Principal Investigator

Jens Steffek

Projects and positions at the research center
Principal Investigator

Project management: Knowing the Rules and Acting Politically. Friedrich Kratochwil and his Critics | Research Focus 4 – Overstretched Orders: Global Governance between De- and Renationalization

Funding period 2012-2017
Project management: Legitimation through international law and legitimation of international law | Research field 3

Funding period 2007-2012
Project management: The justification narrative of “good functional governance” | Research field 3
Project management: Ambivalent universalization of democracy | Research field 3

Subject areas
Political science

Main research
Politics and history of international organizations, theory of international relations, transnational social actors, theory of democracy

  • Biografische Angaben

    Since 2023: Speaker of the DFG Research Training Group "Standards of Governance" 2017-2019: Dean of the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences Since 2010: Professor of Transnational Governance at the Institute of Political Science 2008-2009: University Lecturer in Political Science, Jacobs University Bremen 2006-2007: Visiting Professor, International University Bremen 2003-2008: Research Assistant (C1), University of Bremen 2002-2003: Research assistant, University of Bremen 2002: Doctorate in Social and Political Sciences, European University Institute, Florence 2001-2002: Research Associate, Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies, Florence 1998: Magister Artium in Political Science, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich Certified research assistant, Technical University of Munich 1996-1998: Research Assistant, Foundation for Science and Politics, Ebenhausen 1993-1998: Permanent freelancer, Süddeutsche Zeitung 1991-1992: Civilian service, Bund Naturschutz in Bayern e.V. 1991: Abitur, grammar school in Icking/Upper Bavaria
  • Publikationen

