialdemokratische Parteien und Regierungen
Staff
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Merkel, Dr. Alexander Petring
Christian Henkes
Duration: July 2005 - May 2006
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)
Members of Parliament Study 2003
Staff
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels
Duration: April 2003 - March 2004
Funding: WZB
Post-electoral Study of the Bundestag Elections 1998, 2002, 2005, and 2009
Head
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels
Herrmann Schmitt (Universität Mannheim, 1998-2005); seit 2009 im Rahmen von GLES
Duration: 1998 - unlimited
Funding: WZB and German Research Foundation (DFG)
The Consolidation of Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe
Staff
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Weßels, Prof. Dr. Hans-Dieter Klingemann
Edeltraud Roller
Duration: January 1998 - July 2003
Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)