Hans-Dieter Klingemann earned his academic degrees from the University of Cologne (1966: Dr. rer. pol.) and from the University of Mannheim (1978: Dr. habil.). He has held academic positions at the University of Cologne (1966-74), the Center for Survey Research (ZUMA), Mannheim (1974-80), the Free University of Berlin (1980-2002), the Collegium Civitas, Warsaw (2001-2005), and the Social Science Research Center Berlin (1989-2003). Professor Klingemann has also taught political science at the University of Bonn (1972/73), the University of Tubingen (1976/77), the University of Michigan (1970, 1974, 1987, 1997), the University of Georgia (1973), the European University Institute, Florence… (1978), the State University of New York, Binghamton, N.Y. (1987), the Virginia Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia (1988/89), and the Institut d' Etudes Politiques de Paris 1999, 2003-2005). Since 1995 he is a Senior Fellow of the Center for the Study of Democracy, University of California, Irvine, and since 2005 of the Centre d Etudes Europeennes, Sciences Po, Paris. In the profession Professor Klingemann has served as Vice-President (1982/83) and President of the International Society of Political Psychology (1986/87), as member of the Executive Committee of the European Consortium for Political Research (1988/94), as Vice-President of the International Political Science Association (1994/97), as President of the German Paul Lazarsfeld-Society (1994/99), and as President of the European Political Science Network (2002-2005).In 1999 Professor Klingemann was elected foreign member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, and in 2001 he became member of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina. He is also Honorary Senator of the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and doctor honoris causa in philosophy of Orebro Universitet, Sweden, and doctor honoris causa of the Social Sciences of the Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands. His current research interest is in the field of democratic politics with special attention to the persistence of democratic regimes and the quality of the democratic process.