Priv.-Doz. Dr Volker Best is a political scientist, a lecturer at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn and is currently acting as an editor at the Portal for Political Science. He held professorships at RWTH Aachen University and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, and was co-editor-in-chief of the journal INDES. His research interests include political parties, coalitions, election campaigns, electoral systems, institutional design and reform, and the issue of governability.