Michael's work focuses on global governance, international institutions and their legitimacy, and contestations of liberal-democratic orders.
From 2019 – 2023, he was co-spokesperson of the Cluster of Excellence 'Contestations of the Liberal Script' (SCRIPTS) that was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Michael served as Founding Dean of the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin from 2004 to 2010.
He is a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) and the Academia Europaea.
Michael has received several prices, among them the prestigious Berlin Science Award in 2021 and the Thomas Mann House Fellowship.
His recent books include The Democratic Regression (2023 with Armin Schäfer, Polity), A Theory of Global Governance (2018, OUP), The Struggle over Borders (2019 with Pieter de Wilde, Ruud Koopmans, Wolfgang Merkel, Oliver Strijbis, CUP), The Liberal Script at the Beginning of the 21st Century (2024, edited together with Tanja Börzel and Johannes Gerschewski, OUP) and Contested World Orders (2019, edited with Matthew Stephen, OUP).
Michael has recently published articles in PLOS One, Global Studies Quarterly, International Organization, Perspectives on Politics, and Global Policy.
The Democratic Regression Polity 2023
