André Kaiser

André Kaiser is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Cologne's Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences. He serves as a Principal Investigator in the Cluster of Excellence 2126: ECONtribute: Markets & Public Policy since 2019 and is a faculty member of the international Max Planck Research School 'The Social and Political Constitution of the Economy' in Cologne. His extensive administrative roles include serving as Vice-President of the German consortium for the Turkish-German University since 2017 and as an elected member of the DFG Review Board 111 Social Sciences since 2016.

Dr. Kaiser earned his PhD from the University of Freiburg in 1994 and completed his habilitation at the University of Mannheim in 2000. His academic career progressed from Assistant Professor at the University of Mannheim (1996-2003) to Full Professor at the University of Cologne since 2003 (holding C4/W3 status). Prior to this, he served as a Full Professor pro tempore at the University of Konstanz (2000-2001).

Professor Kaiser's research primarily focuses on comparative political institutions, with particular emphasis on federalism, decentralization, and multilevel governance systems. His work examines executive and legislative behavior in parliamentary democracies during periods of external shocks, exploring how political institutions adapt to crises. His scholarship bridges theoretical frameworks with empirical analysis of political behavior across different institutional contexts, contributing significantly to our understanding of how political systems function under stress.

His publication record demonstrates a consistent trajectory of high-impact research in top political science journals over the past 25 years. Recent work shows increasing attention to contemporary democratic challenges including democratic backsliding in Turkey, gender representation in multilevel systems, and asymmetric accommodation of minorities. His research combines theoretical innovation with rigorous empirical analysis, often employing comparative methods across multiple political systems.

Professor Kaiser holds several significant leadership positions including membership on the Rectorate Tenure Commission at the University of Cologne since 2016, service on the Board of Competence Area II - Social and Economic Behavior since 2014, and advisory roles at the University of Exeter and Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg.

As Principal Investigator in the ECONtribute Cluster of Excellence, Professor Kaiser leads research at the intersection of political institutions and economic policy. The cluster, Germany's first in economics jointly funded by the Universities of Cologne and Bonn, aims to develop new paradigms for analyzing markets and public policy in response to societal challenges. His leadership extends to the Cologne Center for Comparative Politics (CCCP), which serves as a hub for comparative political research within the university's research infrastructure.