Wencke Rottländer

Secretariat

Room: LF 314
Phone: (0203) 379 - 2049
Mail: wencke.rottlaender@uni-due.de

Dr. Georg Lammich

Research Associate

Room: LF 326
Phone: (0203) 379 - 3182
Mail: Georg.Lammich@uni-due.de
Profile

Elvis Melia

Research Associate

Room: LF 326
Phone: (0203) 379 - 3107
Mail: elvis.melia@uni-due.de
Profile

Tim Mayer

Research Assistant

Room: -
Phone: -

Victoria Kronemeyer

Research Assistant

Room: -
Phone: -

Over the past years, I have focused on three areas of research:

read more

Firstly, I am interested in processes of institutional change in African countries. My main interest is the comparative analysis of different formal institutions, especially electoral systems and regime types, presidentialism and term limits, political parties and their regulation, and decentralisation and vertical power-sharing. Past research projects dealt with party regulation in Africa (Ethnic Party Bans in Africa) and with local politics and decentralisation (book with Gordon Crawford). I have a longstanding interest in various aspects of elections on the African continent, both with regard to electoral systems (DFG-Project Elections; Hartmann 2007, 2017), but also the dynamics of voting rights, and how they are related to citizenship (Hartmann 2015). I have focused on the relevance and interaction of different institutions for the management and resolution of violent conflict (Hartmann 2013) and continue to be interested in the relevance of political institutions for managing inter-ethnic relations from a comparative perspective (Hartmann 2018). Currently, I am also conducting research on presidential term limits in Africa (Hartmann 2022) and on parties in the context of violent conflict.

Current Research Project: The German Foundation for Peace Research funds the project Party Competition and Collective Jihadist Radicalisation in Sub-Saharan Africa that deals with the sub-national (non-)occurrence of collective Jihadist radicalization in four African countries: Kenya, Mozambique, Ghana and Tanzania. More infos on this project can be found here.

Secondly, I am interested in regional co-operation in Africa with a focus on West Africa. The political and security dimensions of regional co-operation and its impact on member states are at the centre of my research. This includes a concern with the capacity of regional actors to deal with security challenges and an interest in humanitarian intervention by regional actors as well as an interest into the relationship between regional cooperation and the dynamics of domestic political reforms. Empirically my research concentrates on ECOWAS and has dealt with governance transfer (Hartmann 2013), the development of ECOWAS’ extraordinary norms of intervention (Hartmann 2013, Hartmann & Striebinger 2015), the application of Levitsky and Way’s linkage-leverage-model to the relations between African regional organisations and their member states (Hartmann 2016), and to specific ‘pro-democratic interventions’ (Hartmann 2017). More recently, I have concentrated on a better understanding of the different dimensions and effects of overlapping regionalism in Africa (Hartmann 2019, 2020).

Current Research Project: Starting in April 2022 the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) finances a competence network bringing together three German research institutions (Leipzig, PRIF Frankfurt, INEF Duisburg-Essen) with research partners in Africa and Europe, investigating African non-military conflict intervention practices (ANCIP). Christof Hartmann will serve as PI for the UDE projects dealing with the emergence and dynamics of regional and national infrastructures for peace in West Africa and their potential role within a broader portfolio of non-military intervention practices, as well as the international environment and linkages of non-military conflict interventions of regional actors in Africa.

A third research area is Africa’s relations with external actors. While initially focusing on different western States and their influence on democratization processes (Hartmann 1998), I am now mainly interested in the role of China. China’s relevance is no longer limited to questions of trade and economic development but has extended to the political sphere. In 2020, a co-edited book on China's influence on political stability and instability was published, combining African, Chinese and European perspectives (Hartmann/Noesselt 2020).

Current Research Project: The German Research Foundation (DFG) is financing a new research project on China and the Transformation of Political Order in Africa, jointly led by Chrsitof Hartmann and Nele Noesselt (IfP/InEast) which will start in April 2022. The project, which will be implemented in cooperation with Chinese and African partner organisations, will analyse the relevance of different political settlements in African countries for engaging and interacting with Chinese actors.

Finally, I have many years of experience in consultancy work and policy transfer, mainly in the areas of electoral system reform and electoral assistance, crisis prevention and conflict management, democracy promotion and political aspects of development cooperation.

Publications:

Bogaards, M./ Basedau, M./ Hartmann, C. (Hg.) 2013: 'Ethnic Party Bans in Africa', Oxon: Routledge.

Bogaards, M./ Basedau, M./ Hartmann, C. 2010: 'Ethnic Party Bans in Africa: An Introduction', in Democratization 17/4, 599-617.

Hartmann, C. 2010: 'Senegal's party system: The limits of formal regulation', in Democratization 17 (2010), 4, 769-786.

Hartmann, C./ Kemmerzell, J. 2010: 'Understanding variations in party bans in Africa', in Democratization 17/4, 642-665.

Basedau, M./ Bogaards, M./ Hartmann, C./ Niesen, P. (2007) 'Ethnic Party Bans in Africa: A Research Agenda' in German Law Journal 8/6, 617-634.

Local Elections, Local Politics and Democratization in Southern Africa (DFG)

Publications:

C. Hartmann 2008: Local Government and the Management of Conflict in Fragmented Societies: South Africa, Namibia, and Mauritius Compared', in: Paul Tiyambe Zeleza (ed.), Managing and Resolving African Conflicts: Vol.2 Conflict Resolution and Post-conflict Reconstruction, Oxford: James Currey

C. Hartmann/ G. Crawford 2008: Introduction: Decentralisation as a Pathway out of Poverty and Conflict?, in: Gordon Crawford/ Christof Hartmann (Hg.), Decentralisation in Africa: A Pathway out of Poverty and Conflict?, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 7-32.

C. Hartmann 2008: Decentralisation and the Legacy of Protracted Conflict – Mauritius, Namibia and South Africa, in: Gordon Crawford/ Christof Hartmann (Hg.), Decentralisation in Africa: A Pathway out of Poverty and Conflict?, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 169-190.

C.Hartmann/ G. Crawford 2008: Conclusion: Decentralisation – No Shortcut to Development and Peace, in: Gordon Crawford/ Christof Hartmann (Hg.), Decentralisation in Africa: A Pathway out of Poverty and Conflict?, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 233-252.

C. Hartmann 2004: 'Local Elections in the SADC Countries: A Comparative Analysis of Local Electoral Institutions', Journal of African Elections 3/1, 160-184.

C. Hartmann 2004: 'Kommunalwahlen und die Demokratisierung des Ländlichen Raums' Entwicklung + Ländlicher Raum 38/4, 12-14.

C. Hartmann 2004: ‚Local Elections and Local Government in Southern Africa' Afrika Spectrum 39/2, 223-248.

C. Hartmann 2003: Local Elections in Southern Africa. Bochum: Institut für Entwicklungsforschung und Entwicklungspolitik (IEE Working Papers No.175).

C. Hartmann 2002: ‚Südafrika. Von der Apartheid zur Demokratie', Politische Bildung 35/2, 63-75.

Elections in Asia and the Pacific (DFG)

(Project director Prof. Dr. Dieter Nohlen, Universität Heidelberg)

Publications: D. Nohlen/ F.Grotz/ C.Hartmann (Hg.) ,Elections and Electoral Systems in Asia and the Pacific’ , 2 volumes, Oxford: Oxford University Press.