Wichard Woyke

Wichard Woyke (born December 26, 1943 in Wollstein ) is a German political scientist and professor at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster .

Life

From 1965 Woyke studied political science, economics and sociology at the Free University of Berlin , where he graduated in 1969. He then worked as a research assistant at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster , where he received his doctorate in 1974 and was appointed to the Academic Council , and in 1984 he completed his habilitation in political science .

Woyke was visiting professor in the USA (1987 at the Washington University St. Louis , Missouri , 1993 and at the Ohio Wesleyan University ) and France (1988 at the Université Franche-Comté in Besançon , 1994 at the University Pierre Mendès-France in Grenoble , 2003 at the Institut d´Etudes Politique in Lille ).

From 1991 Woyke was an ERASMUS representative in the social sciences department. From the winter semester 2004/2005 he was dean of the Philosophical Faculty, before that he was dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Woyke is a member of the German Society for Political Science (DGfP), the German Association for Political Science (DVPW), the German Society for Foreign Policy (DGAP), the European Integration Working Group (AEI), the Association Française de Science Politique (AFSP), the International Studies Association and the Conference Group on German Politics (CGGP / USA). He is also the editor of the journal Politische Bildung , the series uni studien Politik and the concise dictionary of the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany .

In 2001 Woyke was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Cluj-Napoca ( Romania ). In 2009 Woyke retired.

Research focus

One focus of his work concerns international politics . After the international system was strongly influenced by the East-West conflict , the international system is currently in a process of change. Woyke sees various characteristic forms in the current international system.

He sees the national and territorial states, despite the increasing development towards the economic and social world, as the central actors for the international system. The sovereignty and territorial principles give states political power, but the increasing number of global problems diminishes their ability to solve these problems. The principle of sovereignty promises “formal equality between the individual states”, but the USA can assume a unipolar supremacy function through its power resources.

Woyke sees another characteristic in the increasing number of international organizations in international politics, on the one hand the International Governmental Organization (IGO) and the International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGO) are active as actors in international politics. In addition to these two, the transnational corporations are also included.

The globalization has played an important role in international politics, because globalization is creating an ever closer relationship between the states. For example, the cross-border actions between states in the areas of economy, science and communication continue to increase.

Another point is the increase in “regional centers of power” such as the European Union , the Free Trade Area of ​​the Americas (FTAA) or OPEC and the resulting multipolarity.

In addition, there has been a shift from the East-West conflict to the North-South conflict between industrialized and developing countries . This conflict is based on the unevenly distributed power and influence potential.

For Woyke, international terrorism has also become a hallmark of the international system since the 1990s. Today's terrorism pursues attacks in addition to creating fear in the opposing population as well as addressing supporters of the ideology, so-called “third parties to be interested”.

At the time of the East-West conflict, it was still military strength that made power, today, according to Woyke, the power of states is characterized, for example, by the industrial and financial performance of an economy or by the existence of guarantees for social security. The spread of democracy would stabilize the international system, since democracies normally do not wage war against one another.

According to Woyke, another characteristic of the international system is that the area of ​​the OECD countries have become more stable and secure, but in other parts of the world there are outbreaks of violence due to ethical-nationalistic motives.

According to Woyke, in order to be able to maintain the ability of the international system to steer, the nation states would have to regard the international challenges that arise as global and international politics would have to be regulated more closely.

In addition to international politics, Woyke also deals with French foreign policy. In his book Franco-German Relations since Reunification , published in 2004, he examines the views of the two states on various policy areas. First, Woyke goes into the different views on a possible European concept of the two countries. After the Second World War, France was of the opinion that states should play a dominant role and should not hand over competences to a higher authority. France wanted to control Germany through its European policy by bringing it into the western alliance, and Europe should be active in world politics under French leadership. Germany, on the other hand, sought to be involved in the European integration process.

Another research focus of Woyke's is the integration research of the European Union. Woyke points out that the German-French cooperation has an important impetus function for the European integration process. After all, the Maastricht Treaty was based on a Franco-German initiative. The Amsterdam Treaty was also heavily influenced by Franco-German cooperation. Woyke sees the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) in particular as an important factor for future European integration due to the critical developments on the European peripheries, international terrorism and the unilateralism of the USA .

Wichard Woyke's book, Keyword: Elections, is already in its 11th edition . Because the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany is another focus of his work. In addition to his publications, Woyke is also in demand as an interview partner for newspapers, radio and television. For example, he commented on the results of the 2004 European elections on WDR and later interpreted the results of the 2005 Bundestag elections.

Publications (selection)

• Wichard Woyke, Johannes Varwick : Concise dictionary of international politics . 13th completely revised and updated edition, Verlag Barbara Budrich, Opladen / Toronto 2015, ISBN 978-3-8252-4518-4 (also as a licensed edition: Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn 2016, ISBN 978-3-8389-0713-0 ).
• Wichard Woyke: The foreign policy of France. An introduction. Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-13885-5 .
• Uwe Andersen, Wichard Woyke, David Gehne: Election guide 2009 Bundestag election - European election. Schwalbach 2009.
• Thilo Harth, Wichard Woyke: The European Union in concrete terms. Inquiries in twelve chapters. Opladen 2008, ISBN 978-3-86649-149-6 .
• Wichard Woyke: Franco-German relations - the tandem is back on its feet. 2nd Edition. Opladen 2004.
• Wichard Woyke, Uwe Andersen (ed.): Handbook of the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany. 5th edition. Opladen 2003.
• Wichard Woyke: Federal Parliament election 2002. Election, voters, elections. Opladen 2002.
• Wichard Woyke: European Union - Successful crisis community. Munich 1998.
• Josef Weindl, Wichard Woyke: European Union - Institutional System, Internal Market and Economic and Monetary Union based on the Maastricht Treaty. 4th edition. Munich / Vienna 1999.
• Wichard Woyke (Ed.): Network World Politics - The Foreign Policy of Great Powers, Central Powers and Regions. Leverkusen 1989.

Web links

• Literature by and about Wichard Woyke in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Wichard Woyke  in the German Digital Library
• Institute for Political Science at the University of Münster - Wichard Woyke

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Well-known and popular: Wichard Woyke retired , accessed on July 13, 2019