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Network of Democracy Research Institutes
-Democracy Research News-No. 4, September 2003Welcome to Democracy Research News, the quarterly newsletter of the Network of Democracy Research Institutes (NDRI). The Network is a membership association of institutions that conduct and publish research on democracy and democratic development. It is also one of several functional networks associated with the World Movement for Democracy (www.wmd.org). This newsletter is one means of informing democracy scholars and others worldwide about the activities of and publications produced by NDRI member institutes. We invite readers' comments and suggestions of useful features they would like to see in future issues. Additional information about the Network and profiles of all member institutes are available at www.wmd.org/ndri/ndri.html. To submit comments or to inquire about joining the Network, please write to Thomas Skladony ( ). Subscribing to Democracy Research News Democracy Research News is distributed exclusively by e-mail. Subscriptions are available free of charge by writing to ndri@ned.org. We encourage readers to forward this newsletter to colleagues who may wish to subscribe. If you do not wish to receive Democracy Research News, send the message "unsubscribe" to ndri@ned.org and we will remove your name promptly. Contents 1. News and Announcements 2. New Publications and Recent Events by NDRI Members 2.1 Africa 2.2 Asia and the Pacific 2.3 Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union 2.4 Latin America and the Caribbean 2.5 Middle East 2.6 Advanced Democracies 1. NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS NDRI Welcomes New Members: Seven new institutes have accepted our invitation to join the Network of Democracy Research Institutes in recent months.By coincidence, these new institutes are all in countries in Central and Southeastern Europe, including several countries not previously represented in the Network.The Network continues to look for additional potential members worldwide, and readers' suggestions of such institutes are mostwelcome.>We are pleased to welcome the following new members (whose activities will be reported in the appropriate geographic sections of this newsletter): . The Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS, Bulgaria, www.iris-bg.org), an independent, nongovernmental research institute that seeks to promote the values of democracy, civil society, freedom, and the rule of law, and to facilitate Bulgarian integration into NATO and the European Union; . The Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights (Russia, www.demokratia.ru), a nongovernmental public-policy research and advocacy organization whose mission is to support the development of democratic institutions and sustainable mechanisms of human-rights protection in Russia; . The Institute of Public Affairs (ISP, Poland, www.isp.org.pl), an independent, nonpartisan public-policy think tank that promotes informed debate on social and political issues such as law and public administration, social policy, migration, and European integration; . The Center for the Study of Democracy and Culture (CDK, Czech Republic, www.cdkbrno.cz), a nonprofit association that conducts and publishes research in the fields of political science, history, and religion and culture; . The Institute for Contemporary Studies (ICS, Albania, www.ics-al.org), a private, independent public-policy institute whose mission is to promote and formulate policies for the development of Albanian society based on the values of free enterprise, efficient and transparent government, individual freedom, and democratic values; . The Center for Liberal Democratic Studies (CLDS, Serbia and Montenegro, www.clds.org.yu), an independent think tank that elaborates and publishes public-policy proposals based on such core principles as individual liberty, the rule of law, free markets, and individual choice and responsibility; and . The Center for Policy Studies (Hungary, www.ceu.hu/cps/oth/oth_welcome.htm), an academic unit within the Central European University that conducts policy research and sponsors collaborative projects on such issues as social inclusion and diversity, social capital, globalization, administrative reform, the development of civil society, and the future of the nation-state in the Balkans. For a listing of all NDRI members and brief profiles of each institute please visit www.wmd.org/ndri/ndri.html.Almost all NDRI members maintain comprehensive Web sites listing their research projects, conferences, and publications. NDRI Management Training Seminar and Competition: NDRI will organize a week-long management training seminar for representatives of NDRI member institutes in September 2004 in Washington, D.C. The seminar will focus on developing the managerial and administrative capacities of research institutes by training selected staff members in such essential skills as communications and outreach, fundraising, conference planning and management, and publications (including Internet publishing). Eight participants, selected