Lecture Series: MICROFOUNDATIONS OF POLITICS
Social Preferences and Political Behavior
For a long time, empirical research in political science has been dominated by studies on the macro-level. However, all social phenomena result from motivations and actions of individual agents. This calls for theoretical explanations referring to individual behavior and empirical tests on the micro-level. The lecture series highlights the importance of micro-level-based research in political science and features a broad variety of theoretical and empirical approaches.
Past events
Summer term 2019
03.06.2019 (12:00-13:30) - Silja Häusermann (Universität Zürich)
Talk - "Rethinking welfare reform as the politics of trade-offs: conceptualization and measurement"
Location: Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Winter term 2018/2019
29.10.2018 (12:00-13:30) - Catherine de Vries (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Talk – „Remittances and Corruption“
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
12.11.2018 (9:00 - 16:30) - Simon Munzert (Hertie School of Governance, Berlin)
Workshop – “Web Scraping with R”
Tagungsraum, 106 Seminargebäude
10.12.2018 (12:00-13:30) - Silja Häusermann (Universität Zürich)
Talk – „Rethinking welfare reform as the politics of trade-offs: conceptualization and measurement“
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
17.12.2018 (12:00-13:30) – Johannes Münster (Universität zu Köln)
Talk – „Incumbency Dominance in Letters to the Editor: Field Experimental Evidence”
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Summer term 2018
29.05.2018 Tue. (14:00-15:30) Fabrizio Gilardi (University of Zurich)
Talk - "Policy Diffusion: The Issue-Definition Stage"
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
11.06.2018 Mo. (12:00-13:30) Paul Beckmann (CCCP)
Talk - "Patrimonial Economic Voting from a Dynamic Perspective in the UK: The case of homeownership and house price appreciation"
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
18.06.2018 Mo. (12:00-13:30) Joris Lammers (University of Cologne)
Talk - "Political Conservatism as Preference for the Past"
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
16.07.2018 Mo. (12:00-13:30) Holger Reinermann (CCCP, Universität Mainz)
Talk - "The structure of party competition and voter information processing"
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Organizing Committee:
Prof. Sven-Oliver Proksch, PhD
Dr. Sarah Berens
Dr. Bruno Castanho Silva
Paul Beckmann
Jens Wäckerle
Winter term 2017/2018
Aina Gallego (IBEI Barcelona)
“The legacies of violence on politics: Evidence from the Spanish Civil War”
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Gebäude 203, Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6, 50931 Köln
13.11.17 (12:00-13:30)
Felix Bierbrauer (Universität zu Köln)
“Politically feasible reforms of non-linear tax schedules”
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Gebäude 203, Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6, 50931 Köln
20.11.17 (12:00-13:30)
Jan Sauermann (CCCP)
"Fairness or Foresight: Why is Majority Rule Stable?"
27.11.17 (12:00-13:30)
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Gebäude 203, Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6, 50931 Köln
Molly Roberts (University of California San Diego)
“Reverse Engineering Censorship and Its Impact in China”
07.12.17 (14:00-15:30)
Pablo Barberá (University of Southern California)
“Estimating policy positions using Twitter data”
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Gebäude 203, Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6, 50931 Köln
18.12.17 (12:00-13:30)
Summer term 2017
15.05.17 (17:45-19:15) - Prof. Sven Steinmo, Ph.D. (European University Institute) (Talk)
Willing to Pay? Testing Institutionalist Theories with Experiments
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Gebäude 203, Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6, 50931 Köln
24.05.17 (10:00-13:00) - Macartan Humphreys (Columbia University/WZB)
Experiments (Short Course)
Seminarraum 1 Wiso Modulbau
24.05.17 (16:00-17:30) - Macartan Humphreys (Columbia University/WZB) (Talk)
Why are women more effective at collective action when they are working with other women?
