Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
I am Professor of Comparative Austrian Politics at the Department of Political Science and Sociology at the University of Salzburg, which I have chaired since 2009. Previously, I was a faculty member of the University of Pittsburgh (1994-2009) where I have remained an affiliate of the Center of European Studies. I received my PhD from Michigan State University in 1994 and my MA from Virginia Tech in 1987.
My main research interests are centered on comparative populism, Euroscepticism, political parties, the radical right and democracy. My research has appeared in journals such as The Journal of Common Market Studies, Party Politics, West European Politics, and Democratization among many others. Recently, I co-edited a special issue of Comparative European Politics on the territorial dimension in party-based populism. My book publications in English include The People and the Nation: Populism and Ethno-Territorial Politics in Europe (Routledge 2019), Political Populism; A Handbook (Nomos 2017), and Understanding Populist Organization: The West European Radical Right (Palgrave, 2016).
Several grants have supported my research including a Marie Curie grant (2012-2016) and most recently a Horizon 2020 grant by the EU. In this project called Populism and Civic Engagement (PaCE), I serve as the leader of the Salzburg Team. Our goal is to study supply and demand side factors facilitating radical populism and examine effective civic countermeasures by using an array methods ranging from traditional survey research to computer simulation, and survey experiments. An interesting experience was also our collaboration with the Brookings foundation on a project about Islam in Europe.
My work has been recognized by different prizes such as in 2017 the Austrian Science Prize (“Wissenschaftspreis”) by the Lupac Foundation of the Austrian Parliament.
Network
Projects
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JDP-OÖ: Jugend Digitalisierung und Partizipation-Oberösterreich (Yough Digitalization and Participation -- Upper Austria
15/12/20 → 30/09/21
Project: Research
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MTLA: Making Tomorrow’s Leaders: Youth Movements of Right Wing Populist Parties/Austria
Heinisch, R. K. & Wegscheider, C.
1/03/20 → 1/07/20
Project: Research
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Muslim Youth Movements in Europe. Mobilization and Identity Construction
1/11/17 → 1/11/19
Project: Research
Research output
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Austria
Heinisch, R. K., Fallend, F. & Habersack, F., 2020, Populism and New Patterns of Political Competition in Western Europe. Albertazzi, D. & Vampa, D. (eds.). Abingdon/New York: Routledge, p. 73-91 (Routledge Studies in Extremism and Democracy).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding/Legal commentary › Chapter in Book
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Demokratie: Grundlagen, Probleme, Antworten
Heinisch, R. K. & Wintersteiger, M., 2020, Kritisches Handbuch der österreichischen Demokratie: BürgerInnen, Verfassung, Institutionen, Verbände. Böhlau VerlagResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding/Legal commentary › Chapter in Book
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Disentangling How Populism and Radical Host Ideologies Shape Citizens’ Conceptions of Democratic Decision-Making
Heinisch, R. K. & Wegscheider, C., 1 Jan 2020, In : Politics and Governance. 8, 3, p. 32-44 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open Access -
Equivocal Euroscepticism: How populist right parties can have their EU cake and eat it
Heinisch, R. K., Werner, A. & McDonnell, D., 2020, In : Journal of Common Market Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13055.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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Föderalismus aus politikwissenschaftlicher Sicht
Heinisch, R. K. & Fallend, F., 2020, Ist die Gesetzgebungskompetenz der Länder noch sinnvoll?. Wien: Jan-Sramek-Verlag, p. 123-137Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding/Legal commentary › Chapter in Book
Prizes
Activities
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Die Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik der neuen
Reinhard K. Heinisch (Consultant)
6 Dec 2020Activity: Consultancy and Expert Opinion › Expert opinion
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Die Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik des neuen US Außenminister
Reinhard K. Heinisch (Consultant)
4 Dec 2020Activity: Consultancy and Expert Opinion › Expert opinion
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Amerika hat gewählt – Wie es weitergehen kann/weitergehen wird
Reinhard K. Heinisch (Speaker)
9 Nov 2020Activity: Talk or presentation › Guest lecture › science to public / art to public
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Diskussion zur US Wahl organized by ÖAG (Austrian American Society) and Krone TV
Reinhard K. Heinisch (Speaker)
27 Oct 2020Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation › science to public / art to public
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Die US-Wahlen in der Trump-Ära und im Schatten von Corona
Reinhard K. Heinisch (Speaker)
20 Oct 2020 → …Activity: Talk or presentation › Guest lecture › science to public / art to public