on a competitive basis, will spend a week at the International Forum for Democratic Studies, from where they will visit numerous Washington-based research institutes for meetings with senior-level managers and administrators. Participants will also attend policy conferences and may arrange individual meetings that complement the objectives of the seminar. Full details on the competition, including eligibility and application guidelines, will be sent to all NDRI member institutes in late September 2003. Selected participants will be notified in the spring. The Center on Democratic Performance (CDP, United States,http://cdp.binghamton.edu/) has announced a change in leadership. Edward R. McMahon, founding director of the Center, has accepted a teaching and research position at the University of Vermont, from where he will remain an adjunct fellow of the CDP. His successor as director is Patrick Regan, professor of political science at Binghamton University, whose teaching and research interests include U.S. foreign policy, conflict management and resolution, and political repression. We wish Ned McMahon all the best in his new position and are pleased to welcome Pat Regan to the NDRI. King Prajadhipok's Institute (KPI, Thailand, www.kpi.ac.th) also has a new leader. Noranit Setabutr, former dean of the Thammasat University faculty of political science, president of the university's Democracy Development Studies Centre, and a senior member of the Thai Anti-Money Laundering Office, became secretary-general of KPI in February 2003, replacing Borwornsak Uwanno, who had accepted a government appointment. We welcome Professor Noranit and look forward to the continued active involvement of KPI in the Network. KPI has also announced the appointment of political scientist Niyon Rathamarit as deputy secretary-general for academic affairs. A specialist in comparative politics and local Thai politics, Dr. Niyom is also interested in developing collaborative relationships with organizations in other countries that assist in the promotion of democracy. The Committee on Concepts and Methods of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) has announced that the recipients of its 2003 Award for Conceptual Innovation in Democratic Studies are Gerardo L. Munck (University of Southern California) and Jay Verkuilen (University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana). The two scholars were honored for their article, "Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy: Evaluating Alternative Indices," which was published in the February 2002 issue of Comparative Political Studies. The $1,500 award is presented every three years by the IPSA Committee on Concepts and Methods and the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO) in Mexico City. For more information visit www.concepts-methods.org 2. NEW PUBLICATIONS AND RECENT EVENTS 2.1 AFRICA The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD, United Kingdom and Nigeria, www.cdd.org.uk) deployed a team of 40 observers, including Kayode Fayemi, Centre director, to monitor the parliamentary, gubernatorial, presidential, and state assembly elections in Nigeria in April and May 2003 and then published a summary report on the elections on the Centre's Web site. The report includes background notes on the preelection campaigns, observations on the conduct of the elections, and a set of specific recommendations to improve Nigeria's election procedures before the 2007 elections. On May 30 and June 1, 2003 the CDD also cosponsored a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria that reviewed the state of civil society and human security in western Africa, and the challenges to democracy that emerge from political instability in the area. Joining CDD in cosponsoring the meeting were International Alert and the Economic Community of West African States. TheCentre for Policy Studies (CPS, South Africa, www.cps.org.za) published "Democratic Governance and Peace: Two Sides of the Same Coin?" a policy brief by CPS researcher Candice Moore, in which the author makes the case for "the simultaneous pursuit of democracy and peace" by examining "those features of democracy that are conducive to peace. Other recent Policy Briefs include "Formal Policies and Informal Power" by Kenny Hlela, examining Johannesburg's street traders and the city's informal trading policy, and "Sending Them a Message: Culture, Tax Collection, and Governance in South Africa" by Steven Friedman. Full texts are available on the CPS Web site. The April 2003 issue of Synopsis, the newsletter of the Centre's governance program, includes a lead article entitled "Building Sustainable Peace Requires Democratic Governance" by Chris Landsberg, director of the CPS, plus an article on electoral reform and proportional representation in South Africa by Shauna Mottiar. For more information about these and other CPS publications visit www.cps.org.za/execsumm/execsumm.html. The Institute for Democracy in South Africa (I>dasa, www.idasa.org.za) and the United Nations Development Programme organized the Governance and AIDS Forum in Cape Town on April 