NCCR Guide 2013 - Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)

Topics
Well-functioning democratic
processes and institutions
constitute the backbone
of political legitimacy,
social stability, economic
growth and prosperity.
However, these days democracy
is faced with serious
challenges:
First, the process of globalization
has undermined
the problem-solving capacities
of established democracies.
Governments
no longer have the degree
of control that they once
had, and their decisions are
increasingly affected by decisions
taken elsewhere. At
the same time, international
institutions to which political
authority is increasingly
transferred lack democratic
legitimacy. Furthermore,
Gilardi Fabrizio, Prof.
Hug Simon, Prof.
Imhof Kurt, Prof.
Jarren Otfried, Prof.
Koubi Vally, Prof.
Kriesi Hanspeter, Prof.
Kübler Daniel, Prof.
Ladner Andreas, Prof.
Lavenex Sandra, Prof.
Marcinkowski Frank, Prof.
Matthes Jörg, Prof.
Merkel Wolfgang, Prof.
Papadopoulos Ioannis, Prof.
Sciarini Pascal, Prof.
Schimmelfennig Frank, Prof.
Siegert Gabriele, Prof.
Steenbergen Marco, Prof.
Tresch Anke, Dr.
de Vreese Claes, Prof.
Wirth Werner, Prof.
Wyss Vinzenz, Prof.
Ziegler Béatrice, Prof.
the process of extending
democracy into unstable
countries and regions has
proven to be more difficult
than expected.
Second, democratic systems
are confronting the
increasingly powerful role
of the media in politics. In
this mediatization process
over recent decades,
the mass media have been
moving from being merely
a channel of communication
to being a major actor
in the political arena. This
can be problematic as the
media are able to influence
the entire decision-making
process and they can assign
political relevance and importance
to societal problems
according to their own
logic.
Since 2005, social scientists
have been working together
for the NCCR Democracy in
order to better understand
how democracy is developing
under these two conditions.
While globalization
and mediatization pose
significant challenges to
democracy, they also provide
new opportunities for
both new and established
democracies to adapt to
changing conditions and
can contribute to a reinforcement
of democracy.
The researchers’ common
goal is to give explanations
for the current changes and
to propose new solutions
and therefore improve the
quality of democracy.
Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Universität Zürich
Département de science politique, Université de Genève
Institut für Publizistikwissenschaft und Medienforschung und
Soziologisches Institut der Universität Zürich
Institut für Publizistikwissenschaft und Medienforschung,
Universität Zürich
Volkswirtschaftliches Institut, Universität Bern
European University Institute (EUI), Florence
Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau ZDA, Universität Zürich
IDHEAP, Universität Lausanne
Seminar für Politikwissenschaft, Universität Luzern
Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft, Universität Münster
Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaften,
Universität Wien
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
Institut d’Etudes Politiques et Internationales,
Université de Lausanne
Département de science politique, Université de Genève
Center for Comparative and International Studies
(CIS), ETH Zürich
Institut für Publizistikwissenschaft und Medienforschung,
Universität Zürich
Institut für Politikwissenschaft (IPZ), Universität Zürich
Département de science politique, Université de Genève
The Amsterdam School of Communtications Research,
University of Amsterdam
Institut für Publizistikwissenschaft und Medienforschung (IPMZ),
Universität Zürich
Institut für Angewandte Medienwissenschaft,
Zürcher Hochschule Winterthur ZHW
Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau ZDA, Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz
Third Party Cooperation
Programmes
• ASCN
• CAP
• CLIMPOL
• Demanc
• IMO
• NEWGOV
• RECON
• RRPP
• SFB 597
Research Institutions
• Amsterdam Institute for
Advanced Labour,
University of Amsterdam, NL
• Centre de Théorie Politique,
Université Libre de Bruxelles, BE
• Centre for Deliberative Democracy,
Australian National University,
Canberra, AU
• Centrum voor Mediacultuur en
Communicatietechnologie (OE),
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, BE
• Departamento Ciências da
Communicação, Universidade
do Minho, Braga, PT
• Department of Communication,
University of California,
San Diego, US
• Department of Communication,
University of Missouri,
Columbia, US
• Department of Political and
Social Sciences, European
University Institute, Florence, IT
• Department of Political
Communication,
University of Krems, AT
• Department of Political Science,
University of Exeter, GB
• Department of Political Science,
University of Koblenz Landau, DE
• Department of Public
Communication, Vytautas
Magnus University, Kaunas, LT
• Department of Social Cultural
Studies, Free University
of Amsterdam, NL
• Department of Sociology,
University of California,
Los Angeles, US
• Faculty of the Social Sciences,
Goethe University, Frankfurt /
Main, DE
• Georgian Opinion Research
Business International, Tbilisi, GE
• Graduate School, Chinese Academy
of Social Sciences, Beijing, CN
• Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft,
Westfälische
Wilhelms-Universität Münster, DE
• Institut für Sozialwissenschaften,
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, DE
• Institute for European Integration
Research, Austrian Academy
of Science, Vienna, AT
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