    2022 Steffek, Jens; Lasshof, Yannick (2022): Is There Still a German IR Discourse? Investigations in the Semi-periphery of an Academic Discipline, International Studies Perspectives, 23:2, 209-228. Steffek, Jens; Hellmann, Günther (2022): Praxis as a Perspective on International Politics, Bristol: Bristol University Press. Steffek, Jens (2022): Praxis, Humanism and the Quest for Wholeness, in: Hellmann,Gunther/Steffek, Jens (Hrsg.), Praxis as a Perspective on International Politics, Bristol: Bristol University Press, 255-272. Steffek, Jens; Lasshof, Yannick (2022): Steve Bannon on “Productive Capitalism”: Investigating the Economic Ideology of the American Populist Right, Journal of Political Ideologies. 2021 Steffek, Jens; Heupel, Monika; Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias; Kreuder-Sonnen, Christian; Patberg, Markus; Séville, Astrid; Steffek, Jens; White, Jonathan (2021): Emergency Politics after Globalization, International Studies Review, 23:4, 1959-1987. Steffek, Jens (2021): International Organization as Technocratic Utopia, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Steffek, Jens; Lasshoff, Yannick (2021): Is There Still a German IR Discourse? Investigations in the Semi-periphery of an Academic Discipline, International Studies Perspectives, 23:2, 209-228. Steffek, Jens; Koinova, Maria; Deloffre, Maryam Zarnegar; Gadinger, Frank; Mencutek, Zeynep Sahin; Scholte, Jan Aart (2021): It's Ordered Chaos: What Really Makes Polycentrism Work, International Studies Review, 23:4, 1988-2018. Steffek, Jens (2021): Les organisations internationales et la construction politique de la société civile: le cas des ‘ONG parrainées’, in: Lagrange, Delphine; Louis, Marieke; Nay, Olivier (Hrsg.), Le tournant social des organisations internationales. Les organisations internationales face aux sociétés civiles, Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 55-67. Steffek, Jens; Müller, Marcus; Behr, Hartmut (2021): Terminological Entrepreneurs and Discursive Shifts in IR Theory: how a Discipline Invented the “International Regime”, in: International Studies Review, 23:1, 30-58. Steffek, Jens; Wegmann, Philipp (2021): The Standardization of “Good Governance” in the Age of Reflexive Modernity, Global Studies Quarterly, 1:4. Steffek, Jens (2021): Vom Friedensprojekt zur Elitenverschwörung. Die Umdeutung internationalen Regierens in Zeiten des Populismus, in: Forst, Rainer/Günther, Klaus (Hrsg.), Normative Ordnungen, Berlin: Suhrkamp, 329-352. 2020 Steffek, Jens; Heinze, Tobias (2020): Germany’s Fight against Versailles and the Rise of American Realism: Edwin Borchard between New Haven and Berlin, in: Steffek, Jens/Leonie Holthaus (Hrsg.), Prussians, Nazis and Peaceniks: Changing Images of Germany in International Relations, Manchester: Manchester University Press. Holthaus, Leonie; Steffek, Jens (2020): Ideologies of International Organization: Exploring the Trading Zones between Theory and Practice, in: Martill, Benjamin/Schindler, Sebastian (Hrsg.), Theory as Ideology: The Politics of Knowledge in International Relations, London: Routledge. Steffek, Jens; Holthaus, Leonie (2020): Introduction: Changing images of Germany, in: Steffek, Jens/Leonie Holthaus (Hrsg.), Prussians, Nazis and Peaceniks: Changing Images of Germany in International Relations, Manchester: Manchester University Press. Steffek, Jens; Holthaus, Leonie (2020): Prussians, Nazis and Peaceniks: Changing Images of Germany in International Relations, Manchester: Manchester University Press. Steffek, Jens; Müller, Marcus; Behr, Hartmut (2020): Terminological Entrepreneurs and Discursive Shifts in IR Theory: how a Discipline Invented the “International Regime”, in: International Studies Review (Preprint) Müller, Marcus ; Steffek, Jens ; Schenk, Ana (2020): The Darmstadt International Relations Corpus (DIReC), Darmstadt: TUprints. 2019 Müller, Marcus; Behr, Hartmut; Steffek, Jens (2019): The discursive formation of key terms in International Relations, in: Andersen, Øivin/Schubert, Klaus/Simonnæs, Ingrid (Hrsg.), New Challenges for Research on Language for Special Purposes, Berlin: Frank und Timme, 105–120. Steffek, Jens (2019): The Limits of Proceduralism: Critical Remarks on the Rise of ‘Throughput Legitimacy’, in: Public Administration, 97:4, 784–796. 2018 Steffek, Jens (2018): Deliberation and Global Governance, in: Brown, Chris/Eckersley, Robyn (Hrsg.), The Oxford Handbook of International Political Theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 440–452. Steffek, Jens; Kortendiek, Nele (2018): Participatory Governance in International Organizations. In: Heinelt, Hubert (Hrsg.): Handbook on Participatory Governance. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Steffek, Jens Holthaus, Leonie (2018): The social-democratic roots of global governance: Welfare internationalism from the 19th century to the United Nations. European Journal of International Relations, 24:1, S. 106-129. 2017 Steffek, Jens (2017): International Organizations and Bureaucratic Modernity, in: Lebow, Richard (Hrsg.), Max Weber and International Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 119–142. 2016 Kütt, Moritz; Steffek, Jens (2016): Comprehensive Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – an Emerging International Norm?, in: The Nonproliferation Review, 23:1, 401–420. Steffek, Jens (2016): Functionalism in Uncommon Places: Electrifying the Hades with David Mitrany, in: Lebow, Richard/Schouten, Peer/Suganami, Hidemi (Hrsg.), The Return of the Theorists: Dialogues with Great Thinkers in International Relations, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 193–200. McGee, Jeffrey; Steffek, Jens (2016): The Copenhagen Turn in Global Climate Governance and the Contentious History of Differentiation in International Law, in: Journal of Environmental Law, 28:1: 37–63. 