NCCR Guide 2013 - Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)

Challenges to Democracy
in the 21 st Century
NCCR Democracy
• Institute of Communication
Studies, Leeds University, GB
• Institute of Mass Communication
and Media Research,
Free University Berlin, DE
• Institute of Political Science,
University of Munich, DE
• Laboratoire Communication et
politique, Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, Paris, FR
• Political Science Department,
University of Mannheim, DE
• Political Science Department,
University of Oslo, NO
• Politics and International Studies,
Open University, Milton Keynes, GB
• Professorship Theory and History
of Democracy, Social Science
Research Center Berlin, DE
• School of Politics and
International Relations,
University College Dublin, IE
• Social Science Research Institute,
Abo Akademi, Turku, FI
• Vakgroep Politieke
Wetenschappen, Vrije Universiteit
Brussels, BE
• Zentrum für Sozialpolitik,
Universität Bremen, DE
Economy / Industry
• Bertelsmann Transformation
Index, Bertelsmann Stiftung,
Gütersloh, DE
• Politools, Bern, CH
Others
• Schweizer Jugend forscht,
Bern, CH
• Tripartite Agglomerationskonferenz
/ Konferenz der Kantonsregierungen,
Berne, CH
Achievements of the previous years
Multi-disciplinary research
The 24 research projects
completed in Phase I show
how the two challenges of
globalization and mediatization
jeopardize or reinforce
democracy: While
globalization poses new
threats to democracy at
the national level, it also
allows for the democratization
of supranational
organizations and of nondemocratic
countries.
However, the projects also
indicate the unfavourable
consequences of democratization.
While mediatization
leads to a commercialization
of news and extends
the techniques of manipulating
public opinion, it
also diversifies the sources
of news reporting, opens
politics to the scrutiny of
an ever more sophisticated
public, and increases the
focus on dialogue. The research
results have been
or are in the process of
being published with leading
publishers and in major
journals in the fields. Furthermore,
the NCCR has
launched a refereed e-
journal Living Reviews on
Democracy, providing upto-date
reviews of the state
of research in all fields of
democracy studies.
Knowledge transfer
The projects in the Module
“The quality of democracy”
and the Knowledge Transfer
Projects have provided
tools either for democracy
research or for the transfer
of research results to
the public: The Democracy
Barometer has completed
data collection for
75 democracies; the publicly
accessible website
www.democracybarometer.org
presents country rankings
and diagrams allowing for
an assessment of the quality
of democracy in established
democracies. Two projects
have produced e-learning
tools in order to support
courses in Swiss secondary
schools or at Swiss universities.
One project developed
an instrument to monitor
mass media performance
in modern democracies.
Another project developed
decision-aids for voters in
the domain of e-democracy
and identified the risks and
potentials of such tools
from a legal perspective.
Finally, one project promoted
knowledge transfer
of NCCR research into
society by mediating joint
meetings with researchers
and journalists.
Education and training
The NCCR Democracy
provides an interdisciplinary
doctoral program in
order to enable its participants
to obtain Ph.D. degrees
of such a quality that
they can place themselves
at the forefront of their
discipline(s) in Switzerland
or abroad. The NCCR
supports the training of 26
Ph.D. students in each research
phase. The completion
rate and professional
perspectives of the students
are very positive: Most of
them completed their Ph.D.
in time and continued their
academic career. In Phase
II, another focus is on promoting
postdoctoral researchers.
Furthermore,
an NCCR assistant professorship
in democratization
was created in 2010 at the
University of Zurich.
The core of our efforts
to promote female researchers
is the peer mentoring
program. Two peer
groups have been established
in order to advance
the careers of their members
in academia and beyond.
The groups organize
a variety of successful
activities designed to develop
skills vital to building
up successful careers and
to create networks. Most
female doctoral students
plan to stay in academia
after finishing their dissertation.
The program has
been a very positive experience
for all of its members,
and they consider it
one of the most effective
forms of supporting the
advancement of women
in academia.
Structural effects
The NCCR Democracy
initiated the Zentrum für
Demokratie Aarau (ZDA).
The ZDA is the first democracy
research center in
Switzerland and a unique
model for a partnership between
a municipality (City
of Aarau), a canton (Argovia),
a university of applied
sciences (FHNW) and a university
(University of Zurich).
The establishment of
the center has also led to the
creation of a new professorship
in Democracy Studies
at the University of Zurich.
The founding of ZDA is an
important measure for institutionalizing
the NCCR
Democracy and for securing
and extending its
research and educational
efforts in the long run.
Further information see
www.nccr-democracy.uzh.ch
Partner Institutions
European University Institute (EUI), Florence
FORS, Université de Lausanne
Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB), Berlin
Zentrum für Demokratie (ZDA), Aarau
94 | Guide 2013