Centre for Democracy Studies

The Centre for Democracy Studies was established in 2000 with the broad remit to explore the significance of democracy and democratisation in the contemporary world.

We have an active research culture and the Centre for Democracy Studies offers an intellectual platform for debate on current research and emerging ideas. We encourage participation from staff, students and visiting researchers, foster links with related centres and seek to engage with wider audiences.

Aims

• Conduct research into the theory and practice of democracy
• Make links with researchers and research centres working in cognate fields
• Inform areas of postgraduate study and research in the Department of International Relations, Politics and Sociology
• Engage with the wider community in matters relating to good governance and citizen engagement in politics and policy processes.

Activities

We seek to provide a lively intellectual environment for our members and sponsor a varied programme of events including workshops, symposia, conferences and talks from visiting academics. The core activity of the centre is to host a series of weekly research seminars, which take place on Mondays throughout the academic year.

Internationally recognised expertise

Amongst the invitations to members of the department to speak at events organised by international organisations and governments, examples include:

State government of Paraná

Magnus Ryner, Professor of International Relations, was invited by the State Government of Paraná, Brazil to deliver a lecture, addressing the geopolitical implications in Europe of the current financial crisis. This formed part of an event titled: International Economic Conference: Crisis, Directions and Truths held in Curitiba, 8–11 December 2008.

World Health Organisation

Dr Tina Miller, Reader in Sociology, who spoke to World Health Organisation, Geneva, in October 2008 on ‘Becoming a parent for the first time – the role of gender in transitions’. She followed this by a lecture on ‘Practising gender: men’s experiences of transition to first-time fatherhood’ at the Centre for Gender Studies, University of Cambridge in November 2008.

UN World Summit

Barrie Axford, Professor of Politics, and Richard Huggins, Assistant Dean of the School, who were invited to give papers at the UN World Summit on the Information Society’s Internet Governance Forum workshops on Internet Governance: Transparency, Tools and Trust. They spoke at the 11–13 December workshop at Lille on Internet governance in context: global norms and local applications and Political Cultures, democratic procedures and internet governance, respectively.