2015 Holthaus, Leonie; Steffek, Jens (2015): Experiments in international administration: The forgotten functionalism of James Arthur Salter. In: Review of International Studies, 42: 1, S. 114-135. Steffek, Jens (2015): Fascist Internationalism, Millennium: Journal of International Studies 44(1): 3-22. Steffek, Jens (2015): `Max Weber, Modernity and the Project of International Organization', Cambridge Review of International Affairs, FirstView. Steffek, Jens; Romeiro, Vivian (2015): Private Actors in Transnational Energy Governance, in: Michèle Knodt, Franziska Müller, Nadine Piefer (Hrsg.) Challenges of European External Energy Governance with Emerging Powers. Farnham: Ashgate, 269-288. Steffek, Jens (2015): The Output Legitimacy of International Organizations and the Global Public Interest, International Theory 7(2), 263-293. Steffek, Jens; Antonini, Francesca (2015): Towards Eurafrica! Fascism, Corporativism and Italy's Colonial Expansion, in: Ian Hall (Hrsg.) Radicals and Reactionaries in Twentieth Century International Thought, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 145-170. 2014 Steffek, Jens; Holthaus, Leonie (2014): Einleitung: Der vergessene "Idealismus" in der Disziplin Internationale Beziehungen, in: Jens Steffek und Leonie Holthaus (Hrsg.), Jenseits der Anarchie. Weltordnungsentwürfe im frühen 20. Jahrhundert, Normative Orders Bd. 13, Frankfurt am Main: Campus 2014, S. 11-24. Steffek, Jens (2014): Internationales Recht, Moderne und das Projekt einer globalen öffentlichen Verwaltung, in: Klaus Günther/Stefan Kadelbach Kulturen des Rechts: Rechtstransfer und Pluralismus in globaler Perspektive, Frankfurt am Main: Campus. Steffek, Jens; Holthaus, Leonie (2014): Jenseits der Anarchie. Weltordnungsentwürfe im frühen 20. Jahrhundert, Normative Orders Bd. 13, Frankfurt am Main: Campus 2014, 310 S. Steffek, Jens (2014): ‘The Cosmopolitanism of David Mitrany: Equality, Devolution, and Functional Democracy beyond the State’ International Relations, 1-22. 2013 Steffek, Jens; Kotzian, Peter (2013): ‘Do Members Make a Difference? A Study of Transnational Civil Society Organizations’, European Political Science Review 5(1): 55-81. Steffek, Jens (2013): ‘Explaining Cooperation between IGOs and NGOs – Push Factors, Pull Factors, and the Policy Cycle’, Review of International Studies 39(4): 993-1013. Steffek, Jens (2013): Mandatskonflikte, Liberalismuskritik und die Politisierung von GATT und WTO’ in: Michael Zürn und Matthias Ecker-Ehrhardt (Hg.) Die Politisierung der Weltpolitik - Umkämpfte internationale Institutionen, Berlin: Suhrkamp, 213-239. Steffek, Jens; Mau, Steffen (2013): ‘Transnationalismus und Transnationalisierung in der Soziologie und der IB’, in: Leviathan: Berliner Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft 41: Sonderheft 28, 204-225. 2012 Steffek, Jens (2012): Accountability und politische Öffentlichkeit im Zeitalter des globalen Regierens, in: Niesen, Peter (Hg.), Transnationale Gerechtigkeit und Demokratie, Normative Orders Bd. 6, Frankfurt am Main: Campus 2012, S. 279-310. Steffek, Jens (2012): ‚Awkward Partners: NGOs and Social Movements at the WTO’ in: Amrita Narlikar, Martin Daunton, und Robert M. Stern (Hg.) Oxford Handbook on the World Trade Organization, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 301-319. Steffek, Jens (2012): ‘Die Output-Legitimität internationaler Organisationen und die Idee des globalen Gemeinwohls’ Leviathan: Berliner Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft 40: Sonderheft 27, 83-99. 2011 Steffek, Jens; Kotzian, Peter (2011): ‘Legitimacy and Activities of Civil Society Organizations’, University of Bremen, TranState Working Paper No. 156/2011. Steffek, Jens (2011): Tales of Function and Form: The Discursive Legitimation of International Technocracy, Normative Orders Working Paper 02/2011. Gomes Pereira, Mariana; Steffek, Jens (2011): ‘Transnational Governance Networks and Democracy: What Are the Standards?’ in: Olaf Dilling, Martin Herberg and Gerd Winter (eds.) Transnational Administrative Rule-Making: Performance, Legal Effects and Legitimacy, Oxford: Hart, 281-304. 2010 Steffek, Jens; Bendrath, Ralf; Dalferth, Simon; Hahn, Kristina; Piewitt, Martina; Rodekamp, Meike (2010): ‘Assessing the Democratic Legitimacy of Transnational CSOs: Five Criteria’ in: Jens Steffek und Kristina Hahn (Hg.) Evaluating Transnational NGOs – Legitimacy, Accountability, Representation., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 100-125. Steffek, Jens; Piewitt, Martina; Rodekamp, Meike (2010): ‘Civil Society in World Politics: How Accountable Are Transnational CSOs?’ Journal of Civil Society, 6(3), 237-258. Steffek, Jens; Hahn, Kristina (2010): ‘Evaluating NGOs: Prospects for Academic Analysis’ in: Jens Steffek and Kristina Hahn (Hg.) Evaluating Transnational NGOs – Legitimacy, Accountability, Representation., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 258-264. Steffek, Jens; Hahn, Kristina (2010): Evaluating Transnational NGOs: Legitimacy, Accountability, Representation, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Steffek, Jens (2010): ‘Explaining Patterns of Transnational Participation: the Role of Policy Fields’ in: Christer Jönsson und Jonas Tallberg (Hg.) Transnational Actors in Global Governance, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 67-87. Steffek, Jens; Hahn, Kristina (2010): ‘Introduction: Transnational NGOs and Legitimacy, Accountability, Representation’ in: Jens Steffek und Kristina Hahn (Hg.) Evaluating Transnational NGOs – Legitimacy, Accountability, Representation., Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1-25. Steffek, Jens (2010): ‘Norms, Persuasion and the New German Idealism in IR’ in: Oliver Kessler et al. (Hg.) On Rules, Politics, and Knowledge: Friedrich Kratochwil, International Relations, and Domestic Affairs, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 191-201. Steffek, Jens (2010): ‘Public Accountability and the Public Sphere of International Governance’ Ethics & International Affairs, 24(1), 45-67. 