Steffen Kailitz (born 18 May 1969) is a German

political scientist Political science is the science, scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of politics, political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated c ...

and a senior research fellow at the

Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism The Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarianism Studies (German: ''Hannah-Arendt-Institut für Totalitarismusforschung'', abbreviated HAIT) is a research institute hosted by Dresden University of Technology and devoted to the comparative analysis ...

. He specializes in comparative studies of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied share ...

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

, electoral systems and studies of

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

. He has also testified as an expert witness before the

Federal Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court (german: link=no, Bundesverfassungsgericht ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inc ...

, the

Parliament of Bavaria The Landtag of Bavaria, officially known in English as the Bavarian State Parliament, is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Bavaria. The parliament meets in the Maximilianeum in Munich. Elections to the Landtag are held every f ...

and other government authorities. Kailitz earned a PhD in political science at

Chemnitz University of Technology Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

in 1999; his doctoral advisor was

Eckhard Jesse Eckhard Jesse (born 16 July 1948 in Wurzen, Saxony) is a German political scientist. He held the chair for "political systems and political institutions" at the Technical University of Chemnitz from 1993 to 2014. Jesse is one of the best known G ...

. He has worked as a researcher at Chemnitz University of Technology since 1998 and earned his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in 2005. Following his critical comments regarding the far-right NPD party the party initiated legal proceedings against him, that were eventually dismissed by the court.

Bibliography

* ''Die politische Deutungskultur im Spiegel des „Historikerstreits“. What's right? What's left?''. Westdeutscher Verlag, Wiesbaden 2001, (TU Chemnitz 1999). * ''Aktuelle Entwicklungen im deutschen Rechtsextremismus'' (= ''Zukunftsforum Politik''. No. 17).

Konrad Adenauer Foundation The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (german: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, KAS) is a German political party foundation associated with but independent of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The foundation's headquarters are located in Sank ...

, Sankt Augustin 2000. * ''Politischer Extremismus in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Eine Einführung''. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2004, . * ''Rechtsextremismus in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Auf dem Weg zur "Volksfront"?'' (= ''Zukunftsforum Politik''. No. 65). Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Sankt Augustin 2005, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kailitz, Steffen German political scientists 1969 births Living people