2026
5th of November: Empirical Social Science Research Series – Much ado about nothing? Parliamentary Size, Intra-Party Competition, and Candidate Composition in Germany following Electoral System Reform (Lukas Rudolph)
In the third entry of our Empirical Social Science Research Series, Lukas Rudolph from the University of Konstanz presented his paper “Much ado about nothing? Parliamentary Size, Intra-Party Competition, and Candidate Composition in Germany following Electoral System Reform” (with Arndt Leininger, University of Hamburg, and Jochen Rehmert, University of Basel).
Abstract:
How does assembly size affect intra-party competition and descriptive representation? We investigate this question by examining Germany’s 2023 electoral reform, which significantly reduced its parliament’s size. The reform created two novel pressures: competition within parties for fewer viable list positions and the possibility of vacant districts. We use three original data sets to examine pre-registered expectations: high-resolution data on intra-party competition in the Green Party; aggregate party-list composition data; and district-level candidacies spanning the 2017–2025 elections. Our findings reveal that eliminating compensatory seats intensified competition for viable list positions, leading to more crowded and competitive nominations. However, across parties, the demographic composition of viable list positions remained largely unchanged. At the district level, we find no detectable effect on incumbent reelection bids, and no credible evidence for increases in voter turnout or vote concentration. Overall, consequences for representation appear to be more limited than publicly anticipated, though in line with the literature emphasizing mechanical over strategic effects in assembly size changes.
29th of October: Empirical Social Science Research Series – Impact of School Entry Age on Academic Achievement: A Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design Analysis Using PISA Data (Gianiro Bruno)
In the second entry of our Empirical Social Science Research Series, Gianiro Bruno from the University of Calabria presented his working paper “Impact of School Entry Age on Academic Achievement: A Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design Analysis Using PISA Data”.
Abstract:
This study investigates the impact of early school entry on Italian students’ PISA test performance. Using a Sharp Regression Discontinuity Design, we find that early entrants differ significantly in observable socioeconomic characteristics, rendering treatment and control groups incomparable. To address this bias, we employ a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design, using quarter of birth as an instrument under the 2003 Moratti law. Our results show that students who enroll early perform significantly better. We conclude that current age thresholds and parental discretion should be complemented by objective standardized testing to more accurately evaluate children’s school readiness.
22nd of October: Empirical Social Science Research Series – The Positive Roots of Localism: How Place-Based Identity Drives the Preference for Hometown Candidates (Julia Schulte-Cloos)
We hosted the first entry of this semester’s Empirical Social Science Research Seminar Series, which is jointly organized by our IDP research team and the faculty for social sciences and philosophy. For this series, which was established in 2023, we invite both internal and external speakers to present their latest empirical research. This week, Julia Schulte-Cloos from Marburg University presented the working paper “The Positive Roots of Localism: How Place-Based Identity Drives the Preference for Hometown Candidates” (with Sven Hegewald, University of Hamburg).
Abstract:
Does the electoral advantage of local candidates reflect positive attachment to community or a defensive reaction to perceived neglect, and does it survive partisan polarization? Using a pre-registered conjoint experiment in Germany (N=2,500) that dynamically matches candidate profiles to respondents’ municipalities and varies the availability of party cues, we document a robust hometown advantage that persists against polarized partisan signals, effectively narrowing even deep affective partisan divides. The preference is driven by positive place-based identity: long residence, local attachment, and rurality amplify the effect, while place-based resentment, anxiety about the local future, and populist support do not. We triangulate these findings with an observational analysis of 123,407 municipality-candidate observations across the 2021 and 2025 federal elections. Our results suggest that the geography-of-discontent framework, well-supported as an account of populist support and political distrust, does not extend to the demand for local representation in the way the literature has often assumed.
17th to 18th September: Workshop — Politicians, Policies, and Wealth
On 17 and 18 September 2026 the IDP Research Network hosted the international workshop Politicians, Policies, and Wealth at the Institute of Political Science, Philipps-Universität Marburg. The workshop was part of the project Politicians, Policies, and the Reproduction of Wealth (PoWER), funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and carried out with partners at Strathclyde University, Fundação Getulio Vargas in São Paulo and the University of Cape Town.
The workshop brought together researchers from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Norway, Brazil and South Africa to discuss how politicians and policies relate to wealth and inequality. Eleven papers were presented over the two days, each with a discussant, and the programme was organised around two themes.
The first theme, biases in representation, asked whether policies favour the rich and how voters react to distributive policy offers. Theres Matthieß (University of Göttingen) asked why voters do, and do not, respond to such offers, and Nathalie Giger (University of Geneva) compared how politicians and citizens perceive inequality. Stefanie Bailer (University of Basel) looked at the influence of peers and citizens on politicians’ attitudes towards corruption and transparency, while Miquel Pellicer (University of Marburg) compared tax pledges and tax policies in the United Kingdom and Germany. Raquel Pimenta (FGV São Paulo) examined the role of legal expertise in Brazil’s tax reforms, and Aidan Gnoth (University of Marburg) traced the common ground in German Bundestag debates on tax reform.
The second theme, politician characteristics, asked how the background, business ties and personal wealth of MPs and ministers shape their positions and the policies they make. Jacob Nyrup (University of Oslo) asked which governments are most representative of their populations, and Letícia Barbabela (University of Marburg) studied whether crises make voters want businesspeople in politics. Franziska Windisch (University of Vienna) presented work on the occupational background of cabinet ministers and economic policymaking, Despina Alexiadou (University of Strathclyde) on finance ministers and tax rates, and Lukas Rädle (University of Marburg) on the personal and regional wealth of MPs and their positions on the German inheritance tax.
