Institutions of Politics: Design, Workings, and Implications

The PhD programme Institutions of Politics: Design, Workings, and Implications is concerned with the analysis of institutions in the broadest sense of the term.

• Brief outline of the programme
• Additional research
• Admission requirements
• Supervisors

Brief outline of the programme

Institutions are analysed both as dependent variables (in terms of their formation and design) and as independent variables (in terms of their impact on the attitudes, behaviour and values of political actors). We also pay particular attention to the normative and theoretical aspects of institutions and therefore we devote a substantial part of the programme to the question of how institutions can be designed, and to the implications of their functioning.

Since the founding of the institute, and not least as a result of its origins within the Faculty of Law, institutional analysis has figured prominently on the institutional research agenda. A renewed interest in institutions, as evidenced by the internati­onal political science literature since the early nineties, has served to reinforce this traditional emphasis. The Institute of Political Science is a member of the Netherlands Institute of Government (NIG) and participates in its research programmes.

Additional research

Research is the principal part of the PhD programme. Students conduct original research leading to a dissertation under the guidance of a supervisor. Almost all PhD candidates are engaged in additional research projects, either individually or with other PhD students or members of the institute's staff, and they routinely attend scientific conferences where they present their work.

Admission requirements

A prospective PhD candidate in this field should have:

1. considerable methodological knowledge and skills;
2. some experience in setting up and carrying out small-scale research projects;
3. knowledge of the contemporary social science literature relating to political science;
4. good writing skills;
5. a strong interest in doing original research at the highest level.

Supervisors

All full professors at the institute have the ius promovendi (the right to act as a PhD supervisor). The department’s associate and assistant professors may co-supervise a PhD project.