Prof. Dr. Michael Becker

Our friend and colleague Michael Becker passed away completely unexpectedly and inconceivably on Friday, May 26, 2024. Shortly before, we had discussed his future plans. He would have liked to continue his teaching and research activities even after retirement. It was inconceivable for him to leave academia. His life was too closely linked to it.

After a master's degree in political science, philosophy and sociology at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Michael Becker received his doctorate from the University of Mainz in November 1991 with his thesis "Rechtsstaatliche Legitimität zwischen der Kritik der Verständigungsverhältnisse und der Kritik der Urteilskraft" (The legitimacy of the rule of law between the critique of the relations of understanding and the critique of judgment) and began his academic career there with a teaching position in the same year. After two years as a research assistant at Jürgen W. Falter's Chair of Domestic Politics, Dr. Becker was initially entrusted with the position of academic director (Wolfgang Ismayr) at the Chair of Political Science I (Zintl Chair) at the University of Bamberg. He then spent five years there as a research assistant. During this time, he wrote his habilitation thesis "Verständigungsorientierte Kommunikation und rechtliche Ordnung" (Understanding-orientated Communication and legal order).

From March 2002 he was a private lecturer at the University of Bamberg and from 2002-2005 a member of the DAAD project "The Production of Law - Parliamentary Argumentation" (Director: Jan-R. Sieckmann, University of Bamberg). Associated with this were research stays at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (Facultad de Derecho). At the same time, he also taught at the Universities of Mainz and Landau. In the mid-2000s, he held several C4 and W3 professorships as a substitute. At the University of Konstanz, this concerned the area of "Domestic Policy and Public Administration" (Chair Seibel) and "Administrative Science with a focus on Public Sector Reform". He subsequently represented the area of "Political Theory" (Zintl Chair) in the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg.

Michael Becker worked at the Institute of Political Science and Sociology at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg from the 2007/2008 winter semester, initially as a senior lecturer with a focus on "Political Theory and the History of political Ideas", which he carried out extensively. In March 2019, he was appointed adjunct professor for the political science sub-discipline of political theory and the history of political ideas.

From 2013, he made numerous visits to India with guest lectures at Jawaharlal-Nehru University, Jamia Millia Islamia and the University of Delhi in New Delhi, Mangalore University (Karnataka) and Panjab University in Chandigarh (Punjab and Haryana). From August to October 2022, he was a visiting lecturer at the Humanities Faculty of Flagler College in St. Augustine/Florida. Further stays in India were planned. A research project proposal had already been submitted.

It is not easy to write an obituary about someone whose path I have been able to follow with varying degrees of intensity for over 40 years. We had known each other at least since our joint participation in Garzón Valdés' courses at the University of Mainz in the 1980s. While I was initially attracted to the topic of Latin America and wrote my final thesis on Guillermo O'Donnell's theory of the state, Michael Becker was more drawn to philosophical topics. The confrontation with John Rawls and his theory of justice, with whose approach we were confronted at the time, was probably a guiding influence. Michael Becker took up this topic more strongly and deepened it in the following years. In doing so, he increasingly broadened his questions. But first he turned to two other theorists, whose comparison in those years marked out an innovative path. He wrote his doctoral thesis, completed in 1991 at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, on the subject of "Rechtsstaatliche Legitimität zwischen der Kritik der Verständigungsverhältnisse und der Kritik der Urteilskraft. Elements of a political theory in Jürgen Habermas and Ronald Dworkin". With "communication/understanding" and "legal theory/legal order", he had set two topics that he later repeatedly took up and expanded on.

This was expressed most emphatically in his habilitation thesis "Verständigungsorientierte Kommunikation und rechtliche Ordnung", which was published by Nomos-Verlag in 2003. Michael Becker's aim is to show that politics in general and legislation in particular are not largely determined by the self-interests of the actors involved. In a critical examination of important normative and descriptive theories of the present - including theories of fundamental rights and constitutionalism as well as the discourse and deliberation theory of democracy - he is able to show that legislation that is perceived as legitimate must first and foremost be understood as a matter of providing convincing reasons. With regard to the application of well-founded law in jurisprudence, he argues that, in contrast to legal argumentation theories, it is not the claim to correctness that is central, but that of appropriateness.

