Born in Berlin, 1941. Educated at the Universities of Heidelberg, Saarbruecken and Frankfurt (Ph. D. 1971). Professor of Political Science, University of Osnabrueck, 1974-. Peer Reviewer, Volkswagen Foundation, 1983-1993. Member, Board of Trustees, Concentration Camp Memorials Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora, 1994-. Visiting Scholar, UCLA, 1995 and 2000; University of Arizona, 2005. Visiting Professor, UCLA, 2002. Chair, IPSA RC 16 (Socio-Political Pluralism), 2000-2006. Elected IPSA RC Liaison Representative, 2006. Research fields: Political theory, esp. pluralism and participatory democracy; evolution of political science in Germany; scholarly collaboration with the Nazi regime; role of violence in political and popular culture. Most recent publication: Pluralism. Developments in the Theory and Practice of Democracy, ed. 2006 (Vol. 4 in the IPSA 'World of Political Science' Series).