Coalition Sizes In Hessian Independent Cities And Counties – Do Rational Or Institutional Factors Determine Coalition Size?

Etnik Dragaj completed his PhD in October 2025 at Technical University of Darmstadt in Political Science. In December 2020, he got his Master degree in Government and Public Policy also at Technical Universität Darmstadt. In June 2018, he finished at University Mannheim his Bachelor studies in Political Science as a major and Business Administration as a minor. His research interest are Comparative Goverment especially coalition research and local politics. He focuses his research on Germany and Central Eastern European countries (CEE region).

Björn Egner is adjunct professor and chair of the research group “Methodology in Political Science and Philosophy of Science” at the Institute of Political Science. He graduated in political science, history and sociology and received his doctoral degree for a book about notions of German mayors. His habilitation thesis identified determinants of public expenditure on the state level in federations. His research focus is located in public policy (especially housing policy) and local politics.

Photo source: Institute of Political Science, TU Darmstadt

Erman Ermihan is a postdoctoral researcher at Bilkent University. Ermihan completed his doctorate in the Department of International Relations at Kadir Has University in 2025, after receiving his bachelor’s degree in the same department at Istanbul Bilgi University and his master’s degree in Political Science at Sabancı University. His research and areas of interest include Turkey-European Union relations, Turkish foreign policy, ontological security, and identity and emotions in foreign policy. His publications have been featured in journals such as the Journal of European Integration, Turkish Studies, All Azimuth, and International Relations.