Summer School for Research Masters
Research School political history 2014
The Limits of Democracy
Supervisor: prof. dr. Ido de Haan
Time: 23-26 June 2014
Place: The Hague –Nijmegen – Utrecht - Amsterdam
Credits: 5 ECTS (with additional tasks, 6 ECTS) free of charge for research masters who are
registered with the Research School
Deadline for registration: 10 June 2014 (bureau@onderzoekschoolpolitiekegeschiedenis.nl)
Please note that once you have registered, you are obliged to attend the Summer School.
Minimum number of participants: 10, maximum 20.
Information: bureau@onderzoekschoolpolitiekegeschiedenis.nl
Aims and added value
The aim of the Summer School is to develop insight and research skills in political history: to
formulate a research question and a research strategy, and execute an analysis of primary
sources as the basis for writing a research report. Students acquire skills and insight in the
use of specific methods and approaches of political history, e.g. comparative history,
institutional analysis, discourse analysis, biography. A substantial part of the course will be
devoted to practical training. Students develop insight in specific themes under the
supervision of experts in political history, and present their own research.
Added value is the networking opportunities with staff and other students. If you consider
writing a PhD, it is recommended to attend the Summer School.
The theme
The theme for the Summer School 2014 is ‘Limits of democracy’. In recent years, the
widespread consensus that democracy is the only legitimate form of rule has been replaced
by a concern for the limits of democracy. While the almost sacrosanct reputation of
parliamentary and representative democracy has been undermined by research that
demonstrates its contested nature, also the history of alternatives of (and for) democracy
such as deliberative, direct, associative and populist democracy have been shed light on
democracy’s limitations. Moreover, the development of political organizations beyond the
nation state has drawn attention to the emergence (or lack) of democracy beyond its current
national boundaries.
These themes will be discussed from a variety of historical perspectives by acclaimed
scholars, under the supervision of professors in political history from Dutch universities
Requirements
1. Before 16 June each participant hands in a position paper of 3000 words on the
literature listed below for required reading. In this paper, main themes of the history
of democracy are discussed, resulting in the formulation of a research question on a
specific topic within the history of democracy, which will serve as the starting point
for the skills session of the Summer School.
2. During the Summer School, the participants are divided in groups and prepare a
collective presentation of 30 minutes
3. After the end of the Summer School, each student writes a research paper of 5000
words (6 ECTS: 6500 words)
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Required reading:
- John Dunn (ed.), Democracy. The Unfinished Journey 508 BC to AD 1993 (Oxford
1993).
- Jan-Werner Müller, Contesting Democracy. Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century
Europe (New Haven 2011).
- Mark Mazower, Dark Continent. Europe’s twentieth century (New York 1999),
chapter 1: The deserted temple: democracy’s rise and fall, pp. 3-40.
- Martin Conway, ‘Democracy in Postwar Western Europe. The triumph of a political
model’, European History Quarterly 32 (2002) 1, pp 59-84.
- Pierrre Rosanvallon, Democratie en tegendemocratie (Amsterdam 2012), pp. 63-150.
Additional reading:
For each session of the Summerschool, a limited amount of additional reading material will
be made available.
Speakers:
Prof. dr. Mieke Aerts is Professor of the political history of gender in the Netherlands at the
University of Amsterdam
Prof. dr. Carla van Baalen is director of the Centre for Parliamentary History and professor
of parliamentary history at Radboud University Nijmegen
Dr. Stefan Couperus is postdoc researcher political history at Utrecht University
Carla Hoetink M.A. is researcher at the department of political history at Radboud University
Nijmegen
Prof. dr. Ido de Haan is professor of Political History at Utrecht University
Dr. Marij Leenders is researcher at the Centre for Parliamentary History at Radboud
University Nijmegen
Prof. dr. Kiran Patel is professor of European and Global History at Maastricht University
Dr. Margit van der Steen is coordinator of the Research School Political History and
coordinator of the European Information and Research Network on Parliamentary History
(EuParl.net) at Radboud University Nijmegen
Prof. dr. Henk te Velde is academic director of the Netherlands Flemish Research School
Political History and professor of Dutch history at Leiden University
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Program
Monday 23 June: Introduction to limits of democracy