2009 Steffek, Jens; Ferretti, Maria Paola (2009): Accountability or “Good Decisions”? The Competing Goals of Civil Society Participation in International Governance, in: Global Society, 23:1, 37–57. Steffek, Jens (2009): Die Legitimation internationalen Regierens: vom Staatenkonsens zum Bürgerkonsens, in: Deitelhoff, Nicole/Steffek, Jens (Hrsg.), Was bleibt vom Staat? Demokratie, Verfassung und Recht im globalen Zeitalter, Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 161–186. Steffek, Jens (2009): Discursive Legitimation in Environmental Governance, in: Forest Policy and Economics, 11:5–6, 313–318. Deitelhoff, Nicole; Steffek, Jens (2009): Einleitung: Staatlichkeit ohne Staat. Chancen und Aporien von Recht, Verfassung und Demokratie jenseits des Nationalstaats, in: N. Deitelhoff, J. Steffek (Hrsg.), Was bleibt vom Staat? Demokratie, Recht und Verfas-sung im globalen Zeitalter, Frankfurt: Campus, 7-34. Deitelhoff, Nicole; Steffek, Jens (2009): Grenzen der Verständigung. Zu den Voraussetzungen der Einhegung kultureller Fragmentierung im internationalen Regieren, in: N. Deitelhoff, J. Steffek (Hrsg.), Was bleibt vom Staat? Demokratie, Recht und Verfassung im globalen Zeitalter, Frankfurt: Campus, 187-220. Deitelhoff, Nicole; Steffek, Jens (2009): Was bleibt vom Staat? Demokratie, Recht und Verfassung im globalen Zeitalter, Frankfurt: Campus 2009. 2008 Steffek, Jens; Ehling, Ulrike (2008): Civil Society Participation at the Margins: the Case of WTO, in: Steffek, Jens/Kissling, Claudia/Nanz, Patrizia (Hrsg.), Civil Society Participation in European and Global Governance: A Cure for the Democratic Deficit?, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 95–115. Steffek, Jens; Kissling, Claudia; Nanz, Patrizia (2008): Civil Society Participation in European and Global Governance: A Cure for the Democratic Deficit?, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kissling, Claudia; Steffek, Jens (2008): CSOs and the Democratization of International Governance: Prospects and Problems’, in: Steffek, Jens/Kissling, Claudia/Nanz, Patrizia (Hrsg.), Civil Society Participation in European and Global Governance: A Cure for the Democratic Deficit?, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 208–218. Steffek, Jens; Nanz, Patrizia (2008): Emergent Patterns of Civil Society Participation in Global and European Governance, in: Steffek, Jens/Kissling, Claudia/Nanz, Patrizia (Hrsg.), Civil Society Participation in European and Global Governance: A Cure for the Democratic Deficit?, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1–29. Steffek, Jens (2008): Legitimität jenseits des Nationalstaats – vom exekutiven zum partizipativen Multilateralismus?, in: Hurrelmann, Achim/Leibfried, Stephan/Martens, Kerstin/Mayer, Peter (Hrsg.), Zerfasert der Nationalstaat? Die Internationalisierung politischer Verantwortung, Frankfurt am Main: Campus, 179–205. Steffek, Jens (2008): Zähmt zivilgesellschaftliche Partizipation die internationale Politik? Vom exekutiven zum partizipativen Multilateralismus, in: Leviathan: Berliner Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft, 36:1, 105–122. 2007 Steffek, Jens (2007): Breaking the Nation State Shell: Prospects for Democratic Legitimacy in the International Domain, in: Hurrelmann, Achim/Leibfried, Stephan/Martens, Kerstin/Mayer, Peter (Hrsg.) Transforming the Golden-Age Nation State, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 109–129. Hurrelmann, Achim; Schneider, Steffen; Steffek, Jens (2007): Conclusion: Legitimacy – Making Sense of an Essentially Contested Concept, in: Hurrelmann, Achim/Schneider, Steffen/Steffek, Jens (Hrsg.), Legitimacy in an Age of Global Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 229–237. Nanz, Patrizia; Steffek, Jens (2007): Deliberation and Democracy in Global Governance: the Role of Civil Society, in: Thoyer, Sophie/Martimort-Asso, Bénoit (Hrsg.), Participation for Sustainability in Trade, Aldershot: Ashgate, 61–72. Hurrelmann, Achim; Steffek, Jens (2007): Introduction: Legitimacy in an Age of Global Politics’, in: Hurrelmann, Achim/Schneider, Steffen/Steffek, Jens (Hrsg.), Legitimacy in an Age of Global Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 1–16. Hurrelmann, Achim; Schneider, Steffen; Steffek, Jens (2007): Legitimacy in an Age of Global Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Steffek, Jens (2007): Legitimacy in International Relations: From State Compliance to Citizen Consensus, in: Hurrelmann, Achim/Schneider, Steffen/Steffek, Jens (Hrsg.), Legitimacy in an Age of Global Politics, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 175–192. Nanz, Patrizia; Steffek, Jens (2007): Zivilgesellschaftliche Partizipation und die Demokratisierung internationalen Regierens, in: Niesen, Peter/Herborth, Benjamin (Hrsg.), Anarchie der kommunikativen Freiheit: Jürgen Habermas und die Theorie der internationalen Politik, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 87–110.

