My research is located in the following areas:
Comparative Institutional Design
In my research on comparative institutional design, I mostly focus on the organization of legislative chambers. Even tough the organisation of legislative chambers and the consequences of parliamentary procedures have been among the most prominent research questions in legislative studies, relatively little attention has been paid to the role of oppositions. Linking the literature on legislative organization with my reserach interest in opposition power, I analyse the organization of democratically elected legislative chambers from the perspective of opposition players. My research focuses on possible explanations of different institutional design choices as well as on the consequences of legislative organization on elite behavior, public opinion, and government formation.
More information on ongoing and completed research in this area
Legislative Opposition Power
Democratic elections normally not only lead to the formation of a government but also result in an opposition. In this logic, a democratic election is as much about winning as it is about losing and, hence, oppositions are an inherent part of democracies. Despite this crucial role of opposition parties in democratic regimes, research in political science has mostly neglected oppositions and their role in democracies. Beyond my research on comparative institutional design, I analyze the behavior of opposition players in the legislature more generally.
More information on ongoing and completed research in this area
Perception of Democracy
Democracies are fragile. Recent literature has pointed to decreasing levels of support for democratic regimes in well-established democracies emphasizing a crisis of liberal democracy. At the same time, a large literature exists analyzing the determinants of satisfaction with democracy among citizens. However, scholars have repeatedly emphasized the problems with survey questions asking about the level of satisfaction with democracy. In my research, I argue that understanding public opinion about democracy should start with a detailed analysis of different perceptions of democracy and an understanding of what citizens identify to be an ideal type of democracy.
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International Human Rights Institutions
My research on human rights institutions primarily focuses on the question of compliance with international human rights agreements. Generally, the lack of impact of treaty ratification on actual compliance can be attributed to the specific characteristics of human rights agreements. As they lack aspects of reciprocity and mutual gains, human rights treaties are not self-enforcing. In my research, I focus on institutional design of regional human rights regimes and its effect on compliance with international agreements.
More information on ongoing and completed research in this area
If you are interested in more information on any of my projects, please send me an email: simone.wegmann@uni-potsdam.de
Simone Wegmann 