Frederik Pfeiffer
About Frederik Pfeiffer
About Frederik Pfeiffer
Frederik is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Gothenburg since fall 2022, being supervised by Professors Aksel Sundström and Sverker Jagers. His research interests include deliberative democracy, environmental politics, collective action, public opinion, and democratic processes. He holds a BSc in International Economics and European Studies from the University of Tübingen (Germany) as well as a MSc in Comparative Public Policy and Welfare Studies from the University of Southern Denmark (Denmark). Next to his research and teaching activities, Frederik also occasionally engages in outreach activities, such as giving talks at schools, and advising city officials on deliberative processes.
In fall 2025, Frederik is affiliated with the Department of Political Science at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, as a guest researcher in the Chair of Political Theory and Public Policy, held by Prof. Claudia Landwehr.
Research
Frederik's research focuses on deliberative democracy, participation, and democratic attitudes, with a focus on the policy areas of climate and environmental politics. His work is both empirical, with a strong focus on survey experiments and field studies, as well as theoretical, engaging with conceptualisations of legitimacy, political efficacy, and equality. Much of his research in the last two years has focused on participatory and deliberative process in Sweden, conducting participant surveys at deliberative mini-publics and citizen juries, combining both theoretical and applied empirical work.
His first paper has been published in the acclaimed interdisciplinary journal Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy. Over the last five years, Frederik has published a number of academic book reviews in the journals Czech Sociological Review and Environmental Politics.
Teaching
Frederik teaches on the Master-level courses "Environmental Problems within Social Science: From Tragedy of the Commons to Planetary Boundaries", "Environmental Politics and Institutions", "European Marine Directives and Policies - an Interdisciplinary Perspective", and supervises students writing their Master or Bachelor theses in Political Science and European Studies.
In the fall of 2024, Frederik held a guest teaching appointment at Sciences Po Lyon, delivering a class on environmental political science and collective action.