Philipp Harfst is a Junior Professor at the University of Greifswald. His research interests focus on political institutions, electoral research, and European political systems in comparative perspective. Currently, he concentrates on two major areas. At the macro level, he examines the field of political institutions and their change. In this context he focuses on the identification of changing patterns of democracy and the consequences of electoral systems and their changes on party systems, democratic quality and the quality of representation. Second, he is interested in the contextual determinants of vote choice at the micro level. In particular, he studies the effects of different electoral rules on electoral behaviour, analysing the impact of two-vote elections on strategic voting, the importance of candidates' national and regional ties for vote choice as well as the use of preferential votes in open list systems.

Contributions : 

Philipp presents his work at a seminar organised by the "Evaluation of democracy" research group on the 12th of March: "Strategic voting in two-vote elections".

Publications : 

Philipp Harfst (2014): "Germany's Academic Tea Party. The 2013 German Federal Election Produced Some Surprises", in: Inroads. The Canadian Journal of Opinion 35, 39-48
 
Philipp Harfst (2013): "Changing the Rules of the Game. Determinants of Successful Electoral System Change in Central and Eastern Europe", International Political Science Review 34 (4), 427-443
 
Philipp Harfst (2011): "Wahlsysteme: institutionelle Entwicklung und politische Auswirkungen", in: Florian Grotz/Ferdinand Müller-Rommel (eds.): Regierungssysteme in Mittel- und Osteuropa. Die neuen EU-Staaten im Vergleich, Wiesbaden: VS-Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 95-114
 
Philipp Harfst (2011) "Arend Lijphart", in: Peter Massing/Gotthard Breit/Hubertus Buchstein (eds.): Demokratie-Theorien. Von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Schwalbach: Wochenschau Verlag, 265-273