Benjamin Gerhard Engst

About

I am Associate Professor for Political Science, within Public Policy & Administration. I hold a Ph.D. in Political Science form the Center for Doctoral Studies in Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Mannheim and studied or worked at the Universities of Mannheim, Göttingen, Hannover, and Konstanz (all Germany), as well as the Johns Hopkins University and Emory Universty (both USA).

My research interests include Comparative Political Behavior, Comparative Political Institutions, Public Policy, and Administration with a focus on interactions between politics, law, and society in a cross-European comparison. My work is, among other outlets, published in the Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Law and Courts, and the Journal of Legal Studies. I am a major contributor to The Constitutional Court Database and the German section of the Comparative Agendas Project. Moreover, I currently serve as Chair on the Steering Committee of the ECPR Standing Group on Law & Courts.

Research

The German Agendas Project as part of the Comparative Agendas Project

The German Agendas Project offers a series of datasets capturing the structure of distinct political agendas from 1976 until 2021. The project is based at the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Konstanz.

The Constitutional Court Database

The Constitutional Court Database aims to assist understanding the interaction between a constitutional court, politics and society. It contains information on court decisions and links them to legislative data as well as data on the societal context.

Publications

Book

Engst, B. G. 2021. The Two Faces of Judicial Power. Dynamics of Judicial-Political Bargaining. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-46016-7.

Journal Article

Engst, B. G. / D. M. Grundmanns / T. Gschwend. n.d. „How to place non-majoritarian institutions and political actors in a common policy space? Spatial modeling of court–executive interactions.” Accepted at Journal of Politics.

Arnold, C. / B. G. Engst / T. Gschwend. 2023. “Scaling Court Decisions with Citation Networks.” Journal of Law and Courts 11 (1): 25-44. DOI: 10.1086/717420.

Garwe, C. / B. G. Engst / Y. Stawicki / C. Hönnige. 2022. “Temporal Strategies. Governments Alter the Pace of Legislation in Bicameralism Depending on Electoral Expectations.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 47 (1): 127-156. DOI: 10.1111/lsq.12327.

Zúñiga, M. G. / A. Schell / B. G. Engst / J. P. Carey. 2021. “Reducing Sound Exposure during Ocular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential Testing for Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence Syndrome.” Otology & Neurotology 42 (6): 735-743. DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000003084.

Zúñiga, M. G. / S. Hügl / B. G. Engst / T. Lenarz / T. S. Rau. 2021. “The Effect of Ultra-slow Velocities on Insertion Forces. A study Using a Highly Flexible Straight Electrode Array.” Otology & Neurotology 42 (8): 1013-1021. DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000003148.

Engst, B. G. / T. Gschwend / S. Sternberg. 2020. “Die Besetzung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts. Ein Spiegelbild gesellschaftlicher Präferenzen?” Politische Vierteljahresschrift 61 (2): 39-60. DOI: 10.1007/s11615-019-00204-7.

Clark, T. S. / B. G. Engst / J. K. Staton. 2018. “Estimating the Effect of Leisure on Judicial Performance.” Journal of Legal Studies 47 (2): 349-390. DOI: 10.1086/699150.

Engst, B. G. / T. Gschwend / N. Schaks / S. Sternberg / C. Wittig. 2017. “Zum Einfluss der Parteinähe auf das Abstimmungsverhalten der Bundesverfassungsrichter. Eine quantitative Untersuchung.” Juristen Zeitung 72 (17): 816-826. DOI: 10.1628/002268817X15004527599072.

Sternberg, S. / T. Gschwend / C. Wittig / B. G. Engst. 2016. “Zum Einfluss der öffentlichen Meinung auf Entscheidungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts. Eine Analyse von abstrakten Normenkontrollen sowie Bund-Länder-Streitigkeiten 1974 – 2010.” Politische Vierteljahresschrift 56 (4): 570-598. DOI: 10.5771/0032-3470-2015-4-570.

Chapters in edited volumes

Engst, B. G. / T. Gschwend. 2024. “Observational Databases.” In: L. Epstein / G. Grendstad / U.Sadl / K.Weinshall (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Judicial Behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192898579.013.12.

Engst, B. G. / C. Hönnige. 2018. “Modern Times? Das Internet vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht.” In: A. Busch, Y. Breindl, T. Jakobi (eds). Netzpolitik. Ein einführender Überblick. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften: 163-187. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-02033-0 8.

Engst, B. G. 2017. “Die vierte Gesetzeslesung. Verfassungsgerichte des deutsch-österreichischen Modells als Vetospieler.” In: V. Frick, O. Lembcke, R. Lhotta (eds). Politik und Recht: Umrisse eines politikwissenschaftlichen Forschungsfeldes. Baden-Baden: Nomos: 281-301. DOI: 10.5771/ 9783845280349-281.

2025

Engst, Benjamin Gerhard; Grundmanns, David M.; Gschwend, Thomas. (2025) How to Place Non-Majoritarian Institutions and Political Actors in a Common Policy Space: Spatial Modeling of Court–Executive Interactions. Journal of Politics
Academic article

2024

Engst, Benjamin Gerhard; Gschwend, Thomas. (2024) Observational Databases.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

Journal publications

Engst, Benjamin Gerhard; Grundmanns, David M.; Gschwend, Thomas. (2025) How to Place Non-Majoritarian Institutions and Political Actors in a Common Policy Space: Spatial Modeling of Court–Executive Interactions. Journal of Politics
Academic article

Part of book/report

Engst, Benjamin Gerhard; Gschwend, Thomas. (2024) Observational Databases.
Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

Teaching

Courses

Lecture

POL3526 - Comparative Public Policy and Administration

Outreach

Indiana University: European Encounters

European Encounters is a meetup series connecting Indiana University faculty with European colleagues. In this session, Dr. Webster & Dr. Engst discussed the rise of populism in the U.S. & Europe, with focus on the U.S. election & transatlantic ties.

Språkvelger

Benjamin Gerhard Engst