Research Groups

Ours is an innovative and diverse research programme and range of courses that bring together our interests in social science research methods, and evidence-based policy advice.

- Climate governance and finance
- Democratic challenges, democratic innovations, and political trust
- European politics and external relations
- Conflict, peace and protests

see below

We share a keen interest in addressing some of the most important challenges of a globalising and digitising world. At the heart of our scholarship in research and teaching is the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) https://sdgs.un.org/goals, in particular No. 16 'Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions', No. 13 'Climate Action', No. 7 'Affordable and Clean Energy', and No. 4 'Quality Education'. Ongoing research projects investigate the determinants and policy implications of citizen participation in UN human rights complaints mechanisms; examine the institutional foundations of industrialisation, financialization and globalisation of the Swiss economy; determine the role of telecommunications ownership in censoring access to Internet services; and examine how the images associated with European democracy promotion shape the policies of the European Union, among others. This research is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF); the European Commission (Horizon Europe); the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI); and the University of St. Gallen.

We are committed to a modern understanding of comparative political science. In response to the increasing interconnectedness of politics, societies, economies and markets, this understanding recognises and systematically examines all forms of political authority, as well as their interactions and entanglements.

Our work uses a variety of qualitative and quantitative research techniques, including interviews, survey experiments, state-of-the-art statistical techniques (e.g., statistical simulations, propensity score matching) and involves the collection of original data. We are committed to serious, ethically responsible fieldwork.

We are committed to minimising our environmental footprint. To achieve this goal, we have agreed on the these measures.

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