List of courses (selection) – Prof. Dr. Jasmin Riedl

(2024): Seminar: Digital Campaigns (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar focuses on the question of what special features campaigns have in the digital age. It provides insights into concepts and theories of political communication. Furthermore, students are practically introduced to working with primary sources (election programs and Twitter data) using the Bavarian state election as an example. Students learn how tweets can be analyzed automatically using NLP-based stance detection and dictionary approach and are involved in creating the issue dictionary for automated thematic analysis in digital campaigning.

(2023): Lecture: History and Structures of the Political System of Germany (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture addresses the fundamental historical continuities and discontinuities within the political system of Germany. A special focus is on the programmatic priorities of the Federal Republic's governments and the mechanisms of policy-making.

(2023): Lecture: Introduction to Domestic Politics and Comparative Government (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture covers the basics of Comparative Government. Topics include the government system, type of democracy, state organization, parties and party systems, as well as elections and voting behavior. Empirical examples include Germany, the USA, and Great Britain.

(2023): Seminar: Current Research Debates (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar deals with different, current research debates in Comparative Political Science. The goal is to provide students with a forum for discussing potential topics and questions for master's theses.

(2023): Seminar: Digital Campaigns (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar focuses on the question of what special features campaigns have in the digital age. It provides insights into concepts and theories of political communication. Furthermore, students are practically introduced to working with primary sources (election programs and Twitter data) using the Bavarian state election as an example. Students learn how tweets can be analyzed automatically using NLP-based stance detection and dictionary approach and are involved in creating the issue dictionary for automated thematic analysis in digital campaigning.

(2023): Seminar: Why Do They Go Low? Negative Campaigning in Germany (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar covers the basics of Negative Campaigning: state of research, definitions, operationalization, data sources. Building on this, students analyze the phenomenon using different data sources for Germany and discuss the findings.

(2023): Seminar: Legislative Agenda Power in Germany (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar is a literature course. The central focus of the seminar work is reading and understanding academic literature using the research debate on agenda power of legislative actors in Germany as an example. Students have extensive time in the seminar to read, discuss, and understand texts together. Additionally, through the content focus, students gain knowledge about three essential organs in the political system of Germany: the Federal Government, the Bundestag, and the Bundesrat. The focus is primarily on the legislative agenda power of these three actors compared.

(2023): Seminar: Text Analysis (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Students engage intensively with a monograph or several essays on a topic. The goal of this annually recurring summer module is to critically engage with and collectively discuss academic literature. Covered texts and topics, for example, include David Runciman's "How Democracy Ends" or comparing various institutions or policy theories regarding their explanatory power for political reforms.

(2022): Lecture: Comparative State Orders (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture is held in collaboration with the Chair of Public Law (Prof. Groh). The political science component delves deeper into the contents of the lecture "Introduction to Domestic Politics and Comparative Government Studies." This includes, for example, findings from government and coalition research, the comparison of state activities between European countries, and the programmatic orientation of different parties in Europe.

(2022): Lecture: History and Structures of the Political System of Germany (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture covers the fundamental historical continuities and discontinuities within the political system of Germany. A special focus is on the programmatic emphases of the Federal German governments and the mechanisms of policy-making.

(2022): Lecture: Introduction to Domestic Politics and Comparative Government Studies (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture provides the basics of Comparative Government Studies. Topics include the government system, type of democracy, state organization, parties and party systems, as well as elections and voting behavior. Empirical examples include Germany, the USA, and Great Britain.

(2022): Seminar: Digital Public Sphere in Theory and Practice (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: At the heart of the seminar is the question of how social media affects fundamental democratic processes, especially election campaigns. Students are introduced to concepts and theories of political communication, gain practical insights into research on digital election campaigns in Germany, and finally develop a research design focused on a specific research question concerning the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia. Therefore, a major emphasis of the seminar is on the collective discussion of research questions and research design.

(2022): Seminar: Digital Party Competition in NRW - Hands on Twitter Data (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Participants in the seminar actively shape the research process in the SPARTA project, gaining interdisciplinary insights into the analysis of digital behavioral data. The aim of the seminar is to prepare real-time analyses of the digital election campaign in NRW together. Analyses on stance detection, the most common themes, and the most frequent hashtags are prepared collaboratively.

(2022): Seminar: Costs and Benefits of Governing (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar systematically addresses the question of what costs and benefits political actors, especially in Germany, must weigh when considering participation in government. For this purpose, scientific literature on government and coalition research is consulted. Starting from this point, selected government coalitions and parties are examined.

(2021): Lecture: Theories and Research Approaches in Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture teaches the (historical) classification of the sub-discipline and the logic of comparative political science research (focus on research, qualitative and quantitative approaches, and case selection strategies). Following this, theories of Comparative Political Science and Policy Analysis are conveyed through concrete examples. Topics covered include Systems Theory, Behavioralism, Rational-Choice Theory, Rational-Choice Neo-Institutionalism, Historical Neo-Institutionalism, the Multiple Streams Approach, and the Advocacy Coalition Framework.

