Each faculty member is committed to supporting MA students through their research and thesis projects. For further details about their work or to discuss research ideas, please contact the faculty members directly.
This page provides an overview of the research interests and course offerings of our faculty members in the Political Science Department. Designed to assist MA students in selecting a thesis supervisor, this resource highlights the expertise of our faculty and their areas of specialization.
Faculty members are grouped by the specialization, detailing their research focus and the courses they teach. This information will help you choose a supervisor whose interests align with your academic goals.
For more detail on the research interests and publications of faculty in the Department of Political Science, browse individual faculty profiles here, or access the profile of a particular faculty member directly by clicking on their name below.
More information on specializations: https://politicalscience.ceu.edu/specializations-1
Comparative Politics
| Faculty | Research Interests | Courses in Academic Year 2024/2025 |
| Daniel Bochsler | Ethnic politics, Central and Eastern Europe, Political transition/democratisation, Elections, Political institutions | Elections and Democracy, Frontiers in Political Regimes and Institutions |
| Matthijs Bogaards | Ethnic conflict, Cvil war, Democratization, Deliberative democracy, African politics, Gender, Terrorism, Hybrid regimes, Consociationalism, Power sharing, Feminist institutionalism, Parties, Party systems, De-democratization |
Comparative European Politics, Terrorism: A Comparative Politics Perspective |
| Andras Bozoki | Political and social change, Democratization, Central European politics, Hybrid regimes, Political ideologies, Democratic theory, Elite theory, Anarchism, The role of intellectuals | Central Europe: Natural and Symbolic Geography – History, Culture, and Politics, Comparative Politics, Political Change: Evolution and Revolution, Political Ideologies and Intellectuals, Analyzing Democracy |
| Zsolt Enyedi (MA Program Director) | Political institutions, Representativeness of political parties, Party organization and party competition, Authoritarianism, Prejudices and political tolerance, Religion in electoral behavior, Church and state relations, Party finance | Illiberalism: politics and ideologies |
| Inna Melnykovska | Business elites, Business-government relations, Patronal politics, Hybrid regimes, Competitive authoritarianism, Defective democracy, Rent-seeking, Bad governance, Authoritarian modernization, Global capital mobility, Financial regulations and off/onshore havens, EU Neighborhood Policy, NATO’s Partnership for Peace, Russia’s and China’s foreign policies and regional integration in Eurasia, Research design, Qualitative data, Qualitative methods of data collection and analysis | Process Tracing, Field Research, Interviewing and Qualitative Data Analysis, Hybrid and Illiberal Regimes, Introduction to Political Economy |
| Carsten Q. Schneider | Political regime change, Political inequalities, Set-theoretic methods in the social sciences, Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), Comparative methodology and research design, Autocratic regimes | Comparative Case Study Research, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Performing Basics and Advanced Analyses using R, Frontiers in Political Regimes and Institutions |
| Bjorn Bremer | Politics of macroeconomic policies, Welfare state politics, and the political consequences of economic crises | on leave |
| Melis Laebens | Democratic backsliding, Political parties and Electoral behavior | on leave |
Political Economy
| Faculty | Research Interests | Courses in Academic Year 2024/2025 |
| Anil Duman (Head of Department) | Political economy, Welfare states, Social policy, Inequality, Development, Labor markets, Preferences, Green transition | Welfare States in the Current Era: Origins, Issues and Challenges, Political Economy, Topics in Political Economy |
| Inna Melnykovska | Business elites, Business-government relations, Patronal politics, Hybrid regimes, Competitive authoritarianism, Defective democracy, Rent-seeking, Bad governance, Authoritarian modernization, Global capital mobility, Financial regulations and off/onshore havens, EU Neighborhood Policy, NATO’s Partnership for Peace, Russia’s and China’s foreign policies and regional integration in Eurasia, Research design, Qualitative data, Qualitative methods of data collection and analysis | Process Tracing, Field Research, Interviewing and Qualitative Data Analysis, Hybrid and Illiberal Regimes, Introduction to Political Economy |
| Bjorn Bremer | Politics of macroeconomic policies, Welfare state politics, and the political consequences of economic crises | on leave |
Research Methods and Techniques
| Faculty | Research Interests | Courses in Academic Year 2024/2025 |
| Mariyana Angelova | Legislative politics, Coalition governments, Voter perceptions and behavior, Surveys, Experiments, EU policy-making and compliance | Sabbatical |
