Prof. Dr. Miriam Hartlapp
Professor
Office hours
• 21.07, 14-15h
• 19.08, 14-15h
• 16.09, 10-12h
• 07.10, 14-15h
Please register for this with Ines Stavrinakis at ines.stavrinakis@fu-berlin.de. When registering, please indicate the date (and, if applicable, the time slot on that day) on which you would like to attend a consultation appointment. You will then be allocated a time slot of approx. 10 min (as with a face-to-face consultation). For larger concerns, please ask for more than one slot.
In preparation for the consultation hour, please note the information on communicating with lecturers. If you would like to write your thesis with Prof. Hartlapp or need an expert opinion, please read the information on this under the tab "Teaching" on this page.
If you have questions about the German-French degree programmes, please consult the homepage of the degree programmes as well as the study and examination regulations of your degree programme before contacting us.
You will find the answers to many questions in our FAQs on enrolment and re-registration.
If you are considering doing a PhD at Prof. Hartlapp's, please read the information for potential PhD projects first.
If you are considering doing a PhD with Prof. Hartlapp, please be sure to have read following document: Information for potential PhD supervises
CV of Prof. Dr. Miriam Hartlapp
Born 1975 in Bonn (Germany); 1994-2000 Studies at the University of Osnabrück, Universidad de Complutense Madrid/ Spain and Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Poitiers/ France, 1998 Maîtrise en Gestion Internationale/ Poitiers, 2000 Magister European Studies/ Osnabrück
2000-2003 Doctoral Student and Postdoctoral Fellow, project “New Governance and Social Europe: Theory and Practice of Minimum Harmonization and Soft Law in the Multilevel System” (directed by Prof. G. Falkner) at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne), Dr. rer. pol. in Political Science, Dept. of Social Sciences, University of Osnabrück
2003-2004 International Labour Organisation (ILO), Geneva.
2004-2008 Senior Researcher, Unit: Labour Market Policy and Employment at the Social Science Research Center Berlin
2008-2013 Head of independent Schumpeter Junior Research Group 'Position Formation in the EU Commission' at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB)
2013-2014 Professor for ‘Organisation and Governance Studies’, University of Bremen
2014-2017 Professor for Multilevel Governance, Leipzig University
Since 2017 Center for Comparative Politics of Germany and France
Guest/Fellowships at Max Planck Institut for Social Law and Social Policy (MPISoc), Munich (2010), European University Institute Florence (EUI) (2012), Sciences Po Grenoble (2017), Sorbonne Paris (2018) & Sciences Po Paris (2022)
Teaching during the summer term 2024
Aktuelle Lehrveranstaltungen (Wintersemester 2025/26)
Prof. Dr. Miriam Hartlapp
Wednesday,
12-14
Proseminar The social dimension of the ecological transformation of EU-politics 15121 Garystr. 55 / Raum 105 Link Tuesday,
14-16
Hauptseminar Case-studies and comparisons: an overview over positivistic, qualitative research designs
15164 Garystr. 55 / Raum 302a Link Wednesday,
14-16
Seminar The State is back: industrial policy and other market interventions 15471 Ihnestr. 22 / UG 1 Link Tuesday,
16-18
Kolloquium Colloquium European Integration and Comparative Politics
15546 Ihnestr. 22 / UG 2 Link Tuesday,
10-12
Seminar Introduction and Basics of German and French politics 15571 Ihnestr. 22 / UG 3 Link
Submission of assessed coursework
For submission of coursework, essays etc. please send an electronic copy to miriam.hartlapp[at]fu-berlin.de and sumit one hard copy addressed to the research centre as well as to Prof. Dr. Miriam Hartlapp via the postbox at Ihnestraße 22 (duplex print, single paper clip, NO folders, sleeves etc.)
Final thesis submission (BA, MA, teaching degree)
Students that want to write their final thesis under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Miriam Hartlapp should send a written prospectus at least 4 weeks in advance of their respective registration period. Please also consult the “BA or MA thesis prospectus template” and consider the “Information for BA and MA graduate candidates”. You should have – at the minimum – regularly attended one of my seminars and submitted a piece of assessed work.
References (for scholarships, foreign exchanges, MA-applications, …)
I am happy to supply references needed for scholarships, foreign exchanges or graduate degree applications. In order for me to do so, you will have to have regularly attended at least one of my seminars and submitted a piece of assessed work. Please send me a document entailing all relevant information, for which you can consult the “Information for References (for scholarships, foreign exchanges, MA applications,…)”, at least 4 weeks in advance of your reference deadline.
