Carolin Zeller is Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Quadriga University of Applied Sciences and also Director of Studies for the MBA Public Affairs & Leadership. Until June 2022, she was also Vice President responsible for teaching.
Carolin Zeller studied political science, economics and public law at the University of Bonn and the London School of Economics and Political Science. She holds a Masters degree in International Relations from the University of Essex and a doctorate in corporate social responsibility in the apparel industry from the University of Potsdam. Carolin Zeller held Cusanuswerk scholarships throughout her degree and doctoral studies. As a lecturer she taught international politics and international political economy at the Universities of Erfurt and Potsdam, and has been at Quadriga since 2010. She has also worked as a freelance strategic planner at the Institute for Strategy and Communication.
Professorship
Carolin Zeller has grappled with the relationship between state, private and civil actors for over 15 years. Political decisions change in the conflict areas at play between the different logics of actors and their requirements. Carolin Zeller’s teaching and research interests are focused on understanding, tracing and helping to shape these developments. She is not out to find a quick or simple answer, but an in-depth and theoretically sound understanding of how and why advocacy in Germany and the EU is changing.
Research
Public affairs has arrived in Berlin. More and more companies, associations and NGOs are professionalising their efforts to lobby for their interests. This process has major implications – not only for public affairs models, but also for the design and development of our democratic political system. The public interest and the scandals of the past several years are leading us to constantly recalibrate our formal and informal rules and standards. Charting these changing rules and standards and incorporating them into modern lobbying remains a major, but exciting, challenge for the future.
- What impact do these developments have on advocacy methods?
- How can organisations ensure they are still heard in a Berlin that is increasingly growing ‘louder’?
- And how do the powerful – but older – lobbying organisations deal with all this?
- How do associations in particular need to change and adapt to remain relevant?
The public interest and the scandals of the past several years are leading us to constantly recalibrate our formal and informal rules and standards. Charting these changing rules and standards and incorporating them into modern lobbying remains a major, but exciting, challenge for the future.
Publications
Zeller, Carolin: Self-regulation and Labour Standards: An exemplary Study Investigating the emergence and Strengthening of Self-Regulation Regimes in the Apparel industry, Peter Lang Berlin 2012.
Berschauer, Carolin und Kai Ahlborn: Die Zukunft der Vereinten Nationen – ein Ausblick in: Dietmar Herz, Christian Jetzlsperger und Marc Schattenmann (Hrsg.) Die Vereinten Nationen – Entwicklung, Aktivitäten, Perspektiven, S. Fischer, Frankfurt a.M. 2002.
Carolin Zeller, Christian Thorun und Elisa Lopper „Das Berufsfeld Public Affairs in Zahlen“ in Politik und Kommunikation IV/2017.