Political Sociology

The seminar will generally deepen central aspects of European research from the perspective of political sociology. Important sub-areas will be introduced and analyzed in order to illustrate them with empirical examples from Europe. This semester's seminar offers a problem-oriented insight into four selected areas of political sociology. Students will first receive a basic introduction to the sub-discipline as well as its data and methods.

The rest of the course is divided into four thematic blocks:

  1. political participation and protest research,
  2. voting behavior,
  3. political attitudes,
  4. political communication.

For each subject area, students will first gain an overview of fundamental theories and problem areas through independent reading and joint discussion of seminal texts. The central findings are then examined. Finally, we deal in detail with empirical studies from the respective field. Finally, we will prepare for the term paper.

Course no. 159324 at LSF (German)

Course no. 159325 at LSF (English)

© Universität des Saarlandes

Dozent: Philipp König, M.A.

Philipp König ist Politikwissenschaftler und seit 2023 wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter und Doktorand bei Prof. Dr. Daniela Braun und arbeitet im Nachwuchskolleg Europa am CEUS – Cluster für Europaforschung der Universität des Saarlandes. Nach seinem Studium der Integrativen Sozialwissenschaft an der Technischen Universität Kaiserslautern arbeitete er als wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter an der TU Kaiserslautern im Verbundprojekt „Bildung als Exponent individueller und regionaler Entwicklung" und anschließend im Fachgebiet Politikwissenschaft III Policy Analyse & Politische Ökonomie. Zuletzt arbeitete er als wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter im Projekt „EUNIDES - Europäische und nationale Identifikation: Ursachen, Formen und Folgen für Solidarisierung und Entsolidarisierung" am Institut für Politikwissenschaft der Philipps-Universität Marburg.

 

 
Porträt Alex Hartland
© Universität des Saarlandes

Lecturer: Dr Alex Hartland

Dr Alex Hartland is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Political Science with a focus on European Integration and International Relations at Saarland University.

He completed his PhD at the University of Manchester, where he analysed the impact of lobbying and public opinion on asylum policy in Germany and the UK. Previously, he studied Intercultural Conflict Management at the Alice Salomon Hochschule in Berlin and Psychology at the University of Warwick.

His work focuses on political trust, interest groups and comparative European politics. He uses survey data, quantitative text analysis, experimental research designs and qualitative methods to investigate the role of institutions, lobbying and public opinion in politics and political behaviour.