We thank all participants for their papers, for the careful work of the discussants and for two days of open and productive discussion. It was a pleasure to welcome everyone to Marburg.
Workshop participants
Despina Alexiadou (University of Strathclyde) Iana Alves de Lima (FGV São Paulo) Stefanie Bailer (University of Basel) Letícia Barbabela (University of Marburg) Nathalie Giger (University of Geneva) Aidan Gnoth (University of Marburg) Ibrahim Kuran (University of Marburg) Raissa Leite (FGV São Paulo) Iakovos Makropoulos (University of Strathclyde) Theres Matthieß (University of Göttingen) Jacob Nyrup (University of Oslo) Miquel Pellicer (University of Marburg) Raquel Pimenta (FGV São Paulo) Lukas Rädle (University of Marburg) Vimal Ranchhod (University of Cape Town) Eva Wegner (University of Marburg) Franziska Windisch (University of Vienna)
14th to 16th September: PoWER Project Annual Meeting in Marburg
From 14th to 16th September 2026, the PoWER project (Politicians, Policies, and the Reproduction of Wealth) held its annual meeting at the Institute of Political Science, Philipps-Universität Marburg. After our meeting in Cape Town in March 2025, the team came together again, this time in Marburg.
PoWER is an international research project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. It brings together researchers from Brazil, Germany, South Africa and the UK to study how politicians and policies shape the reproduction of wealth.
On the first day, we reviewed our progress against the commitments in the project proposal and made plans for the period ahead. On the second day, we held bilateral meetings on joint papers and discussed our academic outputs and timeline. By the end of the project (end of 2027), we expect to produce more than 20 academic papers. On the last day, we focused on project management and on plans for our next meeting and conference in Glasgow.
We also spent a full afternoon on the interactive website we are building – discussing its content and stories. Through stories on the politics of taxation, the website will aim to raise awareness of wealth and inequality. It is meant for academics, but also for policymakers and the wider public.
It was a very productive meeting, and we look forward to the next steps. You can learn more about the project at wealthpolicies.eu.
Many thanks to all team members for their contributions:
- FGV São Paulo Law School: Raquel Pimenta, Iana Alves de Lima, Raíssa Leite de Freitas
- Philipps-Universität Marburg: Eva Wegner, Miquel Pellicer, Letícia Barbabela, Ibrahim Kuran, Aidan Gnoth, Lukas Rädle
- University of Strathclyde: Despina Alexiadou, Iakovos Makropoulos
- University of Cape Town: Vimal Ranchhod, Arindam Jana
15th of April: We welcome Dr. Fuat Kına as visiting Researcher
Dr. Fuat Kına, an Assistant Professor at Marmara University and Visiting Professor at Koç University, joined the IDP Group research network at the University of Marburg as a visiting researcher from April 15 to May 15, 2026. Dr. Kına who works on contentious politics, social movements, and welfare politics engaged in several collaborations during his visit.
During his stay, Dr. Kına gave a number of seminars and presentations. On April 20, 2026, he first presented his ERC Starting Grant proposal on progressive claims of contentious groups in a comparative perspective at an internal IDP seminar. Later that day, he presented his recent study on “Contentious Politics, Social Movements and Labor Mobilization in Turkey” in the Colloquium Series of the Center for Conflict Studies. On May 7, 2026, he presented his latest article, “Exploring the Ideological Landscape of X/Twitter Users in Turkey: Political and Cultural Axes,” in the Empirical Social Science Research Seminar Series of the Institute of Political Science. Finally, on May 11, 2026, he conducted a workshop on the use of large language models (LLMs) in social sciences, aimed at both IDP group members and master’s students in applied social sciences.
We thank Dr. Kına for his visit and for his valuable intellectual contributions to our group.
2nd of February: We welcome Prof. Özge Kemahlıoğlu as visiting Researcher
We welcome Prof. Özge Kemahlıoğlu (Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Sabanci University) as visiting Researcher at the University of Marburg as part of the IDP Group research network for the coming weeks.
Dr. Kemahlıoğlu is an internationally recognized scholar of comparative politics whose research focuses on democratic backsliding, distributive politics, local governance, electoral behavior, and political conflict, with particular emphasis on Turkey and Latin America. Her work combines quantitative methods with theoretically informed comparative analysis and has been published in leading international journals.
During her visit to Marburg, Dr. Kemahlıoğlu engages with researchers affiliated with the IDP Group, Institute of Political Science and Center of Conflict Stuies. As part of the visit, she will present her research titled “Policy Expectations and Information Provided by the Opposition in Non-democracies” at the Empirical Social Science Seminar on 5 January 2026.
19th of January: Who becomes a lobbyist? Evidence from Germany
On Monday, 19 January 2026, the lecture series “Money and Politics”, continued with an evening on lobbying and political influence. Prof. Heike Klüver’s talk, “Who Becomes a Lobbyist? Evidence from Germany,” offered a data-driven look at a question that’s often discussed in stereotypes: who actually becomes a lobbyist, through which career pathways, and what kinds of experience and networks tend to matter.
A particularly interesting part of the talk was how she placed the German evidence in a broader perspective by comparing it to the United States. The contrast helped clarify what is specific to Germany’s political and institutional setting—and how different institutional arrangements create different incentives and pathways for lobbyist recruitment. Klüver also emphasized that movement from politics into lobbying is more common than the reverse, challenging the idea that lobbying is mainly a stepping stone into political office.
The evening closed with a lively Q&A moderated by Prof. Dr. Eva Wegner, where Marburg citizens asked thoughtful questions that pushed the discussion from evidence to implications, touching on transparency, influence, and what accountability can realistically look like in practice. Special thanks to Stéphane Voell for capturing the event.