DANGER research project sheds light on political violence

What can be done to improve the effectiveness of vaccines? How can we predict our future climate? Are there alternative economic models to endless economic growth? These and other socially relevant questions are being addressed by the winners of an ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

Prof Dr Nils-Christian Bormann from the Faculty of Management, Economics and Society at Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H) is one of the current award winners. In his newly launched research project entitled "Democracy, Anger, and Elite Responses (DANGER)", he is investigating the dangers that political violence poses to European democracies and how politicians, for whom only a democratic system of government is an option, can counter these dangers.

"To this end, my team and I will compare coalitions between exclusively democratic parties with coalitions that also include anti-democratic parties in Europe in the interwar period (1919-1939). During this period, some democracies failed while others survived. We will then ask what effects these different coalitions had on political violence and whether they contributed to the salvation of democracies. We will later apply our insights to contemporary democracies in Europe. To do this, we need to collect new data on political violence and government alliances as well as develop new statistical models and carry out case studies," says Prof Bormann.

Political science meets history, economics and computer science

The research project takes an interdisciplinary approach and incorporates methods and insights from political science, history, economics and computer science. In the researcher's view, the research project is a good fit for the Department of Philosophy, Politics and Economics in Witten: "The UW/H and the department live this interdisciplinary approach. The UW/H attracts curious, independent and intellectually outstanding people. In small groups, research-oriented teaching is possible and students are closely involved in projects such as the DANGER project. The UW/H also allows me to concentrate fully on research for some time. This is not a given everywhere and is what makes excellent science possible in the first place."

The results of the DANGER project, which is scheduled to run for five years, are to be published in leading international journals and a book.

Scientific excellence

The European Research Council, established by the European Union in 2007, is the first European funding organisation for outstanding research. Funding is available to independent young researchers of any nationality with two to seven years' experience after completion of doctoral studies (or an equivalent academic degree) and a promising scientific track record.