This volume takes stock and understands better what liberal ideas and institutions actually mean in the 21st century and why they are currently so heavily contested. It introduces the concept of “liberal script” to analyze but also problematize liberal thinking as much as its different...

This contribution submits a specific description of the contemporary liberal script based on a sociological reconstruction. A script consists of a complex set of prescriptive and descriptive statements and a specific grammar that points to the relationship between them. We start by identifying...

Non-democratic regimes have increasingly been hosting major sports events to boost their visibility and image abroad, which sparked debates about the potential for “sportswashing”. Using the case of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar we examine how the framing of the tournament influenced...

The 1990s saw a systemic shift from the liberal post–World War II international order of liberal multilateralism (LIO I) to a post–Cold War international order of postnational liberalism (LIO II). LIO II has not been only rule-based but has openly pursued a liberal social purpose with a...

(Transnational) private actors have a significant role in ‘global governance’. But their influence varies significantly, both across time and issues. The major challenge for theorizing about non-state actors in world politics is not only to demonstrate that they matter but explain where,...

The aim of the paper is twofold. On the one hand, it proposes a conjunctural theory for the stability (and change) of autocratic regimes that is based on three interdependent pillars: legitimation, repression and co-optation. It is argued that these three pillars provide an autocracy with vital...

Autokratische Regime haben in den letzten beiden Dekaden eine große Aufmerksamkeit in den Sozialwissenschaften auf sich gezogen. Dieser Aufsatz versucht eine Zwischenbilanz. Es wird argumentiert, dass der gemeinsame Fluchtpunkt dieser Forschungsanstrengungen die Erklärung autokratischer...