(2021): Lecture: Comparative State Orders (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture is held in conjunction with the Chair for Public Law (Prof. Groh). The political science part deepens the content of the lecture "Introduction to Domestic Politics and Comparative Government Studies," including findings from government and coalition research, comparison of state activity among European countries, and the programmatic direction of different parties in Europe.

(2021): Lecture: History and Structures of the Political System of Germany (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture focuses on the fundamental historical continuities and discontinuities within the German political system. A special emphasis is placed on the programmatic priorities of the Federal German governments and the mechanisms of policy formulation.

(2021): Lecture: Introduction to Domestic Politics and Comparative Government Studies (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture provides the fundamentals of Comparative Government Studies. It covers government systems, types of democracy, state organization, political parties and party systems, as well as elections and voting behavior. Empirical examples include Germany, the USA, and Great Britain.

(2021): Seminar: Current Research Debates (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar addresses different, current research debates in Comparative Political Science. The goal is to offer students a forum for discussing potential topics and questions for their master's theses.

(2021): Seminar: Minority Governments in Europe Compared (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Fundamental prerequisites for minority governments (e.g., institutional prerequisites, costs, and benefits of governing) are developed and applied to case examples from Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and the German states (Thuringia, Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia).

(2021): Seminar: Costs and Benefits of Governing (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar systematically explores the question of what costs and benefits political actors, especially in Germany, must consider when participating in government. For this purpose, scientific literature on government and coalition research is utilized. From this starting point, selected government coalitions and parties are examined.

(2020): Lecture: Theories and Research Approaches in Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture discusses the (historical) placement of the subfield and the logic of political science comparison (research focus, qualitative and quantitative approaches, and strategies for case selection), conveying theories of Comparative Political Science and Policy Analysis through specific examples. Subjects include Systems Theory, Behavioralism, Rational-Choice Theory, Rational-Choice Neo-Institutionalism, Historical Neo-Institutionalism, the Multiple Streams Approach, and the Advocacy Coalition Framework.

(2020): Lecture: Comparative State Orders (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Similar to the 2021 description, this lecture is coordinated with the Chair for Public Law (Prof. Groh) and delves into government and coalition research, comparison of state activity among European countries, and the programmatic directions of various parties in Europe.

(2020): Lecture: History and Structures of the Political System of Germany (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Similar to the 2021 description, this lecture focuses on the historical continuities and discontinuities within the German political system, with a special focus on the programmatic priorities of Federal German governments and policy-making mechanisms.

(2020): Lecture: Introduction to Domestic Politics and Comparative Government Studies (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Similar to the 2021 description, this lecture provides fundamentals in Comparative Government Studies, covering government systems, democracy types, state organization, parties and party systems, as well as elections and voting behavior with examples from Germany, the USA, and Great Britain.

(2020): Seminar: Minority Governments in Europe Compared (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Similar to the 2021 description, this seminar develops and applies the basic prerequisites for minority governments to case studies from Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and German states.

(2020): Seminar: Text Analysis (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Students engage deeply with a monograph or several essays on a topic. The goal of this annually recurring summer module is to critically engage with and collectively discuss academic literature. Covered texts and topics have included, for example, David Runciman.

(2019): Lecture: Theories and Research Approaches in Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture covers the (historical) classification of the subfield and the logic of comparative political science research (focusing on research, qualitative and quantitative approaches, and strategies for case selection). Theories of Comparative Political Science and Policy Analysis are then conveyed through concrete examples, including Systems Theory, Behavioralism, Rational-Choice Theory, Rational-Choice Neo-Institutionalism, Historical Neo-Institutionalism, the Multiple Streams Approach, and the Advocacy Coalition Framework.

(2019): Seminar: Current Research Debates (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar addresses various current research debates in Comparative Political Science. The aim is to provide students with a forum to discuss potential topics and questions for their master's theses.

(2019): Seminar: Research Design in Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Students develop a research design for a specific research question based on varying seminar topics. The seminar covers the scientific rationale and formulation of research questions, the relationship between theory and empiricism, case selection procedures, and peculiarities of case studies, including process analysis and qualitative interviews as methods. Participants document their research design either as a proposal or by working on the planned project in small groups, culminating in a journal article.

(2019): Seminar: Text Analysis (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Students engage intensively with a monograph or several essays on a topic. This annually recurring summer module aims for critical engagement with and collective discussion of academic literature. Covered texts and topics include, for instance, David Runciman's "How Democracy Ends" or the comparison of various institutions or policy theories regarding their explanatory power for political reforms.

