«The best political science department in Switzerland» Die Personalkrise am Institut für Politikwissenschaft entschärft sich langsam aber sicher. Zwei Disziplinen, die unterschiedlicher nicht sein könnten, erhalten neue Professoren. Das zoon politikon fühlte ihnen ausserhalb des Vorlesungssaals auf den Zahn.
Marco Steenbergen Welche sind Ihre Forschungsschwerpunkte, was interessiert Sie besonders auf Ihrem Gebiet? Marco Steenbergen: My research can be divided into methodological and substantive contributions. Since my chair is in methods, I’ll start with my methodological research first. Here, I am particularly interested in two areas: causal inference and choice models. Causality is a bit like the holy grail of political science. Ultimately, political scientists would like to know what causes outcomes like war and prosperity. But drawing valid causal inferences is also one of the most difficult challenges of science. The old dictum that correlation is not causation remains very true. While it is relatively easy to assess whether two phenomena hang together, marking one as a cause and the other as the effect is difficult. Even if we have a clear cause in mind – for example, some policy – then establishing its true effect is not easy. But a lot of progress has been made and my research team and I have been working to expand political scientists’ tool chest for drawing causal inferences. My work on choice models has a different background. It is inspired by two ideas. The first is simply that choice is a defining aspect of politics – politics is about making choices. The second is that, if we want to model choice behavior, it better reflects realistic assumptions about human decision making. Many of the statistical models of choice treat people as if they are capable of handling large amounts of information. We know this is not true. Thus, I have been working on models that make more realistic assumptions about human behavior. Actually, my methodological work on choice behavior ties in very neatly with my substantive work. Apart from being trained as a methodologist, my background is in political psychology.
in political psychology fit particularly well with the focus on democracy that is reflected in, for example, the NCCR. I also was particularly interested in the position because it is a methods professorship. Methods training has always been an important part of my teaching. When I decided to move from the US to Switzerland in 2007, I decided that I needed a break from it. My chair in Bern was in political sociology and political psychology. But I very quickly found that one of the most important contributions I can make to students’ education is by imparting methodological knowledge. Thus, even in Bern I have begun to teach more methods. I am looking forward to doing even more of this in Zürich. Was erhoffen Sie von Ihrer Arbeit and der Uni ZH? Haben Sie bestimmte Pläne oder Ziele bezüglich des Methoden-Unterrichts? Marco Steenbergen: My hope is to help strengthen the IPZ even further. The methods chair provides unique opportunities in this regard. Methodology plays an ever more central role in political science. Political methodology is now a recognized sub-field of political science and many of the best depart-
ZUR PERSON
Marco Steenbergen Marco Steenbergen wird zum HS 2011 hin die Vorlesung zur Einfühung in die Methoden übernehmen. Er hat an der Universität Amsterdam den Doktor in Politikwissenschaften gemacht und war associate professor an der Carnegie Mellon University und assistance professor an der University of North Carolina. In den letzten vier Jahren war er Professor für Politische Soziologie und Politische Psychologie an
Was fürt Sie an die Uni Zürich, wie kommt es zu der Anstellung als Methoden-Professor am IPZ? Marco Steenbergen: What brings me to Zürich is actually quite simple. In my opinion, the IPZ is the best political science department in Switzerland and one of the best in Europe. I want to be part of such a department. I also believe that my interests
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der Universität Bern. Kleine Randbemerkung: Die Vorlesung wird dann schon auf Deutsch gehalten.
zoon politikon | februar 2011 | nr. 10
Die Interviews führte Sarah Schlüter