Dr. Carmen Wintergerst
Contact & Office Hours
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Institut für Politische Wissenschaft
Bergheimer Str. 58 | 69115 Heidelberg
Office: 03.014
E-Mail: carmen.wintergerst[at]ipw.uni-heidelberg.de
Office hour: by appointment
Research Profile
Dr. Carmen Wintergerst is a political scientist specializing in autocratization, civil–military relations, and the comparative study of political institutions with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. Her research examines the mechanisms through which executives consolidate power, the role of militaries in processes of democratic backsliding, and the conditions under which democratic institutions either erode or remain resilient. Conceptually, her work contributes to debates on executive aggrandizement, coercive institutions, and authoritarian governance.
Her doctoral dissertation awarded summa cum laude, and honored with the Dr. Karl A. Lamers Peace Foundation Prize, develops the ‘Autocratic Expansion Model’ to explain how executives in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand deploy “institutional capture” and “social silencing” to expand their authority. Methodologically, her research is first and foremost grounded in comparative qualitative inquiry, including process tracing.
Since 2025, she has been a research associate at the Institute of Political Science at Heidelberg University and a team member in the DFG-funded project “Militärs und “democratic backsliding” seit Ende des Kalten Krieges (MILBACK)”. Her current work extends her dissertation agenda by analyzing military influence on political trajectories across Asia and globally. Broadly, her research aims to advance understanding of how democratic erosion unfolds, how militaries shape political change, and how political systems adapt in an era of intensifying authoritarian pressures.
Selected Publications
- Wintergerst, C., & Croissant, A. (2025). Widerstand und Wiederkehr: Autoritäre Tendenzen und der Kampf um demokratische Räume auf den Philippinen. Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, 40–41/2025.
- Wintergerst, C. (2025). Consolidating power: Strategies and tactics of executive aggrandizement. The autocratic expansion model in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand (Dissertation).
https://doi.org/10.11588/heidok.00036670
- Croissant, A., Hengge, A., & Wintergerst, C. (2024). Beating backsliding? Episodes and outcomes of democratic backsliding in Indo-Pacific Asia in the period 1950 to 2022. Asian International Studies Review.
- Croissant, A., & Wintergerst, C. (2025). The coercive apparatus in Laos: The party-military nexus. In S. Creak, H. High, & O. Tappe (Eds.), Routledge handbook of contemporary Laos (im Erscheinen).
- Wintergerst, C., & Croissant, A. (2025). Functions of political parties in Southeast Asia: A regime perspective. In L. Storm (Ed.), Handbook of political parties of the Global South (im Erscheinen).
Current Research Projects
Table
2025 – 2028 | “Military and democratic backsliding since the end of the Cold War (MILBACK)”, Project number 557364627 (DFG) |
Curriculum Vitae
Table
Since 08/2025 | Heidelberg University, Germany – Institute of Political Science Research Associate, DFG Project: “Militaries and Democratic Backsliding since the End of the Cold War (MILBACK)” |
02/2025 – 07/2025 | Heidelberg University, Germany – Institute of Political Science Research Associate (Examination Office and Chair of Prof. Dr. Croissant) |
01/2021 – 04/2025 | Ph.D., Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences Dissertation: “Consolidating Power: Strategies and Tactics of Executive Aggrandizement. The Autocratic Expansion Model in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand” Distinction: summa cum laude Supervisors: Aurel Croissant, Marco Bünte |
01/2021 – 04/2021 | Bertelsmann Stiftung, Germany Student Research Assistant, Project: “Shaping Change – Strategies of Development and Transformation” (BTI 2020 and 2022) |
11/2020 – 07/2021 | Heidelberg University, Germany – Heidelberg Graduate School for Mathematics and Computational Methods for the Sciences Student Research Assistant, Project: “upstream – network for female mathematicians”* |
11/2019 – 02/2020 | Heidelberg University, Germany – Institute of Political Science Student Research Assistant, Project: “Populism, Material Appeals, and Democratic Backsliding” |
04/2018 – 12/2020 | Heidelberg University, Germany M.A. Political Science |
09/2014 – 02/2017 | Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom Erasmus+ Exchange Semester |
10/2012 – 02/2017 | University of Passau, Germany B.A. European Studies |
Lectures, grants & fellowships
Academic Presentations
2025
- “Thailand’s Political Crossroads: Barriers and Pathways to Democratic Recovery (2019–2023),” Paper presentation, IPSA, 16 July 2025, Seoul, South Korea.
- “Democratic Façades, Militarized Foundations: Political Militarization and Democratic Institutions in Indonesia and the Philippines,” Presentation, Ewha Womans University, July 2025, Seoul, South Korea.
- “Digital Authoritarianism,” Public lecture and discussion, mainzed, 24 June 2025, Mainz, Germany.
2024
- “Executive Power at Play: Executive Aggrandizement and Diagonal Accountability in Southeast Asia,” Paper presentation, APSG, 8 October 2024, online.
- “It All Boils Down to Executive Power: Executive Aggrandizement and Societal Opposition in Southeast Asia,” Paper presentation, IPSA, 11–13 September 2024, Lisbon, Portugal.
2022
- “Autocratization in Southeast Asia Between Institutional and Regime Transformation,” Poster presentation, HGGS Forum 2022, 6 July 2022, Heidelberg University.
Grants and Fellowships
2025/2026
- Research grant from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation for the workshop “Democratic Backsliding and Civil-Military Relations in the United States,” 13–14 February 2026, Heidelberg (EUR 14,000).
2025
- Young Marsilius Fellow Program for Interdisciplinarity and Science Communication (YMFP), Heidelberg University (EUR 5,000).
- Prize of the Dr. Karl A. Lamers Peace Foundation for outstanding work on the theme “Peace – Freedom – Security” (EUR 2,500).
2024/2025
- LGF Completion Scholarship (PhD), Graduate Academy, Heidelberg University.
2023
- Interviews as Method of Data Collection in Times of Polarization, heiDOCS Mobility Grant, Heidelberg University.
2022
- Comparative Case Study Design, heiDOCS Mobility Grant, Heidelberg University.
08/2021 – 07/2024
- LGF Individual Scholarship (PhD), Graduate Academy, Heidelberg University.