News from the research institute

Event
16.06.2025 | Frankfurt am Main

Trump and the Assault on the State

Lecture

Vortrag von Jeffrey Kopstein Professor der Politikwissenschaft an der University of California, Irvine) über die Gefahr einer Erosion des Staates und Wege gegen den Trend zur Zerstörung.

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News
19.05.2025

What can a baroque tapestry tell us about colonial iconography?

Lecture by Cécile Fromone on May 21. The professor at the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University, director of the Cooper Gallery at the Hutchins Center and author will talk about the long-forgotten African origins of iconography and its colonial dimension.

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News
05.05.2025

Normative Orders Newsletter 01/25 published

The newsletter from Research Centre Normative Orders collects information on current events, reports, news and publications several times a year. Read the first issue 2025 here.

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News
05.05.2025

"Hitler. History of a Dictator" by Sybille Steinbacher will be published on May 15, 2025

The historian's new book deals with Hitler's origins, the roots of his anti-Semitism and his rise to power.

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News
29.04.2025

Public lecture series “Racism in the police” begins on May 13, 2025

Racism in the police has various dimensions. In the lecture series “Racism in the police - empirical findings, methodological approaches and controversies”, three empirical studies on police work will be presented.

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Publication
22.04.2025 | Encyclopedia

Edessa (Fourth Century bc to the Eighth Century ad)

Leppin, Hartmut (2025): "Edessa (Fourth Century bc to the Eighth Century ad)". In: Raja, Rubina (ed.): The Oxford Handbook of the Hellenistic and Roman Near East, Oxford Academic, pp. 491-506.

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News
10.04.2025

Shaping the future - between climate change, technology and social responsibility

A new series of lectures by the research center as part of the “Fixing Futures” exhibition on the implications of climate change and technological progress.

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