| Inna Melnykovska | Business elites, Business-government relations, Patronal politics, Hybrid regimes, Competitive authoritarianism, Defective democracy, Rent-seeking, Bad governance, Authoritarian modernization, Global capital mobility, Financial regulations and off/onshore havens, EU Neighborhood Policy, NATO’s Partnership for Peace, Russia’s and China’s foreign policies and regional integration in Eurasia, Research design, Qualitative data, Qualitative methods of data collection and analysis | Process Tracing, Field Research, Interviewing and Qualitative Data Analysis, Hybrid and Illiberal Regimes, Introduction to Political Economy |
| Robert Sata | Ethnic relations, Minority rights, Migration and citizenship issues, Roma rights, Political discourse, Populism and democratic decline, Europeanization, Gender politics, Media analysis | Migration, Borders, Integration and Activism in Europe, Scope and Methods: Research Design and Techniques - MA2 |
| Carsten Q. Schneider | Political regime change, Political inequalities, Set-theoretic methods in the social sciences, Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), Comparative methodology and research design, Autocratic regimes | Comparative Case Study Research, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA): Performing Basics and Advanced Analyses using R, Frontiers in Political Regimes and Institutions |
| Gabor Simonovits | Experiments, Public opinion, Surveys, Prejudice, USA politics | Introduction to Public Opinion, Political Communications, Political Behavior, Basics in Quantitative Research, Identity and Prejudice, topics in Statistical Modelling |
Social and Political Theory
| Faculty | Research Interests | Courses in Academic Year 2024/2025 |
| Anca Gheaus | Moral and political philosophy, Distributive justice, Gender justice, Childhood and childrearing, Children and politics, The ethics of personal relationships, Partiality | The family: gender and childrearing, Global Justice, Political Theory: Justice and Equality, Theories of Justice |
| Zoltan Miklosi | Moral and political philosophy, Distributive justice, Political obligation, Democratic theory | Introduction to Political Theory, The Ethics of Democratic Citizenship |
| Andres Moles | Contemporary political and moral philosophy, Liberalism, Democratic theory, Social and distributive justice | |
| Judit Sandor | Biopolitics, Ethical, legal, social implications of health care and biotechnologies, Privacy, Reproductive rights, Gender policies, Biotechnological patents, Enhancement, Human rights | Biopolitics, Reproduction, and Human Rights |
Political Behavior
| Faculty | Research Interests | Courses in Academic Year 2024/2025 |
| Mariyana Angelova | Legislative politics, Coalition governments, Voter perceptions and behavior, Surveys, Experiments, EU policy-making and compliance | Sabbatical |
| Robert Sata | Ethnic relations, Minority rights, Migration and citizenship issues, Roma rights, Political discourse, Populism and democratic decline, Europeanization, Gender politics, Media analysis | Migration, Borders, Integration and Activism in Europe, Scope and Methods: Research Design and Techniques - MA2 |
| Gabor Simonovits | Experiments, Public opinion, Surveys, Prejudice, USA politics | Introduction to Public Opinion, Political Communications, Political Behavior, Basics in Quantitative Research, Identity and Prejudice, topics in Statistical Modelling |
| Bjorn Bremer | Politics of macroeconomic policies, Welfare state politics, and the political consequences of economic crises | on leave |
| Melis Laebens | Democratic backsliding, Political parties and electoral behavior | on leave |
Democracy and Social Change
| Faculty | Research Interests | Courses in Academic Year 2024/2025 |
| Daniel Bochsler | Ethnic politics, Central and Eastern Europe, Political transition/democratisation, Elections, Political institutions | Elections and Democracy, Frontiers in Political Regimes and Institutions |
| Matthijs Bogaards | Ethnic conflict, Cvil war, Democratization, Deliberative democracy, African politics, Gender, Terrorism, Hybrid regimes, Consociationalism, Power sharing, Feminist institutionalism, Parties, Party systems, De-democratization |
Comparative European Politics, Terrorism: A Comparative Politics Perspective |
| Andras Bozoki | Political and social change, Democratization, Central European politics, Hybrid regimes, Political ideologies, Democratic theory, Elite theory, Anarchism, The role of intellectuals | Central Europe: Natural and Symbolic Geography – History, Culture, and Politics, Comparative Politics, Political Change: Evolution and Revolution, Political Ideologies and Intellectuals, Analyzing Democracy |
| Zsolt Enyedi (MA Program Director) | Political institutions, Representativeness of political parties, Party organization and party competition, Authoritarianism, Prejudices and political tolerance, Religion in electoral behavior, Church and state relations, Party finance | Illiberalism: politics and ideologies |
| Zoltan Miklosi | Moral and political philosophy, Distributive justice, Political obligation, Democratic theory | Introduction to Political Theory, The Ethics of Democratic Citizenship |
| Melis Laebens | Democratic backsliding, Political parties and Electoral behavior | on leave |