The Institute of Political Science is a vibrant department with nearly 70 academic staff in Leiden and nearby The Hague.

Ms. Anaïs Massot defended her thesis on 26 January 2021

We are very happy to welcome you to spend the fall semester, spring semester or full academic year studying with us at the Institute of Political Science Leiden or campus The Hague. Here you will find practical information as an exchange student.

Je onderdompelen in de wereld van de lobby. Dat kan op donderdag 10 november tijdens de Nacht van de Lobbyist, een publiek event dat de Universiteit Leiden en de Public Affairs Academie voor de 2de keer organiseren. Vijf vragen aan initiatiefnemer Bert Fraussen, universitair docent bij het Instituut…

This dissertation offers a reconstruction of the propositional contents of the writings of Karl Popper, Leo Strauss, and Hannah Arendt while bringing these into discussion with their performative meanings, such as polemical forms of reasoning, analogical and metaphorical uses of language, and hidden…

On Wednesday 13 December 2017 Jaap Wieland defended his doctoral thesis entitled ‘De bescherming van concurrentiebelangen in het bestuursrecht’ (the Protection of Competition Interests in Administrative Law).

Are you thinking about studying Political Science? Watch the introduction video’s and learn more!

Both play and politics have the potential to create worlds in which new rules apply, meanings are created, and possibilities emerge for collaboration, strategy and creative solutions. In this sense, play and politics have always been very much alike. But what happens to this kinship in a post-digital…

In what ways do historical and current events affect how we should judge the legitimacy of political authorities?

On 27 September 2017 a new book by Prof. Luuk van Middelaar appeared, entitled The new politics of Europe. The book is at the same time a front line account of Europe’s recent crisis years – from monetary turmoil to tensions around Ukraine, from refugee crisis to Brexit – and an analysis of the Union’s…

This volume challenges the idea that the development of ‘democracy’ is a story of rise and progress at all. It is rather a story of continuous but never completely satisfying attempts of interpreting the rule of the people.

What was the practice of keeping the Necropolis Journal?

Hegemony and World Order explores a key question for our tumultuous times of multiple global crises.

In this paper, Sibgatullina and Abbas aim to illuminate the complex connections between the European right-wing movements and Islam and discusses how the adoption of Muslim identity may function as a politically strategic opportunity for European conservative forces.

The research group Politics, Culture and National Identities 1789-present investigates a wide range of national political cultures in Europe and the Americas in the 19th and 20th centuries. Instead of only analyzing high politics (the acts of governments and political parties), the research group focuses…

Choice is at the very heart of politics. War or peace, left or right, liberty or security, sovereignty or integration, consensus or conflict—choices matter. Choice is also key to your education. Choose an intellectually challenging programme in which you develop your knowledge and expertise in the study…

This research cluster is a part of the Institute of Political Science’s research programme ‘Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviour’. Its members study the design and functioning of Dutch political institutions as well as attitudes and behaviour of political elites and citizens.

Building on the recent initiative to truly globalize the field of international relations, this book provides an innovative interrogation of regionalism.

Political and social implications of life in a digital age.

Combine the analytical tools of the Political Science discipline with an in-depth study of current politics in the Netherlands.

The Centre for Political Philosophy (CPP) at Leiden University is an interdisciplinary platform for political thought. It aims to bring together all those with an active interest in the field from different institutes, branches and fields of study at Leiden University.

The Center participates in East European Politics, one of the major political science journals focusing on the contemporary post-communist space.

The aim of this project is to study what makes an act or form of violence a specifically political reality.

‘Internationale Politiek’ is a specialisation in the BSc programme in Political Sciences. It combinEs the core political science subjects with the study of international and global processes and institutions. This specialisation is partically taught in Dutch and based in Leiden.

East European Politics is a refereed journal which publishes articles on the government, politics and international relations of the post-communist world.

Politics and Aesthetics is one of the six research themes of the LUCAS Modern and Contemporary cluster.

As a Political Science student you will analyse political phenomena at a local, national and global level—covering a broad range of topics and applying state of the art methods. Your tutors are renown researchers in their field; Leiden is one of Europe’s oldest and highest ranking universities. Personal…

The three-year BSc programme ‘Politicologie’ introduces students to the key concepts and approaches of the Political Science discipline. It is based in the city of Leiden and taught primarily in Dutch .

This master’s programme focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of armed conflict between states and within states. In addition, we explore whether and how local, national and international actors and institutions can forge cooperation, prevent political and armed conflict from emerging,…

This book analyses the expulsion of delinquent foreigners and their exclusion from the territory through a comparative lens.

The specialisation Global Political Economy of the master’s in International Relations at Leiden University provides you with a cutting-edge understanding of the world economy and its social and political foundations.

The specialisation Culture and Politics of the Master’s in International Relations at Leiden University encourages critical perspectives on complexities of culture as an inextricable part of global politics.

For the next couple of years, Joris van der Voet, Associate Professor and researcher at the Institute for Public Administration will be heading a research project on top-level bureaucrats and how they go about making choices and prioritizing issues. He has been awarded a Vidi grant by the Dutch Research…

This project examines the meaning of this historical place, and the way it has been used by the political institutions that have had their seat there.

Are you thinking about studying European Politics and Society? Learn more and watch the videos.

The Indonesian Experience after the Fall of Suharto

The first results of the “Policing European Metropolises project” (PEMP) that associate Professor Elke Devroe and Professor P. Ponsaers launched in April 2013 are now published. Having been the referent for The Netherlands and Belgium in the Urbis project (Leonardo programme), the project focuses on…

This book concentrates on the regulation of political parties in the EU post-communist democracies, and on Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania, in particular.

This book focuses on policing in city-regions in Europe bringing together experts from across the continent to develop a sociology of urban policing and a unique methodology for comparing different metropolises in the same country.

An interdisciplinary collection of the best international scholarship on Muslim youth.

Promotores: Prof.dr. G.F.A Kersten, Prof dr. J.A. Bouwstra

Mari Nakamura defended her thesis on 14 March 2017

In the study of West-East relations, difference often takes centre stage. This holds for both culturalist and postcolonial perspectives. By contrast, in my investigation of Netherlands-Iran political relations in the 1960s and 1970s, I will focus on the role of SIMILARITY. What lay at the root of the…

25 years after the publication of Derrida’s Politics of Friendship (Politiques de l’amitié, 1994), this edited collection gathers 23 critical chapters that revisit this underappreciated text. Engaging closely with Derrida’s text, the contributors analyse, extend and critique the work. They reconsider…

This research cluster is a part of the Institute of Political Science’s research programme ‘Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviour’. Its members study phenomena such as migration, immigration, citizenship, integration, ethnic parties, minority and caste-based politics, borders and migration,…

How many written parliamentary questions does each party put to each minister? Political scientists Simon Otjes (University of Groningen) and Tom Louwerse (Leiden University) studied the practice in Dutch parliament and found that parties use parliamentary questions strategically as part of their ‘permanent…

The Global Politics of Confucianism, a monograph contracted with Columbia University Press, analyzes the interaction between Confucianism and globalism in past and present, using history to critically engage Confucianism’s place in contemporary international relations and policy debates.

The master's programme in Philosophy: Moral and Political Philosophy at Leiden University offers an excellent opportunity to explore fundamental issues in moral and political philosophy.