Dr. Eric Langenbacher is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Society, Culture & Politics Program at AGI.
Dr. Langenbacher studied in Canada before completing his PhD in Georgetown University’s Government Department in 2002. His research interests include collective memory, political culture, and electoral politics in Germany and Europe. Recent publications include Comparative Politics: Mapping Institutions, Power, and Legitimacy (2025), Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary German Politics and Policy (edited volume, 2024), The German Polity, 12th ed. (2021), and Twilight of the Merkel Era: Power and Politics in Germany after the 2017 Bundestag Election (edited volume, 2019).
Dr. Langenbacher remains affiliated with Georgetown University as Teaching Professor and Director of the Honors Program in the Department of Government, as well as the Director of the Master in European Studies Program in the School of Foreign Service. He has also taught at George Washington University, Washington College, The University of Navarre, and the Universidad Nacional de General San Martin in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and has given talks across the world. He was selected Faculty Member of the Year by the School of Foreign Service in 2009 and was awarded a Fulbright grant in 1999-2000 and the Hopper Memorial Fellowship at Georgetown in 2000-2001. Since 2005, he has also been Managing Editor of German Politics and Society, which is housed in Georgetown’s BMW Center for German and European Studies. Dr. Langenbacher has also planned and run dozens of short programs for groups from abroad, as well as for the U.S. Departments of State and Defense on a variety of topics pertaining to American and comparative politics, business, culture, and public policy.
The 2026 State Elections: AGI Expert Analysis in the Media
In fall 2026, first-place finishes for the far-right and far-left in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin shook up German politics. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) will likely form …
Episode 156: State Election Aftershocks
Regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Berlin saw successes for the far-right Alternative for Germany and far-left Die Linke and “disaster” for the mainstream parties. The episode of The Zeitgeist …
Episode 154: Germany’s Autumn: The Regional and International Constraints on National Politics
Approval ratings for Chancellor Merz and his government are at historic lows, the war in Ukraine is in its fifth year, and instability abroad has led to economic challenges at …
Episode 151: Soccer and Society
The 2026 World Cup has been bigger than ever before; an expanded tournament of forty-eight teams has brought record-breaking audiences. On this episode of The Zeitgeist, Andrei Markovits discusses soccer …
Understanding the Alternative for Germany (AfD)
AGI ProjectEpisode 150: Valuing Civil Society Organizations
Civil society organizations are funded differently in the United States and Germany, and LGBTQ+ organizations must take different approaches when seeking financial support from the public and private sector. Preston …
Heated Relations
The Past, Present, and Future of the LGBTQ+ Community in Germany and the United States For over a century, LGBTQ+ communities in Germany and the United States have fought for …
Episode 149: Forgotten LGBTQ+ Histories
The Stonewall Riots are known worldwide as a starting point for LGBTQ+ activism, and musicals like Cabaret have shared the story of the queer experience in Weimar Berlin. But the …
Episode 147: Merkel, Leadership, and Crisis
Why are some women leaders hailed as brilliant crisis managers while others draw widespread criticism? Louise K. Davidson-Schmich’s new book Gender, Leadership, and Crisis: Possibilities and Perils for Women Leaders (Oxford University Press, …
AGI Asks: Assessing the First Year of the Merz Government
Friedrich Merz was sworn in as Germany’s chancellor on May 6, 2025. The country faces its biggest challenges in a generation: a sluggish economy, Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine, a …
Episode 143: Germany’s Political Barometer
Two state elections in western Germany this month resulted in one win for Chancellor Merz’s Christian Democrats and two poor outcomes for the Social Democrats. The Alternative for Germany, meanwhile, performed better …