Please be adviced that, due to the amount of requests I receive, I do not provide references for student internships.
Overview of ongoing and completed research activities
The Center for Comparative Politics of Germany and France understands itself as part of the field of Comparative Politics, with a focus on politics, polity, and policy in Germany and France as well as their role in the EU. Real-world problems arising from the interaction of state, economy, and society in multi-level systems serve as the starting point for theory-driven comparative analyses. Analytically and conceptually, we employ actor- and institution-centered approaches that serve as a general theoretical framework, compatible with various research designs and forms of comparison: combining quantitative and qualitative analyses, comparing policies across countries, policy areas, and over time, as well as using mixed-methods designs that link case studies with medium-N comparisons (N = 30–90).
The research conducted at the center can be grouped into three categories:
Comparative State Activity
Conflicts in the EU Multi-Level System
Representation
You can find more information under "Research"
I. Comparative State Activity
In this focus area, we examine, from a comparative perspective, the design of policy instruments, their form and their contents. We study changes in economic, employment, and social policy resulting from external (EU policies) and internal influences (demographic change, party competition, etc.). At a higher level, we are consistently interested in the relationship between market and state.
Databases, current projects and publications
- Database on EU Social Policy
- Hartlapp, M. (2025) ‘Synergies and tensions between environmental and social goals in public procurement’. In Domorenok, E., Graziano, P. and Zimmermann, K. (eds) The eco-social polity? Theoretical, conceptual and empirical issues, Bristol, Bristol University Press/ Policy Press, p. 208-224.
- Hartlapp, M. (2023). Beyond "economic nationalism"? Populist parties (limited) influence on public procurement in France and Germany. Paper presented at the workshop "The impact of 'populism' on European Public Policy" at the EUI, Florence.
- Anhörung im Bundestag zum "Übergang zu qualifizierten Mehrheitsentscheidungen im Bereich der Sozialpolitik in der Europäischen Union", 15. März 2021
II. Conflict in the EU Multi-Level System
This focus area centers on conflict within the EU multi-level system. We are interested both in conflict lines and cleavages within and between EU institutions, and in conflicts between the European and national levels. What shapes these conflicts? How do actors and institutions handle them? And under what conditions can they be (successfully) resolved?
Databases, current projects and publications
Database on position formation in the European Union.
The project "The European Parliament as an arena of contestation?" investigates conflict within the European Parliament. We ask when Eurosceptic MEPs vote along party lines and when they vote according to national interests, and which issues are discussed in a particularly aggressive and provocative manner. The project was carried out together with Tanja Börzel, Philipp Broniecki and Lukas Obholzer and is part of the Cluster of Excellence 'Contestations of the Liberal Script'. More information can be found on the project homepage.
The project "Effects of EU soft law across the multilevel system" aims at an improved understanding of the performance of the EU multilevel system through an analysis of EU soft law effects. What is the share of soft versus hard law in specific policy areas? When and why is EU soft law implemented in nation states? And, when and why is there feedback on the supranational level after national implementation? We record soft law characteristics and occurrence at the EU level with a new database covering seven selected policy fields and then analyse the effects in selected cases in Germany and France on the basis of expert interviews and a survey in public administrations. The project is carried out in cooperation with Sabine Saurugger and Fabien Terpan from the University of Grenoble and is funded over three years by ANR and DFG. More information can be found here.
- Ausfelder, A., Eick, A., Hartlapp, M., Mespoulet, R., Saurugger, S., Terpan, F., and Cappellina, B. (2024). EU soft-law: Non-binding but enforcable. European Law Journal, 30(4): 668-684. Zum Artikel
- Börzel, Tanja A., Broniecki, P., Hartlapp, M. und Obholzer, L. (2023) Contesting Europe: Eurosceptic Dissent and Integration Polarization in the European Parlaiment. In Journal of Common Market Studies, 61(4): 1100-1118. Zum Artikel
- Börzel, Tanja A. and Hartlapp, M. (2022) ’Analyzing Contestation in Behaviour: Polarization and Eurosceptic Dissent in the European Parliament’. In Ahrens, P., Elomäki, A. and Kantola, J. (eds) European Parliament’s political groups - Contested democracy in turbulent times. (Basingstoke: Palgrave), p. 97–122. Zum Artikel
- Cappellina, B., Ausfelder, A., Eick, A., Mespoulet, R., Hartlapp, M., Saurugger, S. and Terpan, F. (2022) ’Ever more soft law? A dataset to compare binding and non-binding EU law across policy areas and over time (2004-2019)’. European Union Politics 23, 741-57. Zum Artikel
- Hartlapp, M. & Hofmann, A. (2021). The use of EU soft law by national courts and bureaucrats: how relation to hard law and policy maturity matter. West European Politics, 44(1). Zum Artikel
III. Representation
In this focus area, we investigate how citizens are represented in elected governments and political institutions. The starting point of our analyses is a widely perceived representation deficit, particularly concerning women, economically disadvantaged groups, and ethnic minorities. We seek to measure this deficit and assess its effects on political decisions and outcomes. We also examine what responses to representation deficits have been developed in established democracies.
