Leipzig, J.-M.-Center, Problems of Representation

The Jean Monnet Centre of
Excellence “PoR — Problems of Representation” aims to open dialogue with academic and political actors, trade unionists, academic
and civil society stakeholders in order to understand problems of political representation and its anti-democratic corollaries in
Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries and suggest remedies for them. Problems with political representation are responsible
for the drift to the right-wing and anti-establishment parties that are currently surging in popular support all across Europe. But the
case of CEE countries is particularly acute and insightful: CEE citizens feel underrepresented at many levels in the EU; and the shifts to
the right and the far right have occurred earlier than in Western and Southern Europe. We seek to understand the root causes, and
moreover to develop ideas for remedying the problem in conjunction with local stakeholders in CEE including Eastern Germany.