Prof. Dr. Markus Freitag

Professorship of Political Sociology

Institute of Political Science

Phone
+41 31 684 46 85
Phone2
+41 31 684 83 31
E-Mail
markus.freitag@unibe.ch
Office
A 152
Postal Address
University Bern
Institute of Political Science
Fabrikstrasse 8
3012 Bern
Switzerland

About Prof. Dr. Markus Freitag

Markus Freitag studied political science, economics, and German language and literature at Heidelberg University. After obtaining the degree of Magister Artium in 1995, he joined the University of Bern as a doctoral candidate and scientific assistant and completed his doctoral degree (PhD) in 1999. Following various post-doc and lecturer positions– at the Center of European and International Studies of the University of Basel (Europainstitut Basel), the ETH Zurich, and the University of Essex (GB) – Freitag was a visiting lecturer at the University of Konstanz and a research assistant at the University of Bern. From 2004 to 2005 he was assistant professor at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, where he taught courses on comparative politics. From 2005 to 2011 Freitag held the Chair of Comparative Politics at the University of Konstanz. In August 2011, he was appointed to director at the Institute of Political Science, University of Bern, and professor of political sociology. His research activities interests include political sociology , political psychology, and comparative politics. He has also headed several research projects, focusing specifically on the collection of data on under-researched topics by means of specially designed questionnaires. He has published extensively in journals such as British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Electoral Studies, European Journal of Political Research, European Political Science Review, European Union Politics, European Sociological Review, Governance, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Politics, Political Psychology, Public Opinion Quarterly, Publius, and West European Politics among others.

CV

Recent Publications

2023

  • The Emotional Fabric of Populism during a Public Health Crisis. How Anger Shapes the Relationship between Pandemic Threat and Populist Attitudes, in: European Political Science Review, 2023 (together with Maximilian Filsinger and Nathalie Hofstetter). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773923000036.
     
  • The Geography of Autocracy. Regime Preference along the Rural-Urban Divide in 32 Countries, in: Democratization, 2023 (together with Alina Zumbrunn). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2023.2171995.

2022

  • The Pandemic and the Question of National Belonging: Covid-19 Threat and Conceptions of Nationhood, in: European Journal of Political Research, 2022 (together with Steffen Wamsler, Julian Erhardt and Max Filsinger) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12515.
     
  • What drives Political Support? Evidence from a Survey Experiment at the Onset of the Corona Crisis, in: Contemporary Politics, 2022, (together with Max Filsinger, Steffen Wamsler and Julian Erhardt), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2021.2010345.
     
  • Direct Democracy, Personality, and Political Interest in Comparative Perspective, in: Politics, 2022 (together with Alina Zumbrunn), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957221074897.
     
  • Pandemic Threat and Authoritarian Attitudes, in: Europe. An Empirical Analysis of the Exposure to Covid-19, in: European Union Politics, 2022 (together with Max Filsinger), DOI: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14651165221082517.
     
  • Pandemic Threat and Intergroup Relations: How negative emotions associated with the threat of Covid-19 shape attitudes towards immigrants, in: Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2022 (together with Nathalie Hofstetter), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2022.2031925.

2021

  • Rally around your fellows: Information and social trust in a real-world experiment during the corona crisis, in: The Social Science Journal (together with Max Filsinger, Julian Erhardt, and Steffen Wamsler). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2021.1954463.
     
  • When good news backfires: Feelings of disadvantage in the Corona crisis, in: International Political Science Review (together with Max Filsinger). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/01925121211002736.
     
  • The Emotional Foundations of Political Support: How Fear and Anger Affect Trust in the Government in Times of the Covid-19 Pandemic, in: Swiss Political Science Review (together with Julian Erhardt, Max Filsinger, and Steffen Wamsler). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12462.
     
  • National Identity and Populism. The Relationship between Conceptions of Nationhood and Populist Attitudes, in: Nations and Nationalism (together with Max Filsinger, Steffen Wamsler and Julian Erhardt). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12689.

Short description

Markus Freitag's academic focus is on political sociology and political psychology. His teaching and research are characterised by a predominantly comparative and empirical approach as well as an interdisciplinary linkage to other areas of social sciences. The staff of the chair provides theoretical and empirically-oriented seminars and lectures on a regular basis.

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Secretariat

Wissenschaftliche MitarbeiterIn

PostDoc

Assistants

Junior Assistants

PDFs

Methodenbericht zur Studie «Milizarbeit in der Schweiz»

Die Psyche des Politischen - Was der Charakter über unser politisches Denken und Handeln verrät

Das Buch kann bei NZZ Libro erworben werden.

Materialien zum Beitrag "Politische Kultur"

In: Yannis PAPADOPOULOS, Pascal SCIARINI, Adrian VATTER, Silja HÄUSERMANN, Patrick EMMENEGGER und Flavia FOSSATI (Hrsg.): 2022. Handbuch der Schweizer Politik, 7., völlig überarbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. Zürich: NZZ Verlag, 85–110.

150 Ideen zur Stärkung des Gemeinsinns in der Schweiz