His examination of communication processes focused not only on Jürgen Habermas, Ingeborg Maus and deliberative democracy, but also included thinkers such as Michael Oakeshott and Hannah Arendt, as he convincingly demonstrated in his essay on “Considering - Convincing - Persuading. Language and Politics in Oakeshott and Arendt” (2013). In addition to Michael Oakeshott, he dealt with Edmund Burke, another thinker from the conservative spectrum.

More comprehensive are his works on the legal system, a topic that he took up, illuminated and reflected on from different perspectives. In addition to the aforementioned habilitation treatise, there are two edited volumes that deal with the relationship between law and politics. Firstly, the volume "Rechtsstaat und Demokratie" (together with Hans-Joachim Lauth and Gert Pickel) and secondly, the special issue of the PVS on "Politik und Recht" (together with Ruth Zimmerling). His reflections were deepened by his examination of political liberalism, in particular John Rawls' understanding of the constitution. He also took up Rawls' understanding of international law and confronted it with Kant's reflections on perpetual peace.

He later combined the ideas of order with reflections on democratic rule in the various writings on constitutionalism. Of particular note here is the volume on Dimensions of Constitutional Democracy. India and Germany (together with Anupama Roy), Singapore 2020. Here and in parallel writings, two new themes become visible, which are, however, in continuity with the overall work. On the one hand, the topic of nation came onto the agenda, which he addressed from different theoretical perspectives. In the context of globalization, he defended the idea of a nation state as a social context and a community of solidarity as the framework in which a constitutional democracy can be lived. Securing borders was inextricably linked to this.

Secondly, he came across the topic of postcolonial studies in the context of his extensive studies of India. This topic, too, never let go of him. However, the background that put him on this track should be explained here first. As a representative of political theory and philosophy, he was involved and highly committed in two research partnerships with India; firstly in the DAAD-funded Indo-German Partnership (DIP): Foundations of the European-Indian Strategic Partnership (2017 to 2020), and secondly in the BMBF-funded joint project between several German and Indian universities: ,, M.S. Merian - R. Tagore International Centre of Advanced Studies 'Metamorphoses of the Political' (ICAS:MP) (since 2016). In this way, he was very committed to the consolidation and further expansion of the university contacts that exist between the Indian universities and the Würzburg Institute of Political Science and Sociology. In doing so, he not only established professional contacts with colleagues, but also forged lasting friendships. Michael Becker proved to be a central and indispensable player in the cooperation between the Institute and the university in India.

Despite this variety of theoretical works, it should be noted that he had a clearly developed interest in empirical processes. This can be seen in his introduction to the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany, now in its second edition, in which he explains the legal and political foundations of politics in Germany in a well-structured manner and with a great deal of detailed knowledge. In separate explanations, he concentrates logically on the work of the Federal Constitutional Court in addition to his theoretical contributions and thus again on his central theme of law and politics.

In addition to this textbook on the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany, another textbook should be highlighted, which is now in its fifth edition. This is the textbook on "Political Philosophy", which he wrote together with his Bamberg colleagues Johannes Schmidt and Reinhard Zintl. In this volume, his understanding of political philosophy becomes very clear. He is not concerned with a chronological review of the history of philosophy, but with the integration of these philosophical strands into current debates on central topoi such as the state, freedom, justice, political legitimacy and a peaceful international order. The aim is to clarify which arguments the various political philosophers bring to the debate and how helpful they are in clarifying complex contexts.

In the course of his many years of research, Michael Becker not only dealt with central topoi of political philosophy such as justice, law and the rule of law, public communication and understanding as well as constitutionalism, but always placed these debates in a contemporary context. This is most evident in his engagement with postcolonial studies, which has since achieved a considerable academic impact. With vehemence, he defended the universalizability of rights from a Kantian perspective and criticized the relativization of "Western values", without overlooking the political injustices that are rightly supported and criticized in this discussion. Even though he was more strongly confronted with analytical philosophy at the beginning of his research and later in the Bamberg years, which certainly strengthened his sense for the sharpening of concepts, he still followed in the footsteps of political philosophy and its normative questions. He was able to make clear the indispensable contribution that such a normative foundation of research makes to political science. His aim was not to present ready-made solutions, but to familiarize students with arguments that would enable them to deal with normative conflicts independently by themselves.