Databases, current projects and publications
- Alayrac, P. et al. (2025). Pathways to the top: Women, men, and leadership in the European Commission. European Union Politics, 26(1): 23-44.
- Faas, T., Hartlapp, M., Çağlar, G. (2023). Thanks for acting (for), but aren't you in the wrong party? How descriptive and substantive representation (differently) affect perceptions of candidates' ability to represent and fir to their party. Paper presented at the ECPR General Conference Prague.
- Blome, A. und Hartlapp, M. (2023) Can deliberative-participatory fora cure representation gaps in France and Germany? In Politische Vierteljahresschrift, p.473-98. Zum Artikel
- Hartlapp, M. (2023) Politische Partizipation: Zu wenig Einfluss, zu wenig Beteiligung. In Deutsch-Französische Jugendstudie: Zurück in die Zukunft: Erwartungen junger Menschen in Deutschland und Frankreich, p. 14-21. Zum Artikel
- Hartlapp, M. and Blome, A. (2022) ’Women in the Commission: patterns and shapers of descriptive representation’. In Müller, H. and Tömmel, I. (eds) Women and Leadership in the European Union. (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 55–73. Zum Artikel
- Blome, A. & Hartlapp, M. (2021) "Women at the Top of the European Commission – Drivers and Barriers", zum Paper, Beitrag im Rahmen des Webinars "Gender equality in the Commission – will the EU reach its goals?" des Swedish Institute for European Policy Analysis. Zum Webinar
Recent Publications
Books and Edited Volumes
Forthcoming: Ausfelder, A. et al. (2024). EU soft-law: Non-binding but enforceable. European Law Journal
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Taking the EU to Court. Annulment Proceedings and Multilevel Judicial Conflict. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019 [mit C. Adam, M. W. Bauer & E. Mathieu]. |
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Special issue. Journal of European Integration. Volume 40 (2), 2018. |
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Gewaltenteilung im Mehrebenensystem der EU: neu, anders - oder weniger legitim? Special Issue Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft (ed.), 2016 [with C. Wiesner]. |
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Which policy for Europe?: Power and conflict inside the European Commission. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014 [with J. Metz & C. Rauh]. discussed in: |
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Complying with Europe: The Impact of EU Minimum Harmonisation and Soft Law in the Member States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005 [with G. Falkner, O. Treib & S. Leiber]. discussed in: |
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Die Kontrolle der nationalen Rechtsdurchsetzung durch die Europäische Kommission. Politik-Verbände-Recht: Umsetzung europäischer Sozialpolitik. Frankfurt/M.: Campus, 2005.
