Thomas Winzen
Political Scientist
University of Düsseldorf
About Me
I am a Professor of European Politics and International Relations at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf. My research focuses on democratic governance and regional integration in Europe, the role of parliaments in international affairs, and global governance more broadly, including the design of international organizations and transnational internet governance. I seek to identify promising institutional developments, to understand how they work, and when and why political actors implement them, and to evaluate their potential for increasing the democratic quality of the EU. My most recent work focuses on democratic backsliding and autocratization in Europe.
Recent projects address the following research questions:
- What explains variation in national parliamentary oversight institutions in the EU?
- What drives differentiated European integration?
- Why do international organizations create parliamentary institutions?
- How does democratic backsliding influence EU decision-making?
- When and why does the EU constrain democratic backsliding in and beyond its member states?
- Who participates in multistakeholder internet governance?
- European Union
- Parliaments
- International Organizations
- Democratic Backsliding
- Internet Governance
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PhD in Political Science, 2013
ETH Zurich
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MA in Political Science, 2010
ETH Zurich
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MA in Research Methods in Politics, 2008
University of Sheffield
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BA in European Studies, 2007
Maastricht University
Research Interests
Parliaments Beyond the State
Can parliaments contribute to democratic and legitimate governance in the European Union and international organizations? When and why can we expect political actors to realize the democratic potential that parliaments might have? If they do, what are the political consequences?
European Integration
What explains institutional continuity and change in the EU? Can and should the EU be reformed to engage effectively and legitimately with the interests and capacities of the member states, neighbouring countries, and the multiple policy challenges Europe faces? How does democratic backsliding among member states affect the EU, and how can and should the EU respond?
Democratic Backsliding & Autocratization
What explains, and what can prevent, democratic backsliding and autocratization in Europe? What goals do backsliding governments pursue in the EU and other international arenas? Under what conditions can the EU constrain backsliding and autocratization in its member states and beyond? And how do the domestic opponents of democratic backsliding interact with European arenas and actors?
Internet Governance
This line of research examines the implications of technological change and, specifically, the Internet. Does the Internet empower new actors and arenas, such as companies, experts, regulatory organizations, or multistakeholder governance?
