Prof. Dr. Christine Landfried, born 1949 in Altenburg, is an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Hamburg. She studied history, political science and international law in Heidelberg and at Harvard University. Visiting professorships have led her to Sciences Po Paris, the University of California at Berkeley and the Yale Law School. As emeritus, she held a Max Weber professorship at New York University from 2014 to 2016. A central focus of her work is on political finance, constitutional jurisdiction, European integration and the role of art in democratic societies. In the context of her studies of the EU, she analyzes the conditions under which cultural, economic and political differences can be a potential for democratic governance.

Publications (Selection)

2019 | ed.) Judicial Power. How Constitutional Courts Affect Political Transformations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

2019 | Bürgerkonferenzen als Potential für einen Neuanfang der EU, in: Forschungsjournal Soziale Bewegungen, Heft 4.

2011 | The Concept of Difference, in: Kolja Raube, Annika Sattler (eds.), Difference and Democracy, Frankfurt, New York: Campus.

2002 | Das politische Europa. Differenz als Potential der Europäischen Union, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2. Auflage 2005, 3rd edition forthcoming in 2020.         

1990 | Parteienfinanzierung und politische Macht. Eine vergleichende Studie zur Bundesrepublik Deutschland, zu Italien und den USA, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2nd edition 1994.

Awards (Selection)

2016 | Schader-Preis

2016 | Senior Émile Noël Fellow at NYU School of Law

1996 | Fellow at Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin

Project description

The cultural foundations of democracies

Democracies are based on challenging cultural conditions such as trust and solidarity. A culture of trust arises from the common action of citizens in public space, through the experience of effective participation and in the exchange between representatives and those represented about the variety of political perspectives. We have observed for a decade that a part of the citizens in Europe and the United States are losing confidence in the political elites and democratic institutions. During her stay at Thomas Mann House, Christine Landfried wants to investigate whether new forms of political participation, such as citizen conferences, can help to regain trust in democratic politics.