<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Dear friends and colleagues of DemocracyNet,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">This is just a reminder that the deadline to submit abstracts to join the research workshop on Vested Interests and Democracy is coming up in a few days. Please send in your paper proposals by next Friday, 10 September. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Hope to see many of you in Zurich in December!</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Olivier<br class=""><div><br class=""></div></div><div><br class=""></div><div><div class="" style="margin: 0cm; text-align: center; line-height: 24pt; font-size: 20pt; font-family: Palatino; font-weight: bold;"><span lang="EN-GB" class="" style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Vested Interests and Democracy</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Research Workshop</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">with a keynote lecture by <a href="https://www.unige.ch/sciences-societe/speri/membres/professeures-et-professeurs/emanuela-ceva/" class="" style="color: blue;">Prof. Emanuela Ceva</a> (University of Geneva)</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Dates: Thursday, December 9 and Friday, December 10, 2021</span></div><div class="" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Location: University of Zurich, Switzerland</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Co-hosted by the </span><span lang="EN-US" class=""><a href="http://www.ipz.uzh.ch/en/democracystudies" target="_blank" class="" style="color: blue;"><span class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Doctoral Programme Democracy Studies</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">and </span><span lang="EN-US" class=""><a href="https://democracynet.eu/" class="" style="color: blue;"><span class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">DemocracyNet</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Organized by </span></div><div class="" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Olivier Ruchet (University of Zurich, Department of Political Science) and </span></div><div class="" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Odile Ammann (University of Lausanne, Faculty of Law, Criminal Justice, and Public Administration)</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><b class=""><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Call for Papers</span></b></div><div class="" style="text-align: center; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><b class=""><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></b></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-size: 11.5pt; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><b class=""><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Topic of the Workshop</span></b></div><div class="" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">The institutions and mechanisms of democratic politics make it possible for a variety of interests to be included in decision-making and law-making processes. This can happen through formal processes like public consultations and formal hearings, but also through informal contacts between interest holders/interest representatives and political decision-makers. Yet, in the past decades, the regular occurrence of corruption scandals and lobbying affairs (such as, most recently, the COVID-19 mask affair in the German Bundestag) have fueled public distrust in democratic politics. Skeptical voices have argued that contemporary democracies are broken or corrupt because politicians are subservient to a narrow circle of societal actors instead of serving the public interest. Although the complexity of modern democratic politics may justify that politicians seek input from interest groups, the potentially excessive influence of such groups raises concerns about the integrity of politics and political decision-makers. The blurred line between legitimate interests that are a necessary component of democratic politics and illegitimate (“vested”) interests that corrupt democracy and the political discourses and practices surrounding it will be at the center of this workshop. </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">The aim of this workshop is to explore the role of (“vested”) interests in a democracy and to highlight the manifold theoretical and empirical issues that this topic raises from the perspective of democracy studies broadly defined, such as: </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 18pt; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">-<span class="" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">What does an “interest” mean conceptually? To what extent does it differ from related concepts, such as “opinions” and “perspectives”? Is there such a thing as a “public interest”, the “common good” and, finally, “vested interests”? How are these various concepts defined philosophically, legally, etc.?</span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 18pt; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">-<span class="" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Can qualitative and quantitative empirical approaches help us operationalize and measure the aforementioned concepts? What can these approaches tell us about political decision-makers’ (“vested”) interests? </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 18pt; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">-<span class="" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Who are the actors who hold and who represent interests in a democracy? How can these interests be identified? Are the interests of ordinary citizens, civil society organizations, corporate actors, trade unions, political parties, public officials, non-citizens, foreign actors, and non-human entities (e.g., animals and the environment) equally important from the perspective of democratic decision-making, or should they be weighed differently? </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 18pt; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">-<span class="" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">What does the critique of vested interests (e.g. corruption, lobbying, and state capture) tell us about democratic politics? What are the normative criteria that make it possible to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate interests/interest representation in democratic politics? At what stage do interests corrupt democracy?</span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 18pt; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">-<span class="" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">What influences the success or failure of specific interest holders/interest representatives in democratic politics, e.g. in terms of agenda-setting, articulating and defending viewpoints, and gaining the support of political decision-makers? What legal and institutional mechanisms enable the inclusion or exclusion of specific interests? How does interest representation differ in democratic and non-democratic contexts? </span></div><div class="" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 18pt; line-height: normal; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">-<span class="" style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">What institutional arrangements can help to prevent the emergence of vested interests and to include other relevant interests in democratic politics?</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">This workshop aims at bringing together researchers from various disciplines (including, but not limited to, political science and political theory, law, philosophy, history, and sociology) in academic discussions about the topic of the workshop. The aim of the workshop is for early career researchers (including PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers) to present their working papers or project proposals and to gain feedback from all participants as well as from senior scholars. Last but not least, we are delighted to announce that the workshop will also include a public keynote lecture by Prof. Emanuela Ceva (University of Geneva). </span></div><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><b class=""><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></b></div><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><b class=""><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">General Information and Guidelines for Participation</span></b></div><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">The research workshop is part of the Doctoral Programme Democracy Studies (DPDS) at the University of Zurich and is organized by DemocracyNet. The workshop is open to early career researchers (including PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers) working in this field. We encourage applications from researchers from a broad range of disciplines who are interested in democracy studies in general, and in the study of interest groups and interest representation in particular. Each participant is invited to present a current research paper, which will be shared with the participants ahead of the workshop. Participants are expected to attend the whole workshop.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">We aim to hold the workshop physically at the University of Zurich. However, further adjustments may be necessary due to the epidemiological situation.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Doctoral students may be awarded 1 ECTS for successful participation. Conditions for participation include attendance at the entire workshop (including the keynote), active participation, and the provision, ahead of the workshop, of written feedback to two speakers.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><b class=""><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Application</span></b></div><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Researchers interested in participating as presenters can apply by sending an abstract of up to 500 words and a short CV to </span><span lang="EN-US" class=""><a href="mailto:olivier.ruchet@uzh.ch" class="" style="color: blue;"><span class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">olivier.ruchet@uzh.ch</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> by Friday, September 10. </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">R</span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">esearchers interested in attending the workshop without presenting can apply by sending an email to </span><span lang="EN-US" class=""><span class="" style="color: blue; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"><a href="mailto:olivier.ruchet@uzh.ch" class="" style="color: blue;">olivier.ruchet@uzh.ch</a> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">by Friday, October 1. As the number of spots is limited, the selection will be on a first come, first served basis. </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><b class=""><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Costs and Grants</span></b></div><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">The workshop is free of charge. As a matter of principle, travel and accommodation are at the expense of participants. We will do our best to cover the travel and accommodation costs of a small number of participants who cannot get funding via their institution. Please contact us as soon as possible if you would require such funding. </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;"> </span></p><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><b class=""><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">Further Information</span></b></div><div class="" style="line-height: normal; border: medium none; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Palatino;"><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">DemocracyNet is a non-partisan and non-profit association of researchers in democracy studies that was founded in 2011. For more information about DemocracyNet, its members and other project activities, please visit </span><span lang="EN-US" class=""><a href="http://www.democracynet.eu/" class="" style="color: blue;"><span class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">http://www.democracynet.eu/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" class="" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif;">.</span></div></div></body></html>