His academic understanding was inextricably linked to teaching, which accompanied him throughout his career. He combined theoretical questions with empirical problems, especially in the Master's teaching projects. With great commitment, he offered students a broad repertoire of courses. These not only referred to the large canon of political philosophy, but also took up a wide range of current topics relating to contemporary political discourse, such as migration and integration, threats to democracy from international terrorism or racism, the basic structures of modern Western societies and their relationship to non-Western societies. He also liked to address such topics in his English-language Erasmus seminars, in which he appreciated the variety of perspectives represented by students. In one of his last seminars last winter semester, he explored with the students a question based on Kant as to whether a pattern or orientation towards a goal can be identified in general historical development.

He was quite demanding in his teaching and was pleased when he was able to pass on his intrinsic motivation to students or discover it in the discussions. He demanded substantive debate and was disappointed when students did not take up the debate. He regretted the increasing cases of disinterest and reading fatigue among students since the coronavirus years. Regardless of such phenomena, he always had an open ear for the concerns and needs of students.

In addition to research and teaching, he was involved and intertwined with the Institute of Political Science and Sociology in many ways. Among other things, he organized the alumni area, was the contact person for the placement and completion of internships and, together with other colleagues, was responsible for the publication of the series "Würzburger Arbeitspapiere für Politikwissenschaft und Soziologie" (WAPS). He was always a committed member of the habilitation committee of the Faculty of Human Sciences, enriching the discussions with his wide-ranging knowledge.

There was also a Michael Becker beyond the academic world. He loved art in all its various facets. He visited exhibitions in Paris and traveled long distances for concerts. Be it for a concert by John McLaughlin in Hanover in 2023 or recently for an opera performance in Oslo. Our discussions about political events were wide-ranging. But we were also able to talk at length about what was happening in soccer, the increasing commercialization of which he did not want to follow. A special place for him was his well-stocked library, where he could lose himself. Michael was also a person connected to nature, who set off early in the morning for mountain hikes, enjoyed the sunlight and loved the summer.

He also shared these facets with the students as a person who not only enjoyed the beauty of nature and literature, but also always reflected on them, in seminars on animal rights or Thomas Mann's political thinking.

We have lost a long-time colleague, a friend, who always made us think with his competent arguments in many debates, either provoking contradiction or leading to consensus. We could have long discussions on our train journeys together without realizing how time was passing. That was a great asset, especially in the last few years of many train delays. We will miss his expertise, courtesy, incorruptibility and curiosity.

Hans-Joachim Lauth with Matthias Gsänger

Bibliographical notes

Monographs

• Rechtsstaatliche Legitimität zwischen der Kritik der Verständigungsverhältnisse und der Kritik der Urteilskraft. Elemente einer politischen Theorie bei Jürgen Habermas und Ronald Dworkin. Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Akademischen Grades eines Dr. Phil., vorgelegt dem Fachbereich Sozialwissenschaften der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz 1991
• Politische Philosophie (zus. mit Johannes Schmidt und Reinhard Zintl) (im Rahmen der Reihe „Grundkurs Politikwissenschaft“ bei F. Schöningh), Paderborn 2020 (5. Auflage)
• Einführung in das politische System der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Opladen 2022
• Grundstrukturen der Politik in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Opladen 2011 
• Verständigungsorientierte Kommunikation und rechtliche Ordnung, Baden-Baden 2003

Edited works

• Dimensions of Constitutional Democracy. India and Germany (zusammen mit Anupama Roy), Singapur 2020
• Politischer Liberalismus und wohlgeordnete Gesellschaften. John Rawls und der Ver-fassungsstaat, Baden-Baden 2013
• Politische Vierteljahresschrift - Sonderheft 36: Politik und Recht (zus. mit Ruth Zimmer-ling) Wiesbaden 2006
• Rechtsstaat und Demokratie. Theoretische und empirische Studien zum Recht in der Demokratie (zus. mit Hans-Joachim Lauth und Gert Pickel), Wiesbaden 2001