(2018): Lecture: Theories and Research Approaches in Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Similar to the 2019 description, this lecture discusses the (historical) placement of the subfield and the logic of political science comparison, including theories of Comparative Political Science and Policy Analysis, covering Systems Theory, Behavioralism, Rational-Choice Theory, Rational-Choice Neo-Institutionalism, Historical Neo-Institutionalism, the Multiple Streams Approach, and the Advocacy Coalition Framework.

(2018): Seminar: Research Design Using the Example of the Research Field "Time and Politics" (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar starts with the temporality of German federal legislation. Participants develop a research design for a specific question, discussing the scientific relevance, case selection, and methods for data collection and analysis. The small groups implement their research design as a journal article, addressing specific aspects of German legislation, time concepts, and research logic standards.

(2017): Lecture: Theories and Research Approaches in Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Similar to the previous descriptions, this lecture covers the classification and logic of comparative political science research, introducing theories and analyses through examples, including various theoretical frameworks and approaches.

(2017): Seminar: Research Design Using the Example of the Research Field "Time and Politics" (MA), two courses of two semester hours per week each.

Content: Focusing on the significance of time for policy-making, this seminar teaches research logic. Participants in small groups develop a research question related to "Time and Politics," justify its scientific relevance, select cases, and choose methods for data collection and analysis. The groups then implement this research design in a journal article, examining three aspects of the German political system in particular: the strategic behavior of governments after focusing events, the temporal action possibilities of the parliamentary opposition, and the desynchronization of society and politics.

(2016): Lecture: Theories and Research Approaches in Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: Similar to the 2017 and 2019 lectures, this course introduces the historical classification of the subfield and covers the logic of comparative political science, including various theories and analytical frameworks.

(2016): Seminar: Research Design in Qualitative-Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

(2016): Seminar: Politics of Internal Security in Germany (BA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The seminar provides fundamentals of the political system of Germany within the context of internal security. Topics include the parliamentary government system, legislation, federal state organization, and the party system, all examined through the lens of internal security. The seminar particularly addresses government control in federal and state levels, legislative preparations in ministries (especially the Ministry of the Interior), executive federalism, and the division of competencies in internal security between the federal government and the states.

(2014): Lecture: Theories and Research Approaches in Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

Content: The lecture provides a (historical) overview of the sub-discipline and the logic of comparative political science research, focusing on research concentration, qualitative and quantitative approaches, and strategies for case selection. Theories of Comparative Political Science and Policy Analysis are presented through concrete examples, including Systems Theory, Behavioralism, Rational-Choice Theory, Rational-Choice Neo-Institutionalism, Historical Neo-Institutionalism, the Multiple Streams Approach, and the Advocacy Coalition Framework.

(2014): Seminar: Research Design in Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

(2014): Summer Module: Text Analysis (BA), one semester hour per week.

(2013): Seminar: Research Design in Qualitative-Comparative Political Science (MA), two courses of two semester hours per week each.

(2013): Summer Module: Text Analysis (BA), one semester hour per week.

(2012): Seminar: Research Design in Qualitative-Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

(2012): Seminar: Methods of Comparative Political Science (MA), two semester hours per week.

(2012): Summer Module: Text Analysis (BA), one semester hour per week.

(2011): Seminar: Research Design and Methods in Comparative Political Science (MA), two courses of two semester hours per week each.

(2011): Summer Module: Text Analysis (BA), one semester hour per week.

(2010): Seminar: Research Design in Comparative Political Science (MA), two courses of two semester hours per week each.

Content: Focusing on the theme of "Majoritarian and Consensus Democracy," the seminar discusses how research in Comparative Political Science is conceptualized: formulating a research question, scientific and societal relevance, the importance of theories in the research process, advantages and disadvantages of qualitative and quantitative research strategies, and the procedures and justification for case selection. These topics are discussed using two publications as examples: Arend Lijphart's "Patterns of Democracy" and André Kaiser's "Majoritarian Democracy and Institutional Reform."

(2010): Summer Module: Text Analysis (BA) (with Ursula Münch), one semester hour per week.

(2009): Seminar: The Political System of Germany (BA), two courses of two semester hours per week each.

Content: The seminar teaches the basics of the German political system, covering the parliamentary government system, political organs, legislative processes, the functioning of working parliaments, federalism, the party system, and the type of democracy. It also imparts rules of scientific work, including writing scientific texts (layout, style, structure, citation methods, bibliography) and data and literature research.

(2008): Seminar: The Political System of Germany (BA), two courses of three semester hours per week each.

Content: The seminar covers fundamentals of the German political system, including the parliamentary government system, political organs, the legislative process, the functioning of working parliaments, federalism, the party system, and the type of democracy. It also provides insights into various explanatory approaches (e.g., veto player theory, selected democracy theories, policy interlocking thesis, party difference thesis) and teaches the rules of scientific work, including the preparation of scientific texts and data and literature research.