Portrait Photograph of Dr. Malte Pehl, Ph.D.

Malte Pehl, Dr. rer. pol.

Associate Professor of International Studies

A native of Germany, Malte Pehl joined the International Studies Program in 2009. He teaches introductory and advanced courses in the International Studies and Asian Studies programs, as well as an upper level course on South Asian politics.

Having previously studied law at the University of Passau in Germany and as an Erasmus Exchange student at the University of London (SOAS), and later political science of South Asia, political science and law, Pehl received his M.A. degree and his doctorate in political science at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

Pehl was a Visiting Instructor in Political Science and International Relations at the College of Wooster in Ohio in 2008/2009. In 2008, he held a Visiting Fellowship at the Center for the Study of Democracy of the University of California (Irvine). He was also a visiting doctoral fellow at the Centre de Sciences Humaines (Delhi) in 2005/2006 while conducting research for his dissertation on Indian party and electoral politics.

Learn more about Dr. Pehl

Dr. Pehl’s main research interests are democratization, political parties, electoral and coalition politics, development issues and federal power-sharing with a focus on South Asia and also on Germany in comparative perspective. Apart from his academic interests in these issues he has previously worked as a consultant on South Asia-related projects for Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development as well as the educational organization of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB Bildungswerk).

Education
Research Interests
Courses Taught
Selected Publications

“The Debate on the Constructive Vote of No Confidence in India – Trading Accountability for Stability?”, Verfassung und Recht in Übersee (Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America), 49 (forthcoming).
“From Lawbreakers to Lawmakers: The Subnational Dimensions of Political Malfeasance and the Criminalization of Indian Electoral Politics”, ASIEN – The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, Nr. 137, October 2015.
“The Study of Politics in Germany: A bibliometric analysis of subfields and methods”, European Political Science, (2012) 11, pp.54-70.
“Fractionalization Index”, Volume 2, “Weighted Vote Systems” and “Systems Analysis”, Volume 5, in Kurian, George T. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Political Science. Volume 5, Los Angeles: Sage.
Mitra, Subrata K./ Malte Pehl / Clemens Spiess (eds.). Political Sociology – The State of the Art (IPSA World of Political Science Series, volume 7). Opladen and Farmington Hills, MI: Budrich Publishers, 2010.
“Federalism” (co-author), in: Mehta, Pratap B./Niraja Gopal Jayal (eds.). The Oxford Companion to Politics in India. New Delhi et al.: Oxford University Press, 2010, pp.43-60.
“Democratic Backlash? Revisiting competing explanations for the 1977 post-Emergency electoral verdict in India”, Asian Journal of Political Science, 16:3 (Dec. 2008), pp.303-331.
“Das regionale Gesicht der Nation: Kleine Parteien und Koalitionspolitik in der Indischen Union seit 1998″ (transl.: The regional face of the nation: Small parties and coalition politics in India), Asien – The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, 97 (October 2005), pp.51-71.
“Konflikt und Konfliktperzeption in Südasien: Indien im Vergleich” (transl.: Conflict and conflict perception in South Asia: India in comparison) (co-author), in Frank R. Pfetsch (ed.), Konflikt – Heidelberger Jahrbuch 2004. Heidelberg/Berlin: Springer, 2005, pp.53-79.
“Floor-Crossing and Nascent Democracies: A Neglected Aspect of Electoral Systems? The Current South African Debate in the Light of the Indian Experience” (with Clemens Spiess), Verfassung und Recht in Übersee (Law and Politics in Asia, Africa and Latin America), 36 : 2, July 2004, pp.195-224.
“The Equal Right to Special Treatment? Territory, Identity and Minority Rights Protection in Germany’s Federal Political System” in: Institut du Federalisme (ed.). Federalism, Decentralisation and Good Governance in Multicultural Societies. Travaux de recherche No. 29. Fribourg: Institut du Federalisme, 2003, pp.173-195.