Summer School of the Standing Group on Political Parties

Who can apply

The Summer School welcomes applications from young scholars who are working on different aspects of political parties, offering them feedback on their PhD projects, research papers, or research project.

To apply, you must submit the following no later than 9 July 2025:

1. Your CV and cover letter;
2. Extended abstract of the Paper that you wish to present at the Summer School (500–800 words) OR Synopsis of the larger research project you're working on (800–1000 words).

Partial or incomplete applications will not be processed. Late applications will not be accepted.

You will be informed about the outcome of your application by email by July.

Fees

The participation fee is €250, roughly £213, which includes a reception with dinner, coffee breaks, lunch each day and social activities.

You will be required to arrange and pay for your own travel, accommodation and subsistence.

Funding

To encourage students from diverse backgrounds and universities to attend, the standing group will offer a limited number of fee waivers.

To apply, please include in your Summer School application a statement outlining why you feel you require the fee waiver, along with evidence that you are not in receipt of any other funding for the event.

Participants should explore all available funding options provided by their university, including scholarships, grants, and bursaries, before applying for the fee waiver.

Programme

The engaging five-day programme comprises a series of lectures delivered by the field’s foremost experts, in-depth discussions of participants’ research projects, a practitioners’ roundtable and social activities.

This year, the summer school will place a special emphasis on the governance challenges and integrity risks in party politics, exploring how issues of corruption, transparency, and regulation shape the functioning of political parties in both young and established democracies.

The intense but exciting schedule will touch on major approaches to research on party politics at the macro-, meso- and micro-levels in young and established democracies covering different world regions.

Core themes explored throughout the week include:

• National and transnational party systems and parties
• Party system institutionalisation
• Parties and civil society
• Party types, families, and the evolution of 'populist' and 'digital' parties
• Party finance, regulation, corruption, party bans, and integrity in party funding and assistance
• Party organisation, institutionalisation, and reform
• Party manifestos, electoral competition, and coalition-building
• Intra-party democracy, candidate selection, and party membership
• Hands-on session on multi-method designs and databases in party politics research

Pogramme Highlights:

• Lectures by internationally renowned experts in party politics
• In-depth discussions of participants’ research projects
• Practitioners' roundtable on party governance and accountability
• Sessions on research design, methods, data collection and analysis
• Social and networking activities across regional and disciplinary borders

Faculty

The confirmed instructors for the Summer School are:

• Andreas Blätte University of Duisburg-Essen
• Kristina Weissenbach  University of Duisburg-Essen
• Richard Katz  John Hopkins University
• Patricia Correa Vila  Aston University
• Sebnem Yardimci-Geyikci  University of Bonn
• Simon Franzmann  Georg-August University Göttingen
• Thomas Poguntke Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf