• DemocracyNet in 2018: a year in numbers

    An academic workshop with 11 speakers DemocracyNet Research Workshop, University of Zurich “Democratic Participation: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives” o 6 public events with 14 guests from politics, civil society, and academia Public Lecture “A Return to Basic Research in the Study of Democracy” by Jean-Paul Gagnon Five Abstimm-Bars (discussion forums about upcoming popular votes in Switzerland) at Karl der Grosse “No-Billag” Initiative, “Vollgeld” Initiative, “Fair-Food” Initiative, “Selbstbestimmungsinitiative,” and Referendum gegen die Überwachung von Sozialversicherten o 7 new members from 6 institutions and various disciplines of democracy studies Odile Ammann, Jean-Paul Gagnon, Libby Maman-Burstein, Daniel Mususa, Jonathan Rinne, Victor Sanchez-Mazas, and Arno Stirnimann o Over 700 followers on Twitter and Facebook o…

  • CfP: “Democratic Participation” Workshop

    Call for Papers Annual Research Workshop 2018 “Democratic participation: theoretical and empirical perspectives” September 13-14, 2018 University of Zurich, Switzerland Organizers: DemocracyNet and Doctoral Program Democracy Studies (DPDS, University of Zurich) Full Call for Papers and guidelines for application and participation Topic of the Workshop Citizen participation is broadly understood as a constitutive element of democracy. Without people discussing public affairs and voting, representative democracies are hollowed out and decay. While some political actors and commentators lament the low political turnout in ordinary elections and the political disengagement of various groups of citizens (young people, minorities, lower classes), other ones experiment new ways to try and revive the civic flame.…

  • DemocracyNet.eu workshop: “Citizenship and Democracy”

    The research workshop “Citizenship and Democracy,” organized by DemocracyNet.eu and the Doctoral Program Democracy Studies (DPDS), took place at the University of Zurich on September 11-12. It enabled all 17 participants to engage in interdisciplinary academic discussions with other DPDS students, members of the association DemocracyNet.eu, and other researchers working in the field of democracy studies. Three panels The academic discussions were structured in three panels: Citizenship in (Non-)Democracies, Patterns of democratic participation, and Challenges to democracy. The 7 papers presented offered a variety of approaches and focused on different issues regarding citizenship and democracy. Each speaker received detailed and constructive feedback from their discussants and from all the participants to the workshop,…