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Marc Hvidkjaer will explore how political books serve as a distinctive medium through which politicians define their identities and articulate their beliefs. While publishing a book appears almost a prerequisite for political office in countries like France—where every president since François Mitterrand has done so—leaders in Germany and the United Kingdom rarely follow this pattern. To explain these differences, Hvidkjaer develops a theoretical framework for understanding which politicians write books and why. He argues that in presidential systems, where campaigns are highly personalistic, the incentive to author a book is strong, whereas in parliamentary systems, parties often divide labor so that only certain politicians specialize in authorship. Drawing on an original bibliographical dataset of books published by postwar politicians in Western democracies, the talk will examine the dynamics and consequences of “post-book politics.”
The Graduate Student Research Workshop is a seminar for graduate students at Harvard University and MIT to present their research to peers and faculty with an interest in European studies. This student-run, student-centered workshop welcomes presenters from any social science discipline who are at any stage of their research.
To join the seminar mailing list, please contact the seminar chairs. Papers will be distributed to participants via email in advance. For a schedule of upcoming workshops see here. This schedule will be updated throughout the academic year.
