Main Research Area: Standards of Governance

In addition to the use of standards as an instrument of governance, the research focus "Standards of Governance" also deals with the transnational and cross-level standardization of governance itself. What is meant hereby is a far-reaching harmonisation of government practices through sets of requirements for "good governance", which are codified and propagated by states, international organisations and non-governmental norm entrepreneurs (such as NGOs). These standards concern, for example, mechanisms of political participation, accountability and evaluation of government action. In this research area, we take a critical look at the diffusion of these standards as well as the empirical consequences of their application.