Selected articles and book chapters

• Stichwort „Verfassung“, in: Johannes J. Frühbauer, Michael Reder, Michael Roseneck, Thomas M. Schmidt (Hrsg.), Rawls-Handbuch. Leben – Werk – Wirkung, Stuttgart 2023, 421-426
• Die "am wenigsten gefährliche Gewalt" - Das Verfassungsgericht und die abstrakte Normenkontrolle in der konstitutionellen Demokratie, in: Wolfgang Muno, Christoph Wagner, Thomas Kestler und Christoph Mohamad-Klotzbach (Hrsg.), Staat, Rechtsstaat und Demokratie. Konzeptionelle und aktuelle Diskussionen in der vergleichenden Poli-tikwissenschaft (FS Hans-Joachim Lauth), Wiesbaden 2022, 117-142
• Burkes Kritik an der englischen Kolonialherrschaft in Nordamerika und Indien, in: Thomas Lau u.a. (Hrsg.), Edmund Burke: Vater des Konservatismus?, Baden-Baden 2021, 147-169
• Constitutionalism and Nationalism - Revisited, in: Roy/Becker 2020, 31-50
• Dimensions of Constitutional Democracy (zusammen mit Anupama Roy), in: dies., Di-mensions of Constitutional Democracy. India and Germany, Singapur 2020, 1-27
• Okzidentalismus - Die "östliche" Kritik an politischen Prinzipien des Westens, in: K. Marker et. al. (Hrsg.), Demokratie und Entscheidung, Wiesbaden 2019, 83-106
• Von der Gerechtigkeitstheorie über den Politischen Liberalismus zum Völkerrecht - Stationen der politischen Philosophie bei John Rawls, in: Michael Becker (Hrsg.), Politi-scher Liberalismus und wohlgeordnete Gesellschaften. John Rawls und der Verfas-sungsstaat, Baden-Baden 2013, 11-32
• Sittlicher Liberalismus? Individualismus und Gemeinschaft in Rawls' Rechtfertigung ei-ner freiheitlichen politischen Ordnung, in: Michael Becker (Hrsg.), Politischer Libera-lismus und wohlgeordnete Gesellschaften. John Rawls und der Verfassungsstaat, Ba-den-Baden 2013, 219-238
• Überlegen - Überzeugen - Überreden. Sprache und Politik bei Oakeshott und Arendt, in: Michael Henkel und Oliver W. Lembcke (Hrsg.), Praxis und Politik. Michael O-akeshott im Dialog, Tübingen 2013, 141-159
• Reine Theorie der Volkssouveränität oder prozeduralistisch halbierte Herrschaft des Rechts? Eine kritische Würdigung der politischen Theorie von Ingeborg Maus, in: Oliver Eberl (Hrsg.) Transnationalisierung der Volkssouveränität. Radikale Demokratie dies-seits und jenseits des Staates (FS Ingeborg Maus), Stuttgart 2011, 123-144
• Gewaltenteilung und deliberative Demokratie, in: Sabine Kropp und Hans-Joachim Lauth (Hrsg.), Gewaltenteilung und Demokratie, Baden-Baden 2007, 72-90
• Jürgen Habermas: Faktizität und Geltung, in: Schlüsselwerke der Politikwissenschaft, hrsg. von Steffen Kailitz, Wiesbaden 2007, 145-148
• Frieden zwischen Staaten – Von Kant zu Rawls, in: Bamberger Beiträge zur Politikwis-senschaft, I-8, Bamberg 2005, 43-57
• Argumentation und Gesetzgebung – Die „Stammzelldebatte“ im Deutschen Bundestag, in: Jan-R. Sieckmann (Hrsg.), Verfassung und Argumentation, Baden-Baden 2005, 145-171
• Elemente demokratischer Herrschaft, in: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Rhein-land-Pfalz (Hrsg.), Demokratie. Voraussetzungen, Herausforderungen, Perspektiven, Mainz 2003, Kap. 2
• Die politische Theorie des Konservatismus: Michael Oakeshott, in: André Brodocz und Gary Schaal (Hrsg.), Politische Theorien der Gegenwart I, Opladen 2002, 221-251
• Der heterogene Demos - Multikulturalität als Wertepluralismus und das Problem der Verrechtlichung, in: Hartmut Behr und Siegmar Schmidt (Hrsg.), Multikulturelle Demo-kratien, Wiesbaden 2001, 75-98
• Die Eigensinnigkeit des Politischen: Hannah Arendt über Macht und Herrschaft, in: Pe-ter Imbusch (Hrsg.), Macht und Herrschaft. Sozialwissenschaftliche Konzeptionen und Theorien, Opladen 1998, 167-181
• Moral, Verfassung und Gemeinsinn: Drei Varianten der Constitutional Politics, in: Zeit-schrift für Politikwissenschaft 3/98, 1031-1057
• Reflektierende Urteilskraft und politische Philosophie, in: Politische Vierteljahres-schrift 38/2, 1997, 225-246
• Modernitätsaspekte in Rawls’ politischem Liberalismus, in: Ingo Pies und Martin Le-schke (Hrsg.), John Rawls’ politischer Liberalismus, Tübingen 1995, 48-53
• Politische Philosophie, in: Politikwissenschaft: Eine Einführung, hrsg. von Manfred Mols, Hans-Joachim Lauth und Christian Wagner, Paderborn 1994, 171-202
   

