Nadine Bender

”Self‐perception and external perception of Angel Merkel’s influence on international politics during the financial crisis in Europe“ (working title)

Context

After having been elected the most powerful woman from 2006 to 2009 and in 2011, last year Angela Merkel once more was able to defend this title awarded by Forbes magazine. In 2012, the German chancellor has also been ranked as the second most powerful person in the world, right after US - President Barack Obama.

Research objective

Considering that the preeminent international issue during Merkel’s tenure has been the financial crisis with focus on the Eurozone, I now want to construct Merkel’s self-perception of her influence and power on politics in comparison to how people, political elites and media representatives perceive her political influence in the Eurozone crisis.

Theoretical background

The theoretical setting of this dissertation is provided by theories of political psychology, social constructivism, symbolic interactionism, theories of the impact of individual decision makers and gender aspects.

Methods

The analysis will be threefold: Text analysis following and developing Margaret Hermann’s Leadership trait analysis for Angela Merkel’s self-perception; statistical analysis of secondary survey data from different countries; analysis of questionnaires to members of the European Parliament; and content analysis of selected media representatives - possibly TV and print.

Nadine Bender

nadinebender@me.com