Rike Richstein, M.A.
PhD Project
funded by the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German National Academic Foundation)
Can Democracy Be Taught? The Federal Centre for Civic Education, 1952-1998 (working title)
The project examines the long lines of democratic ideas in Germany using the example of the Federal Centre for Civic Education (until 1963 the Federal Centre for Homeland Service). As a subordinate agency of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, it developed content to promote understanding of politics, awareness of democracy and ‘willingness to participate in politics’ among citizens. This task made the Federal Agency a focal point for Germany's self-description - also and above all as a democracy.
The importance that contemporaries attached to political education in general and the Federal Centre in particular for a functioning democracy was always evident when there was an apparent lack of democracy in Germany. If, for example, voter turnout fell or extremist movements gained strength, there were calls for more, for different, for better political education. The practitioners of political education at the Federal Centre were reluctant to see themselves as a ‘fire brigade’ for current events and tended to emphasise the importance of their long-term tasks. However, they shared the fundamental idea behind these calls: democracy could be learnt in principle. Failure could be attributed to a lack of knowledge on the part of citizens, which needed to be addressed. However, the answer to what exactly (i.e. what content the Federal Agency considered important) who (i.e. which target group it was addressing) had to learn varied greatly.
The project initially aims to shed light on the institution's structures and decision-making processes through a praxeological approach. Of particular interest here are the various phases of political influence exerted by the Ministry of the Interior, which were countered by the autonomy of the Agency and its employees. In a second step, the work analyses the content of the Agency's own publications and uses individual case studies to examine which ideas of democracy were conveyed with which narratives and practices.
Research Interests
- History of Democracy
- Politics of History
- History of Political Education
- German History since 1945
- Praxeology
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Academic Career
- since October 2021
Doctoral Study Programme in History, Universität Konstanz
- April 2018 to September 2021
Master’s Programme in History, Focus on 19th - 21st Century History, University of Konstanz and University of Tübingen, Final Grade 1.0
- October 2014 to September 2017
Bachelor’s Programme in History with Administrative Sciences as a Minor Subject, University of Konstanz, Final Grade 1.1
Scholarships and Awards
- since October 2022
PhD Scholarship granted by the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German National Academic Foundation)
- April 2019 to March 2020
Deutschlandstipendium Scholarship University of Tübingen
- 2017
Award of VEUK e.V. for the Best Degree in History (BA)
- April 2017 to September 2017
Deutschlandstipendium Scholarship University of Konstanz
Publications
With Constanze von Wrangel: Tagungsbericht. Identitätskonstruktionen für das Ruhrgebiet seit den 1970er-Jahren, in: H-Soz-Kult, 11.01.2023, link.
Erwin Glonnegger, in: Fred L. Sepaintner (Hg.): Baden-Württembergische Biographien, Stuttgart 2019, p. 170-172.