Da die Arbeitssprache der DocAG Englisch ist, ist auch die folgende Beschreibung auf Englisch verfasst:

General goals

The goal of our DocAG is to examine the various facets of democracy. The concept of democracy comprises numerous diverse ideas and perspectives, and thus cannot be easily surmised. The quintessence of democracy revolves around Popular Sovereignty and Government. However, there remains many more aspects worth of further discussion and analysis.

Political Theory alone incorporates numerous distinct approaches towards democracy, such as Republicanism, Representative Democracy, Deliberative Democracy and Direct Democracy. Democracy can also be considered in light of historical, comparative, system analysis and system change studies. Furthermore, democracy has come into focus  in other disciplines such as sociology, cultural science , and communication studies and more. For instance, in the light of the current „legitimacy crisis“ caused by globalisation, democracy has also become a major object of research within International Relations. A particular aim of our DocAG is to invoke discourse amongst these various interpretations and to broaden democratic concepts towards an interdisciplinary focus.

In this context, our DocAG offers interested PhD students the opportunity to take part in our regular forum and to discuss  not only democracy in general but in relation to their own projects. Each member will have the opportunity to present his or her work to the group. In this sense the DocAG also aims to assist candidates in generating solutions to problems within their thesis and to support the development of the thesis in general  - and to provide an opportunity for students to address difficulties, often made difficult by the isolated nature of independent research. Furthermore, we value the constant exchange of ideas as an opportunity to advance the individual research projects. Importantly, although we place a focus on democracy – the discussion is by no means constrained to democracy and will incorporate various forms of  methodological, theoretical and empirical approaches. Our current schedule includes several themes:

  •           Philosophy and Political Theory
  •           Methodological and Empirical Access
  •           Democratic Transition and System Change Analysis
  •           Comparative Studies
  •           Transnational Democracy (International Relations)
  •           Democratic Innovations
  •           Discourse Analysis

Given that some PhD students may not be available to meet in Frankfurt every month, we are committed to arranging technical alternatives to overcome any such difficulties and to allow broad and active membership in the DocAG „Democracy“.

Members and working title of  the dissertation

Ayse Gül

"Demokratie der Zukunft“:  Partizipative und deliberative Innovationen zur Wiederherstellung von politischer Legitimität unter Berücksichtigung des intrinsischen Gleichheitsgebots in Demokratien.

Chris Lee-Gaston

Advisors and Activists: Private Advisory Organisations and their role within German and Japanese Civil Nuclear Politics.

Sophie Schäfer

Der Islam demokratischer Debatten. Zur diskursiven Konstruktion innerer Gefahren und Chancen in deutschen Parlamentsdebatten.

Catharina Peeck

‘Wining Hearts and Minds‘? Security Policy and Muslim Women in the UK.

Contact

Ayse Gül (a.-guel@gmx.de)

Sophie Schäfer (schaesophie@aol.com)