Place: The Hague, Huygens ING
Supervisor: Ido de Haan
10.00 - 11.00 Ido de Haan
Introduction of supervisors and participants; explanation of the aims and mode of operation
of the Summer School; distribution of tasks and presentations
11.15 - 12.30
Ido de Haan
Key note lecture 1: Introduction to, and debate on, the theme ‘Limits of democracy’
12.30 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 - 16.00 Skills lab:
- on digital sources and e-humanities
16.00 - 17.00 Preparation of research presentation
Networking Opportunities and Social Dinner in The Hague
Tuesday 24 June: Parliamentary democracy
Place: Nijmegen, Centrum voor Parlementaire geschiedenis
Supervisor: Margit van der Steen
10.30 - 11.15
Carla van Baalen
Key note lecture II: On the history of parliamentary democracy
11.15 – 12.00
Discussion
12.00 - 13.15 Lunch
13.15 - 14.15 Skills lab:
- Marij Leenders on the relevance of images as historical sources and parliamentary visual
culture
14.15 – 16.00
- Carla Hoetink on working with parliamentary proceedings
16.15 – 17.00 Preparation of research presentation
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Wednesday June 25: Democracy beyond the nation state
Place: Utrecht
Supervisor: Ido de Haan
10.30 – 11.15
Kiran Patel
Keynote lecture III: On transnational history
11.15 - 12.00
Discussion
12.00 - 13.15 Lunch
13.15 – 15.30 Skills lab
- Stefan Couperus on institutional and policy analysis
- Stefan Couperus on comparative and transnational history
15.30 - 17.00 Preparation of research presentation
Thursday 26 June: Contested Democracy
Place: Amsterdam, IISG
Supervisor: Ido de Haan
10.00 - 10.45
Mieke Aerts
Keynote lecture IV: On democracy and identity
10.45 – 11.15
Discussion
11.15-12.30
Skills lab
- Margit van der Steen on biography
12.30 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 - 16.00: Presentations
16.00 - 17.00: Final discussion
Drinks
Wednesday 2 July:
Master Class Democracy in Europe: A Conceptual History
Place: Trippenhuis, Amsterdam
Supervisor: Henk te Velde
Participants in the Summer Schools have the opportunity to attend the Master Class . The
program is in the annex. It Is highly recommended to attend the Master Class.
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Program Master Class for PhD Candidates
Democracy in Europe: A Conceptual History
Date: 2 July 2014
Location: Trippenhuis KNAW, Kloveniersburgwal 29, Amsterdam
The Master Class is part of the KNAW Colloquium Democracy in Europe: A
Conceptual History, will be organized in collaboration with the Research School
Political History, and chaired by Henk te Velde.
11.00 hrs.
11.30 hrs.
A Conceptual History of Democracy in Europe (Jeppe Nevers and Henk
te Velde)
Political Legitimacy under Debate. Democracy and Authority in the
Netherlands in the 1880s, 1930s and 1960s. Presentation by Elisabeth
Dieterman
Discussant: Jeppe Nevers
12.30 hrs.
Lunch
13.30 hrs.
Presentation and discussion of the collaborative conceptual history
project Re-imagining Democracy in the Age of Revolutions (Joanna
Innes and Mark Philp)
The Transformation of Citizenship Conceptions during the
Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary Era in France, The Netherlands,
and the United States, 1776-1830.
Presentation by René Koekkoek
Discussants: Joanna Innes and Mark Philp
14.30 hrs.
15.30 hrs.
Tea and coffee
16.00 hrs.
16.30 hrs.
Conceptions of Democracy in Post-war Western Europe (Martin
Conway)
Democracy, Legitimacy and the Contestation of Political Power in
Western Europe’s long 1950s. Presentation by Pepijn Corduwener
Discussant: Martin Conway
17.30 hrs.
Drinks
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Speakers
Dr. Martin Conway is Lecturer in Modern History and Maclellan-Warburg Fellow in
Balliol College at the University of Oxford.
Pepijn Corduwener M.A. is PhD Candidate at Utrecht University. His research is
entitled Democracy, Legitimacy and the Contestation of Political Power in Western
Europe’s long 1950s.
Elisabeth Dieterman M.A. is PhD Candidate at Leiden University. Her research is
entitled Political Legitimacy under Debate. Democracy and Authority in the
Netherlands in the 1880s, 1930s and 1960s.
Dr. Joanna Innes is Lecturer in Modern History in Sommerville College at the
University of Oxford.
René Koekkoek M.A. is Ph.D Candidate at Utrecht University. His research is entitled
The Transformation of Citizenship Conceptions during the Revolutionary and PostRevolutionary Era in France, The Netherlands, and the United States, 1776-1830.
Dr. Jeppe Nevers is Associate Professor in the Department of History at the
University of Southern Denmark in Odense
Prof. Dr. Mark Phil is Professor of History and Politics at the University of Warwick
Prof. dr. Henk te Velde is Academic Director of the Netherlands Flemish Research
School Political History and Professor of Dutch History at Leiden University
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