PD Dr. Klaus Detterbeck

It is with great regret that the Institute of Political Science informs that Dr Klaus Detterbeck sadly passed away on 15 September 2023.
Obituary for Privatdozent Dr Klaus Detterbeck



Klaus Detterbeck has been a research associate at the Institute of Political Science since 1 January 2018. His teaching and research focussed on European integration, comparative political systems and politics in Germany.

Curriculum Vitae
Klaus Detterbeck has studied political science, psychology and philosophy at the University of Heidelberg and at Trinity College Dublin. Afterwards, he attended the DFG Graduate Programme „The Future of the European Social Model“ at the University of Göttingen. He completed his PhD thesis, supervised by Prof. Dr. Peter Lösche, in 2001. The PhD thesis analyzed the transformation of political parties in Western Europe. Klaus Detterbeck then worked several years at the University of Magdeburg, where he also completed his post-doctoral thesis on “Multi-level Party Politics in Western Europe” (published by Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) in 2010. He has held interim professorships for political science and its didactics at the Universities of Education in Karlsruhe (2009-2010) and Schwäbisch Gmünd (2013-2016). He returned to Göttingen during the winter term 2016/17, substituting the German politics chair, before assuming his current position as a senior lecturer & researcher.

Research Focus

  • Political parties
  • Federalism and regionalism
  • Regions in the European Union


Co-editor of Territory, Politics, Governance

Selected Publications:

Monographs and Edited Volumes

  • Handbook of Territorial Politics (edited with Eve Hepburn). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2018.
  • The End of Duopoly? The Transformation of the British Party System (edited with Klaus Stolz). Augsburg: Wißner, 2018.
  • Europa in der Grundschule (edited with Helmar Schöne). Schwalbach: Wochenschau Verlag, 2018.
  • Political Parties and Civil Society in Federal States (edited with Wolfgang Renzsch and John Kincaid). Don Mills: Oxford University Press Canada, 2015.
  • Multi-level party politics in Western Europe. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.
  • Parteien und Parteiensystem. Konstanz: UVK Verlag. UTB-Lehrbuch, 2011.
  • Föderalismus in Deutschland (edited with Wolfgang Renzsch and Stefan Schieren). München: Oldenbourg Verlag, 2010.


Articles and Chapters

  • Europa als Fachkonzept und als Thema des Schulunterrichts: Zum Umgang mit den „europäischen Unübersichtlichkeiten“, in: Monika Oberle/Georg Weißeno (Hrsg.), Politikwissenschaft und Politikdidaktik. Theorie und Empirie.Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 2017, 153-168
  • The role of party and coalition politics in federal reform, in: Regional and Federal Studies,Vol. 26 (5), 2016, 645-666
  • Party inertia and federal change? Stability and adaptation in German parties, in: German Politics, Vol. 25 (2), 2016, 265-285
  • Candidate selection in Germany: local and regional elites still in control?, in: American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 60 (7), 2016, 837-852
  • Party politics in multi-level systems: party responses to new challenges in European democracies, in: Jan Erk/Wilfried Swenden (eds), New directions in federalism studies. London: Routledge, 2010, 106-125
  • Parteikarrieren im föderalen Mehrebenensystem, in: Michael Edinger/Werner J. Patzelt (eds), Politik als Beruf. PVS-Sonderheft 44/2010. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag, 2011, 145-167
  • Cartel parties in Western Europe?, in: Party Politics, Vol. 11 (3), 2005, 173-191