2-4, 2003. The meeting brought together members of South Africa's development community, parliamentarians, officials from electoral commissions and AIDS councils, researchers, and civic activists to reformulate the vision on how to deal with the HIV/AIDS pandemic that threatens the political and economic development of many countries in Africa. More information about the conference, including the program and background papers, is available at www.idasa.org.za/m_main.php?view=2&art_id=996. Idasa's Abuja office published a series of weekly reports on the 2003 Nigerian elections, including analysis, commentary, and policy recommendations. More information and a listing of the reports are available at www.idasa.org.za/m_main.php?view=2&art_id=1006. The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana, www.cdd-ghana.org) regularly organizes seminars and briefings that bring together government officials, parliamentarians, foreign diplomats, and scholars. Among the events sponsored by the Center in 2003 were a roundtable on the New Partnership for Africa's Development entitled "NEPAD: What's Democracy Got to Do with It?" a briefing on "Governance and Conflicts in West Africa," and an April 10 seminar on "Entrenching Constitutionalism in Ghana" that featured H. Kwasi Prempeh, director of legal policy and governance at the Center, in addition to senior jurists and officials from the ministry of justice. The Center's active publishing program includes an occasional-paper series called Critical Perspectives, a newsletter-format Briefing Paper based on commissioned research and Center roundtables, and a quarterly newsletter called Democracy Watch. For abstracts and ordering information visit www.cdd-ghana.org/pub.html. Afrobarometer (www.afrobarometer.org), directed by Michael Bratton, Robert Mattes, and E. Gyimah-Boadi, has published seven new studies in its Working Paper Series so far in 2003. These include "The Growth of Democracy in Ghana" by E. Gyimah-Boadi and Kwabena Amoah Awuah Mensah; "Insiders and Outsiders: Varying Perceptions of Democracy and Governance in Uganda" by Carolyn J. Logan, Nansozi Muwanga, Robert Sentamu, and Michael Bratton; and "Poverty, Survival, and Democracy in Southern Africa" by Robert Mattes, Michael Bratton, and Yul Derek Davids. Abstracts of these and other papers in the series, plus information about how to order them, are available at www.afrobarometer.org/abseries.html. Recent studies in the Afrobarometer Briefing Papers series include "The Changing Public Agenda? South Africans' Assessments of the Country's Most Pressing Problems," which ranked the country's leading problems as job creation and unemployment, crime, poverty, AIDS, housing, education, corruption, health care, and water; "Trends in Political Party Support in South Africa;" and "Freedom of Speech, Media Exposure, and the Defense of a Free Press in Africa," which examined the relationships between free speech, neutral media, and democracy. Full texts of these and other Briefing Papers are available at www.afrobarometer.org/abbriefing.html. 2.2 ASIA AND THE PACIFIC King Prajadhipok's Institute (KPI, Thailand, www.kpi.ac.th), together with White Lotus Press in Bangkok, published Thailand's New Politics: KPI Yearbook 2001, the first in a series of KPI Studies in Thai Politics and Democracy. Edited by Michael H. Nelson, senior research fellow at KPI, the 500-page book includes essays on the political changes that followed the adoption of the 1997 constitution, the proliferation of political parties, the political role of labor and the Thai human rights commission, and a monograph-length analysis of the 2002 Thai elections by the editor. In November 2002 KPI also launched its Thai Political News Abstracts, a compilation drawn primarily from Thailand's English-language newspapers. Current and past issues of the Abstracts are available at KPI's Web site, which also includes a comprehensive Thai Politics Bibliography, compiled and annotated by Mr. Nelson and updated in December 2002. Also available on the KPI Web site are two recent papers by Thawilwadee Bureekul, director of research and development at KPI, and Robert B. Albritton of the University of Mississippi. The first, entitled "Support for Democracy in Thailand," analyzes urban-rural cleavages and their implications for democracy in Thailand. The second, entitled "The Role of Civil Society in Thai Electoral Politics," measures and tests relationships between citizen participation in civil society and in political society. Ms. Bureekul also directed a major research project on the promotion of participatory democracy under the 1997 Thai constitution; an executive summary of this project is available at www.kpi.ac.th/en/kpi03-1-cur-03.asp. Her monograph, Citizen Participation in Politics: The Senate Election 2000 Case, was published by KPI in December 2002. King Prajadhipok's Institute convened its fourth annual congress in November 2002 at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok. The congress, entitled "Five Years of Political Reform under the New Constitution," reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of