(organized by ISS Research Seminar)
106 Seminargebäude - S24
29.05.17 (12:00-13:30) - Dr. Felix Bethke (CCCP) (Talk)
Pre-Analysis Plan: Does the causal inference we make depend on the research design we have? An experimental analysis into the determinants of causal reasoning
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Gebäude 203, Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6, 50931 Köln
12.06.17 (12:00-13:30) - Dr. Sarah Berens (CCCP) (Talk)
Pre-Analysis Plan: Formalization through Electricity? A field experiment on public utilities consumption and sustained compliance in Montevideo
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Gebäude 203, Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6, 50931 Köln
26.06.17 (12:00-13:30) - Bruno Castanho Silva (Central European University) (Talk)
One and the Same? Reassessing the Causal Relation between Political Trust and Support for Populists
(Internal workshop with Christina Zuber from 10:30-17:45)
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Gebäude 203, Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6, 50931 Köln
04.07.17 (10:00-14:00) - Richard Traunmüller (University of Mannheim & Goethe University Frankfurt)
Introduction to Bayesian Statistics (Short-Course)
Seminarraum 1 Wiso Modulbau
10.07.17 (12:00-13:30) - Sara Hobolt (LSE) (Talk)
The Mobilizing Effect of Political Choice
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Gebäude 203, Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6, 50931 Köln
17.07.17 (12:00-13:30) - Dr. Christopher Wratil (CCCP) (Talk)
Debates in the Council of the European Union (DICEU): A New Dataset
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
Gebäude 203, Gottfried-Keller-Str. 6, 50931 Köln
Winter term 2016/2017
Prof. Dr. Bernhard Kittel (Universität Wien) (Talk)
Empirical Justice Research: Institutions, Attitudes, and Behavior
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
29. November 2016, 17:45-19:15
Abstract
Justice research has moved from normative political theory to the empirical social sciences. Focusing on distributive justice, the presentation first addresses the comparative evaluation of welfare institutions from the perspective of their capacity to produce 'just' outcomes in a 'just' way. Then comparative survey research on justice perceptions and attitudes in the population is scrutinzed. Finally, experimental work on the manifestation of justice principles as social norms is explored. Taking justice as an example, the presentation will proceed by discussing the relationship between theory and method in macro-comparative research, comparative survey research, and laboratory experimental research. It will reflect on the way in which research questions are raised at different levels of analysis and ask questions about the ways in which specific questions imply particular methodological approaches. While addressing the same topic, studies set at different levels of analysis will observe different facets of the phenomenon.
Prof. Dr. Richard Traunmüller (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt) (Talk)
Muslim Demonstrations, Policy Decisions and Citizen's Response: Evidence From a Survey Experiment
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
25. Oktober 2016, 17:45-19:15
The CCCP lecture series 'Microfoundations of Politics - Social Preferences and Political Behavior' continued on October 25th with a talk by Prof. Dr. Richard Traunmüller (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main). Prof. Traunmüller presented the results of a survey experiment carried out in the UK which investigated the attitudes toward political rights of immigrant populations. His research reveals that citizens’ attitudes towards immigrants are not primarily the results of opinions about the incoming population but rather the reaction towards the policy response formulated by political elites. People with prior anti-immigration views respond to liberal policy responses such as granting fundamental political rights to migrants by increasing their disapproval of immigration in general. The results are of high relevance to current debates about immigration, policy responses and public opinion on the matter.
Summer term 2016
Dr. Anja Neundorf (University of Nottingham)
Does Material Hardship Affect Political Preferences? It Depends on the Political Context
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
14. Juni 2016, 17:45-19:15
The CCCP lecture series „Microfoundations of Politics – Social Preferences and Political Behavior“ started with Anja Neundorf’s (University of Nottingham) talk on the importance of political context for the formation of political preferences. In her presentation, Dr. Neundorf argued that material hardship only activates increased demand for redistribution and social security by the state when the political context is strongly polarized and parties offer policy alternatives that voters can relate to.
Dr. Eva Wegner (GIGA Institute Hamburg)
Efficacy, System Justification and the Political Choices of the Poor
Seminarraum 2 (Institutshörsaal) des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft
21. Juni 2016, 17:45-19:15
On June 21st, Dr. Eva Wegner (GIGA Hamburg) held the second talk in the CCCP lecture series 'Microfoundations of Politics - Social Preferences and Political Behavior', titled „Efficacy, System Justification and the Political Choices of the Poor“. The focus of her talk lay on a fascinating field experiment conducted in South Africa, varying participants' information about income inequality. Together with her colleagues, she finds that demand for redistribution is strongly affected by individuals' perception of how inevitable inequality is. This could explain why demand for redistribution tends to be low in very unequal societies, and how 'self-perpetuing' inequality can occur.