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Journal Publications (* peer reviewed)
EU soft-law: Non-binding but enforceable. In: European Law Journal, 2024, 30(4): 668-684 [with Ausfelder, A., Eick, A., Mespoulet, R., Saurugger, S., Terpan, F. and B. Cappellina. *
Pathways to the top: Women, men, and leadership in the European Commission. In: European Union Politics, 26(1): 23-44 [with Alayrac, P., Connolly, S and Kassim, H.] *
Beyond 'economic nationalism'? The (limited) influence of populist parties on public procurement in France and Germany, In: Journal of European Public Policy, 32(5): 1197-1223 *
Can deliberative-participatory fora cure representation gaps in France and Germany? In: Politische Vierteljahresschrift (2023): 473-498. [with Blome, A.] *
Contesting Europe: Eurosceptic Dissent and Integration Polarization in the European Parliament. In: Journal of Common Market Studies, 2023 61(4): 1100-18. [with Börzel, T., Broniecki, P. and Obholzer, L.] *
’Ever more soft law? A dataset to compare binding and non-binding EU law across policy areas and over time (2004-2019)’. In: European Union Politics, 2022 23(4): 741-757. [with Cappellina, B., Ausfelder, A., Eick, A., Mespoulet, R., Saurugger, S. and Terpan, F.] *
The use of EU soft law by national courts and bureaucrats: how relation to hard law and policy maturity matter. In: West European Politics, 2021 44(1): 134-154 [with A. Hofmann] *
Aktuelle Entwicklungen in der EU-Sozialpolitik: Effizientere Entscheidungsfindung durch Mehrheitsentscheidungen und differenzierte Integration? In: integration, 2021 (2): 115–131
Measuring and Comparing the Regulatory Welfare State: Social Objectives in Public Procurement. In: The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 691(1):68-83. 2020
‘The End of Social Europe? Understanding EU Social Policy Change’. In: Journal of European Public Policy, 2019 26(10): 1484-1501 [with Paolo R. Graziano]
Revisiting patterns in EU regulatory social policy: (still) supporting the market or social goals in their own right? In: Zeitschrift für Sozialreform (1), 2019.
Why some EU institutions litigate more often than others: exploring opportunity structures and actor motivation in horizontal annulment actions. In: Special issue. Journal of European Integration 40 (2), S. 701–718. 2018.
From High Judges to Policy Stakeholders: A Public Policy Approach to the CJEU's Power. In: Special issue Journal of European Integration 40 (2), 2018. [with E. Mathieu und C. Adam]
Power shifts via the judicial arena: How annulments cases between EU institutions shape competence allocation. Journal of Common Market Studies 2018 56(6), S. 1221-1489.
Integrating across policy sectors in the EU: How the wider public impacts on the drafting process of trans-border healthcare. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 2019 84(3): 486-502. *
Mending the Hole in Multilevel Application and Enforcement: Changes in administrative cooperation related to worker mobility. Governance, 2018 31(1): 27-43 [with E. Heidbreder]. *
How time empowers agency: Combining the EU Commission’s political powers and its administration’s advantage of acting from a long-term perspective. Journal of European Integration, 2016 39:3, 303-317.*
Wer mäßigt den Agenda-Setter im EU-System und wie? Drei Modi der Positionsbildung in der EU-Kommission. Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft (Sonderheft Gewaltenteilung im Mehrebenensystem der EU: neu, anders - oder weniger legitim?), 2016 26(1): 85–98 [with J. Metz & C. Rauh]. *
Einleitung: Gewaltenteilung und Demokratie im EU-Mehrebenensystem. Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft (Sonderheft Gewaltenteilung im Mehrebenensystem der EU: neu, anders - oder weniger legitim?), 2016 26(1): 3-16 [with C. Wiesner].
La fin de l’Europe sociale ? Évaluation du rôle des changements politiques et organisationnels au sein du système politique de l’Union européenne. Revue française des affaires sociales, 2015 3: 89–114 [with P. Graziano]. *
It's Not Always about Winning: Domestic Politics and Legal Success in EU Annulment Litigation. Journal of Common Market Studies, 2015 53/2 [with C. Adam & M.W. Bauer]. *
Die Europäische Kommission – ein (partei)politischer Akteur? Leviathan, 2015 1: 64-87 [with Y. Lorenz]. *
Enforcing Social Europe through Labour Inspectorates: Changes in Capacity and Cooperation across Europe. West European Politics, 2014 37/4: 805-824.*
Articles published in edited volumes (* peer reviewed)
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Hartlapp, M., & Windwehr, J. (2025) 'Studying the reconfiguration of EU social policy', in B. Ebbinghaus & M. Nelson (Eds.), Handbook on Welfare State Reform, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 326–342. |