Thailand's 1997 constitution in such areas as civil liberties, public participation, the new electoral system, and the performance of the Thai parliament, executive, courts, and independent agencies. Participants included KPI researchers and other Thai academics, representatives of civil society organizations, and experts on political reform in other Asian countries. Conference proceedings are available at www.kpi.ac.th/en/kpi03-kcIV1.asp. Yun-han Chu, director of the East Asia Barometer (www.eastasiabarometer.org), wrote a report entitled "East Asian Democracies Under Stress" based on data obtained from 2002 Barometer surveys. With Yu-Tzung Chang he also prepared a study of "Confucianism and Democracy: Empirical Studies of Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong" for a forthcoming edited volume. And with colleague Hu Ko-wei, Messrs. Chu and Chang wrote a paper entitled "The Political Significance of Insignificant Class Voting?" that they presented at the 2002 annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies. The Institute for National Policy Research (INPR, Taiwan, www.inpr.org.tw) organized several major research conferences in 2002. In June INPR and the Hoover Institution of Stanford University cosponsored a two-day meeting in Taipei entitled "Challenges to Taiwan's Democracy in the Post-Hegemonic Era." Panel sessions included such topics as "The Evolution of Democratic Institutions," "The Transformation of Political Parties in the Post-Hegemonic Era," "Democratic Governance," and "Political Economy." The full conference program and proceedings are available at www.inpr.org.tw. A follow-up meeting was held at the Hoover Institution on October 31-November 1, 2002. For more information about the Hoover event, visit www-hoover.stanford.edu/research/conferences/taiwan/agenda.html. On January 24-25, 2003 INPR cosponsored a conference with the Hoover Institution entitled "New Leadership, New China?" Eleven papers on the political implications of the Sixteenth Party Congress and the leadership changes in China were presented by leading China experts from the United States and Taiwan. The papers will be published in a book to be edited by Yun-han Chu, Chi-cheng Lo, and Ramon Myers. Roland Rich, director of the Centre for Democratic Institutions (CDI, Australia, www.cdi.anu.edu.au), spoke on "The Dynamism of Democracy in Asia" at the August 2002 Asia Pacific Democratic Cooperation Forum in Taipei, which was convened by Taiwanese nongovernmental organizations and universities to examine democracy promotion in Taiwan, in China, and in the region. Additional information about the Forum and the full text of Mr. Rich's remarks are available at www.cdi.anu.edu.au/asia_pacific/Asia-PDemoCoopForum_Aug02-2.htm. CDI scholars participated in a September 2002 meeting in New York that helped develop a research project on "The UN's Role in Democratization: Capacity-Building in Transition and Consolidation." The project, organized by the United Nations University Peace and Governance Program in New York, will examine the effectiveness of UN assistance in democratic transition and consolidation, with a special focus on postconflict societies like Kosovo, East Timor, and Afghanistan. A background paper and additional information about the project are available at www.cdi.anu.edu.au/research_publications/research_UNUCDI_Workshop.htm. The Democracy Forum for East Asia, a collaborative project of the International Forum for Democratic Studies (United States, www.ned.org) and the Sejong Institute (South Korea, www.sejong.org) organized the final two in its series of conferences on problems of democracy in East Asia. Both meetings were held in Seoul. A July conference entitled "The Role of the Media in Fighting Corruption: Perspectives from Asia and Beyond" featured journalists, scholars, government officials, and civil-society activists from China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand, plus a number of their counterparts from Argentina, Australia, Peru, Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A November conference on "Improving Governance and Accountability through Research: The Role of East Asian Think Tanks in the Policy Process," focused on the contributions that public-policy research institutes make toward improving governance, reforming and deepening democracy, and promoting more transparent and accountable political systems. Conference participants included policy researchers, managers and administrators of think tanks and of other nongovernmental organizations, and academic experts on democracy and public policy. Reports from these (and all previous) Democracy Forum conferences are available at www.ned.org/asia/index.html. 2.3 EASTERN EUROPE AND THE FORMER SOVIET UNION The Access to Information Programme (AIP, Bulgaria, www.aip-bg.org) published its Report on Access to Public Information in Bulgaria in 2002 in June 2003. Complied by Gergana Jouleva, AIP executive director, and Alexander Kashumov, the report is an annual review of legislative changes and executive implementation of Bulgaria's public information law; it also