Political Institutions and Conflict

Director: Ursula Daxecker

The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity is entering a new phase with a sharpened research focus on inequality, migration, and the stability of democracy. As part of this realignment, the Max Planck Society has appointed political scientist Prof. Dr. Ursula Daxecker (University of Amsterdam) as Director. Daxecker will establish a new department focusing on Political Institutions and Conflict.
 

The newly established department “Political Institutions and Conflict” studies the relationship between political institutions and conflict, broadly construed. Conflict is inherent in politics, but can be managed peacefully or break out in the open and turn violent. Research in the department explores how institutions impact whether conflict is managed peacefully or not, and how conflict itself can sustain or undermine institutions. The department’s empirical focus is on the Global South and combines advanced quantitative methods, such as survey-based and observational causal inference designs, with qualitative approaches, such as fieldwork and interviews. Through this research, the department aims to produce new, evidence-based insights relevant to policy and contemporary society.