Prof. Dr. Werner J. Patzelt is the founding professor at the Dresden Institute for Political Science and has held the Chair for Political Systems and System Comparison since 1991.

 The focus of his teaching and research activities is the comparative analysis of political systems, parliamentary research, political communication, the comparative historical analysis of political institutions, and evolutionary theories in political science.

Prof. Patzelt has been a member of the executive committee of the International Political Science Association and has received many awards such as the Science Award of the German Bundestag and the East Bavarian Cultural Award for Ethnomethodology.