Courses until Wintersemester 2023/24

Lectures

1. Einführung in die Politische Philosophie (BA)
2. Der Begriff des Staates in der sozialwissenschaftlichen Theorie
3. Liberalismus, Demokratie und Staat
4. Ideengeschichtliche und demokratietheoretische Grundlagen von Gesellschaft, Staat und Politik
5. Regierung und Verwaltung in Deutschland und in Europa (4-stündig; BA)
6. Ökonomische Theorien der Politik
7. Politische Philosophie in Deutschland (20. Jahrhundert)

Seminars and Colloquia (Master)

1. Normative Political Theory (zus. mit indischen Dozentinnen und Dozenten)
2. Constitutional Democracy (zus. mit indischen Dozentinnen und Dozenten)
3. Die politische Philosophie Immanuel Kants
4. Recht, Politik und Globalisierung
5. Gesetzgebung und politische Theorie
6. Theorien des Neuen Konstitutionalismus
7. Demokratietheorien
8. Naturrecht, Gesellschaftsvertrag und Politik
9. Recht, Staat und Terrorismus
10. Ökonomische Theorien der Politik
11. John Rawls' Politischer Liberalismus
12. Die politischen Theorien der Frankfurter Schule
13. Freiheit, Selbstbestimmung und Solidarität
14. Die politische Philosophie von Jürgen Habermas
15. Modelle der Demokratie - Bürgerbeteiligung an der Gesetzgebung und der Verwaltung
16. Das politische System der BRD
    - der Schweiz
    - Italiens

Seminars (Bachelor)

1. Grundkurs Politikwissenschaft
2. Grundkurs: Moderne politische Theorie
3. Grundkurs: Politische Ideengeschichte:
   i) Griechische und Römische Antike
   ii) Politische Theorien der Neuzeit
   iii) Politische Theorien der Moderne
4. Demokratie und Rechtsstaat
5. Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft
6. Kommunitarismus: Ursprünge, Konzepte und Kritiken
7. Macht- und Herrschaftstheorien
8. Theorien politischer Institutionen
9. Theorien demokratischer Systeme
10. Neuere Verfassungstheorien
11. Modelle politischer Souveränität
12. Einführung in die Hermeneutik
13. Aktuelle Probleme der politischen Philosophie
14. Vertragstheorien des Staates
15. Theorie und Praxis der Zivilgesellschaft
16. Theorien der Organisationen und der Institutionen
17. Mikropolitik
18. Ausgewählte Klassiker politischen Denkens
19. Politische Theorien der Aufklärung und Moderne (auch in Englisch)
20. Politische Theorien der Moderne und Postmoderne (auch in Englisch)
21. Ausgewählte klassische und moderne Demokratietheorien
22. Moderne und zeitgenössische Demokratietheorien (auch in Englisch)
23. Vertiefte Behandlung ausgewählter Themen der Politischen Theorie (Auswahl)
    - Politische Theorien des Postkolonialismus
    - Konzeptionen politischer (Un-)Vernunft
    - Nationalismus, Patriotismus, Identität
    - Formen der politischen Integration
    Social Science Perspectives on Terrorism
24. Das politische System der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
25. Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft
    a) allgemein
    b) mit Schwerpunkten:
    Das politische System der USA
    - Österreichs
    - Großbritanniens
    - Frankreichs
    - Italiens
26. Die politischen Systeme Skandinaviens
27. Krisen in der nationalen und internationalen Politik nach 1945