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Hartlapp, Miriam (2025) 'Synergies and trade-offs berween social and green public procurement', in: Ekaterina Domorenok, Paolo Graziano and Katharina Zimmermann (eds.): The Eco-Social Polity? Theoretical, Conceptual and Empirical Issues: Bristol University Press, pp. 208-224. |
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Ausfelder, Anne, Adam Eick, and Miriam Hartlapp (2023) ‘Studying the EU soft law cycle: The role of domestic factors’, in: Mariolina Eliantonio, Emilia Korkea-aho and Ulrika Mörth (eds.), Research Handbook on Soft Law: Edwar Elgar Publishing, p. 304-318. * |
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Börzel, Tanja A. and Hartlapp, M. (2022) ’Analyzing Contestation in Behaviour: Polarization and Eurosceptic Dissent in the European Parliament’. In Ahrens, P., Elomäki, A. and Kantola, J. (eds) European Parliament’s political groups - Contested democracy in turbulent times. (Basingstoke: Palgrave), p. 97–122. * |
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Hartlapp, M., Hofmann, A. and Knauff, M. (2021) 'Soft Law in Germany. Still Opposing Dynamics in Status and Effect.' In Eliantonio, M., Korkea-aho, E. and Stefan O. (eds) EU Soft Law in Member States: Theoretical Findings and Empirical Evidence. (Bloomsbury: Hart Publishing), p.153-167. Hartlapp, M. and Korkea-aho, E. (2021) '‘Whatever-law’ and teenage Member States? The national reception of EU soft law and how to study it.' In Eliantonio, M., Korkea-aho, E., and Stefan O. (eds) EU Soft Law in Member States: Theoretical Findings and Empirical Evidence. (Bloomsbury: Hart Publishing), p. 59-78. |
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Hartlapp, M. and Blome, A. (2022) ’Women in the Commission: patterns and shapers of descriptive representation’. In Müller, H. and Tömmel, I. (eds) Women and Leadership in the European Union. (Oxford: Oxford University Press), p. 55–73. * |
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Gender Equality and the European Commission. In G. Abels, A. Kriszan, H. MacRae und A. van der Vleuten (Hrsg.), Routledge Handbook to Gender and EU Politics. Abingdon: Routledge, 2021 [mit H. Müller und I. Tömmel]. |
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Soft law implementation in the EU multilevel system: legitimacy and governance efficiency revisited. In: Nathalie Behnke, Jörg Broschek und Jared Sonnicksen (Hg.) 2019: Configurations, Dynamics and Mechanisms of Multilevel Governance. Festschrift in honour of Arthur Benz' 65th birthday. Basingstoke: Palgrave, S. 193–210. |
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Judicial Control of the Guardian: Explaining Patterns of Governmental Annulment Litigation against the European Commission, in: Ege, Jörn/Bauer, Michael W./Becker, Stefan (eds.) 2018: The European Commis-sion in Turbulent Times, Baden-Baden: Nomos |
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Regulatory Social Policy in EU and Mercosur: Patterns and Developments. In: Regional Organizations and Social Policy in Europe and Latin America: A Space for Social Citizenship? A. C. Bianculli & A. Ribeiro Hoffmann (eds.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015: 92-116. * |
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Politicization of the European Commission: When, how and with what impact?. In: M. W. Bauer & J. Trondal (eds.), Handbook: The European Administrative System. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015: 145-160. * |
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Organising Exits from the Joint-Decision Trap? Cross-sectoral (Non-)Coordination in the European Union. In: G. Falkner (ed.), The EU’s Joint-Decision Trap and its Exits. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011: 181-198. * |
Miscellaneous
Politische Partizipation: Zu wenig Einfluss, zu wenig Beteiligung. In: Anne Tallineau and Tobias Bütow (eds.), Franco-German Youth Study: Back to the Future: Expectations of Young People in Germany and France, 2023: 14-21.
Statement ‚Effizientere Entscheidungsfindung in der Sozialpolitik. Ermittlung möglicher Bereiche für einen verstärkten Übergang zur Beschlussfassung mit qualifizierter Mehrheit‘, Public Hearing of the European Committee of the German Bundestag, 2021.
Women at the top of the European Commission - drivers and barriers, European Policy Analysis, Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies (SIEPS), 2021 [with A. Blome].
Kommentar: Zwei Vorschläge für einen fairen und sozialen Binnenmarkt. WSI-Mitteilungen 2020, 73(4): 222.
Zwei realistische Perspektiven für einen sozialen Binnenmarkt. In Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales (Hrsg.), Deutsche Ratspräsidentschaft 2020. Berlin: Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales, 2020 S. 108–113. [no longer available]
Die Europäische Kommission: politischer, vielfältiger und schwächer? DVPW Blog, 2019
Hartlapp, M. & Hofmann, A. (2018). Hilfreich oder hinderlich? EU Soft Law in der nationalen Praxis. Editorial. Juristische Arbeitsblätter (8)