includes AIP's own recommendations for improving the law. The full text is available at http://www.aip-bg.org/pdf/report02_eng.pdf. The Centre for Liberal Strategies (CLS, Bulgaria, www.cls-sofia.org) will soon complete a three-year collaborative project with scholars from the Central European University (Budapest), New Europe College (Bucharest), and Wissenschaftskolleg (Berlin). Four teams of researchers have been working since October 2000 on themes such as social inclusion, economic integration, the future of the nation-state, and national and regional identity. The teams will integrate their findings in an "Agenda for Civil Society in Southeastern Europe" that will articulate policy choices for the next 20 years. For additional information visit www.cls-sofia.org/projects/curr-1-en.htm. The Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM, Montenegro, www.cedem.cg.yu) launched a quarterly magazine called REPER (the name means Sign or Pattern) in October 2002 and has since published issues in January and April 2003. The magazine features essays in both Serbo-Croatian and English on politics, law, economics, and foreign policy. The Center's other regular publications include the quarterly CEDEM Newsletter, which features brief articles and reports on Center activities. The April-June 2003 issue included summary tables of recent opinion polls in which citizens discussed attitudes toward politicians, political parties, and membership in NATO and the European Union. CEDEM's newsletters and magazines are available at www.cedem.cg.yu/cedem.htm. The Institute for Public Affairs (IVO, Slovakia, www.ivo.sk) published five books in English and two in Slovak in the spring and summer of 2003. Slovakia 2002: A Global Report on the State of Society, edited by Grigorij Meseznikov, Miroslav Kollár, and Tom Nicholson, is IVO's annual flagship publication; it contains thirty-five essays by prominent Slovak social scientists who analyze the year's most important developments in domestic politics, foreign affairs, the economy, and society. IVO's Global Report on Roma in Slovakia, edited by Michal Vasecka, Martina Jurásková, and Tom Nicholson, is one of the most complete analyses of condition and prospects of the Roma population ever published in Slovakia. Other new books include Slovakia after the Elections: Public Opinion, Political Players, and Mediaand USA and Trans-Atlantic Cooperation in the Attitudes of Political Parties, Citizens, and the Media in Slovakia. The Institute's most recent Slovak-language publications include an Outlook for the Development of the Slovak Republic to the Year 2020, and Slovak Elections 2002. The Center for the Study of Democracy and Culture (CDK, Czech Republic, www.cdkbrno.cz) published Evropská Unie by Petr Fiala and Markéta Pitrová, a detailed history of the European Union that also covers the current politics of EU reform and enlargement and provides a wealth of statistical data, all in some 744 pages. Important new Czech translations published by the Center include Political Theory and the Contemporary World: Classical Concepts in an Age of Relativism by Polish-Canadian political theorist W.J. Stankiewicz and Right and Left: The Significance of a Political Distinction, in which Italian political philosopher Norberto Bobbio explains why the left-right ideological divide endures in postcommunist, post-cold war politics. CDK also publishes Revue Politica (Political Review), a monthly magazine on politics, society, and culture featuring original essays by Czech authors and translations from prominent international contributors. For more information and the complete CDK book catalog, visit www.cdkbrno.cz. The Center for Policy Studies (CPS, Hungary, www.ceu.hu/cps) recently published Reshaping Globalization: Multilateral Dialogues and New Policy Initiatives. Edited by Andrea Krizsán and Violetta Zentai, the volume includes contributions from scholars, international policy makers, and civil-society representatives who attempt to develop a constructive dialogue about what the editors call "one of the most normatively charged and politically contested concepts" in contemporary policy debates. The Center also published Reinventing Media: Media Policy Reform in East Central Europe, edited by Miklós Sükösd and Péter Bajomi-Lázár, a set of ten studies on the challenges facing media in the new democracies of East-Central Europe. For more information about these and other CPS books, visit http://www.ceu.hu/cps/pub/pub_books.htm. Two NDRI members contributed essays to the Winter 2003 issue of East European Politics and Society, which focused on the eastward enlargement of the European Union. Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, president of the Romanian Academic Society (SAR, Romania, www.sar.org.ro) wrote "Of Dark Sides and Twilight Zones: Enlarging to the Balkans," while Lena Kolarska-Bobinska, director of the Institute of Public Affairs (ISP, Poland, www.isp.org.pl/indexEN.htm), wrote "The EU Accession and Strengthening of Institutions in East Central Europe: The Case of Poland."; |
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