Field of Work
Prof. Angelika Vetter conducts research into issues of citizen participation, especially in the area of local politics. These include local elections (council and mayor elections, local votes using direct democracy such as public petitions and local referendums, and also voluntary dialog-based participation opportunities such as round tables, future conferences and the like. Prof. Vetter was a key player in the development of the first guidelines for local citizen participation in the city of Heidelberg: these have since become institutionalized in a similar form in many municipalities. One focus of her research is the impact of these procedures on citizens, the political process and administration, and the consequences for local democracy.
Personal Information
Born in Friedrichshafen in 1966, Prof. Angelika Vetter studied business administration at DHBW Ravensburg and political science at the University of Stuttgart. She obtained her doctorate there in 2001 under Prof. Oscar Gabriel with a dissertation entitled “Local politics as a democratic resource in Europe?” and completed her habilitation in the field of political science in 2010. Since 1995 Vetter has held various positions at the Institute for Social Sciences of the University of Stuttgart and is currently senior academic councilor and extraordinary professor. From 2011 to 2013 she held a stand-in professorship for political systems and political sociology at the University of Stuttgart.