University of Zurich, Centre for Comparative and International Studies (CIS) and Centre for Democracy Studies, Aarau

March 6^th-7^th 2014, Zürich & Aarau

This workshop addresses the relationship between the input and the output dimension of democratic legitimacy. Therefore, workshop theme focuses both on the perception of democracy with respect to input factors, like the quality of democratic institutions, as well as output factors, like economic performance. Furthermore, we are interested in the perception of democracy at the individual level, and the heterogeneity of these perceptions within countries. To what extent do perceptions reflect the actual democratic institutions and procedures, and which institutions are crucial to create these perceptions among different groups of citizens. We assume that the interplay of democratic institutions and citizens' perceptions is not a one-way game. However, we expect that political efficacy affects a wider range of institutions, especially those which deal with the quality of the representative process (competition and participation).

Structure of the workshop

The workshop consists of a keynote lecture by Mitchell A. Seligson (Vanderbilt University) and a collaborative workshop with a maximum of eight participants led by Saskia Ruth (University of Zurich) and Yanina Welp (Center for Research on Direct Democracy).

Application procedure

We invite PhD students and young post-docs from political and social sciences to submit an abstract of their research proposals (500 words maximum) and a brief CV (2 pages maximum) by January 26, 2014 to saskia.ruth@zda.uzh.ch.

More information

Yanina Welp

Regional Director for LA C2D

Centre for Research on Direct Democracy

eDC Electronic Democracy Centre

ZDA - Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau

University of Zurich

Tel fix: + 41 (0)62 836 94 43

Email: yanina.welp@zda.uzh.ch

Skype: welpita

http://yaninawelp.wordpress.com/publications/