Abstract

AbstractThe consensus-seeking nature of Germany’s civic epistemology and largely absent structural incentives for advisory work of academics may imply an overall comparatively lower engagement. Yet, German political science stands in the tradition of a ‘watchdog’ of democracy, and the past decades bear witness of continued involvement in societal and political debates. Not least, German political scientists have led a vivid internal debate on the ‘relevance of our discipline’ in recent years, reflected in a number of conferences and publications. Germany thus makes an interesting case regarding the advisory role of political scientists in a comparative perspective. This chapter studies how, to whom, and how often political scientists in Germany provide their expertise for policymaking. It is based on the German results of the ProSEPS survey, accompanied by a case illustration of advice and opinionating on the rise of populism. The analysis shows not only that German political scientists are less active in comparison to colleagues in many other countries but also that they are more active than could be expected—with academic norms and employment situation forming key explanatory factors for the level and forms of engagement.

Highlights

  • While our knowledge of expertise brought into the policymaking field has increased significantly in recent years, there is still much to be learned about how the roles of experts and expertise vary from the comparative perspective, including across policy areas and fields of expertise

  • Based on the operationalization of the ideal types of policy advisory role, we investigated the number of German respondents falling into one of the ideal categories and compared the division of German political scientists with the overall sample

  • The results show that respondents with tenure are significantly more likely to have a higher level of policy advisory activity

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Summary

Introduction

While the debate is heating up, the role of political scientists in Germany’s policy advisory system has not been the subject of much empirical research.. While the debate is heating up, the role of political scientists in Germany’s policy advisory system has not been the subject of much empirical research.1 Against this backdrop, this chapter studies how, to whom, and how often Germany’s university-based political scientists provide their expertise for the purposes of policymaking. The data provide the first systematic overview of the advisory activities, and the related views and incentives, of political scientists working at German universities. We substantiate the quantitative analysis with a case study that examines how Germany’s political scientists’ policy advisory activities play out with regard to a topical case, namely, how right-wing populism in parliaments and society can be understood and addressed

The German Policy Advisory System
German Political Science and Policy Advice
Expectations and Research Design
Research Design
Descriptive Results from the Survey
Factors Influencing Policy Advisory Activities
Ideal Types of Policy Advisory Role
A Case Study of Advice on the Rise of Populism
Conclusion
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