Research

Research

In its research and teaching, the Department of Government primarily focuses on comparative and Austrian politics. Its research is concerned with political behaviour, political actors, such as political parties and politicians, political institutions, the processes governed by these institutions, as well as their outcomes. It includes work on political participation, voting behaviour, parties and party competition, coalition politics and Austrian politics in general and is mostly based on rationalist and behavioural approaches.

Our goal is to conduct high-level, internationally competitive research in the area of Comparative Politics with the collaboration of international project partners and research networks. At the Faculty of Social Sciences the department is mainly engaged in the key research area ''Political Competition and Communication: Democratic Representation in Changing Societies'.

The department’s approach places it in the discipline’s empirical-analytical core and is mostly based on quantitative social science methods. To map empirical phenomena accurately, researcher in the department focus on the continuous development of survey design, as well as on the analysis of empirical data by applying the best suited statistical model. The department aims to achieve the best work on Austrian politics and to make important contributions to the international academic literature on Comparative Government and Politics.

An overview of current publications and activities at the department can be found below and on the personal websites of our team.

Publications

Appeasement and rewards

Author(s)
Matthias Kaltenegger, Katharina Heugl, Wolfgang C. Müller
Abstract

Intra-party democracy calls for party elites being responsive towards party activists. Yet, empirically, we know relatively little about how responsive parties are towards their rank and file and the factors influencing these processes. This article investigates drivers of party responsiveness towards activists, using a novel data source. Following a case study approach, the article analyses how motions submitted at 41 post-war party congresses of the Austrian Social Democratic Party were treated by party elites (n = 3249). Results indicate that elite responsiveness is a means to appease activists when the party underperforms in party competition. Elites vary responsiveness across intra-party groups. They are more ready to accept the demands of those groups that are affected most by the party's failure to deliver. Party elites are also more responsive towards electorally successful subunits.

Organisation(s)
Department of Government, Department of Communication
Journal
Party Politics
Volume
27
Pages
363-375
No. of pages
13
ISSN
1354-0688
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068819854205
Publication date
06-2019
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
506014 Comparative politics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Sociology and Political Science
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/8141503b-7cfd-4080-b644-4959991af0b3