Political cohesion under conditions of fiscal scarcity – German federalism in the time of COVID-19 (COVFED)

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kropp

Im Projekt wird untersucht, inwiefern die Parteien auf Bundes- und Landesebene die bundesstaatliche Ordnung in der Covid-19-Krise als Gelegenheitsstruktur für Opportunismus nutzen und welche politischen und institutionellen Sicherungen („safeguards“) dem entgegenstehen. // The project investigates the extent to which political parties leverage the federal order of government to employ opportunistic strategies in the Covid-19 crisis, and which political and institutional "safeguards" help to counteract these strategies.

Reusing qualitative data for automated text analysis. A dictionary for federalism research

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kropp, Dr. Antonios Souris, Dr. Jan Schwalbach

In diesem Projekt wird ein Wörterbuch („Dictionary“) erstellt, das für die automatisierte Textanalyse verwendet werden kann. Dieses Wörterbuch ermöglicht neue und relevante Forschungsprojekte in den Bereichen Föderalismus und Mehrebenenpolitik. // In this project, we aim to construct a profound dictionary which can be used for automated text analysis. This dictionary enables new and relevant research projects in the fields of federalism and multi-level politics.  

Legitimate crisis governance in multilevel systems (LEGITIMULT)

Dr. Johanna Schnabel

LEGITIMULT assesses the impact of the measures taken during the Covid-19 crisis on multilevel governance and intergovernmental relations in 31 European democracies (EU-27, plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and the UK).

Variationen von Governance in hybriden Regimen: Unternehmen, Staat und Zivilgesellschaft im heutigen Russland (GOVRUS)

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kropp, Prof. Dr. Katharina Bluhm, Prof. Dr. Claudius Wagemann

Im Projekt werden die Beziehungen zwischen Großunternehmen, staatlichen Akteuren und NPOs in mehreren russischen Regionen vor dem Hintergrund des zunehmenden Autoritarismus untersucht. // The project examines the relations between companies, state actors, and NPOs in Russian regions against the background of increasing authoritarianism.

Intergovernmental Coordination from Local to European Governance (IGCOORD)

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kropp, Dr. Johanna Schnabel, Dr. Antonios Souris, Dr. Marius Guderjan

ICGOORD is an interdisciplinary research network funded by the European Union (COST). It connects research communities from different academic backgrounds and countries working on intergovernmental coordination. ICGOORD specifically aims at collecting comparative evidence, understanding basic mechanisms and causal explanations, developing new collaborative research questions, and disseminating those insights and results to inform real-world policy-making.

Territorial Inequality in Education (TIE)

Freie Universität Berlin (Lead Institution)

Dr. Johanna Schnabel (Freie Universität Berlin), Dr. Anja Giudici (Cardiff University), Dr. Paolo Dardanelli (University of Kent)

01.01.2025 — 31.12.2026

Inequality is a major societal challenge. In the field of education, disparities affect a range out outcomes, including employment, health, and social cohesion. While previous research has focused on inequality among individuals, this project investigates territorial inequality in education, which refers to disparities in educational access, quality, and outcomes across territories. The project examines how the decentralization of education policy—the transfer of authority to regional or local governments—affects these inequalities.