North America

The Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD)

The Center for the Study of Democracy is an organized research unit at the University of California, Irvine. The Center sponsors research and education aimed at improving the democratic process in the United States and expanding democracy around the world.

The Center’s research activities focus on four areas:

• Democracy-21, a research program aimed at improving the democratic process in the United States and other established democracies;
• the New Democracies Initiative, focusing on the promotion of democracy in formerly authoritarian systems;
• a program examining the role of social movements as a form of political expression;
• and a research area evaluating the intersection of race, ethnicity, and democratic politics.

Website: www.democ.uci.edu

The Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD)

Founded in late 1989, the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) is an interdisciplinary public policy institute dedicated to the values of democracy and market economy. CSD is a non-partisan, independent organization fostering the reform process in Bulgaria through impact on policy and civil society.

CSD objectives are:

• to provide an enhanced institutional and policy capacity for a successful European integration process, especially in the area of justice and home affairs;
• to promote institutional reform and the practical implementation of democratic values in legal and economic practice;
• to monitor public attitudes and serve as a watchdog of the institutional reform process.

Building bridges is the old-fashioned way of bringing together social actors and cementing new alliances. Born as a think-tank, the Center for the Study of Democracy has evolved into policy development through dialogue and partnership.

Bringing cutting-edge solutions to transition problems is our way of keeping the middle ground between academia and social practice.

The CSD has pioneered in several areas traditionally perceived as the inviolable public property, such as anti-corruption institutional reform, and national security.

Our belief is that bringing a new culture of cooperation and trust in a milieu of inherited fragmentation and opacity is equally rewarding as the achievement of concrete social goals.

Website: http://www.csd.bg

The Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship (CSDC)

The Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship (CSDC) brings together a group of scholars from four Québec universities. The centre includes scholars and students from both Communications and Political Science departments, and brings a cross-disciplinary perspective to bear on the challenges facing democratic citizenship in a rapidly changing world.

Established in 2008, CSDC researchers address a wide range of questions relating to the relationship between citizens and the political process. How do citizens decide who to vote for? Can citizens hold governments accountable? How do citizens form attitudes about public policy? What accounts for political participation, or, perhaps more importantly, a lack of political participation? What are the implications of social diversity for engagement, or policy support? These and related questions play a central role in the work pursued by scholars at the CSDC.

Website: http://csdc-cecd.mcgill.ca/indexEN.html

The Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions

The Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions seeks to advance research, teaching and the broad communication of ideas and knowledge about institutional innovation in democratic governance.

Through its programs, the Centre promotes excellence in research and teaching, brings together scholars, public officials and students from diverse backgrounds and academic disciplines, and works with governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The Centre does not engage in policy advocacy or advising. Nor does it identify with any particular political party, interest group, or ideological position. Consistent with the global mission of the university, the Centre’s activities include the major established democracies, emerging democracies, and non-democratic states.

Website: http://democracy.ubc.ca

The Center for the Study of Democratic Politics (CSDP)

The Center for the Study of Democratic Politics (CSDP) was created in 1999 as a research program within the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. The Center supports empirical research on democratic political processes and institutions. CSDP’s research program focuses on the relationship between democratic ideals and democratic practice; its aim is to encourage rigorous social scientific analysis that informs and is informed by normative theories of democracy.

Website: http://www.princeton.edu/csdp/index.xml

The Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID)

The Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID) is a non-profit organization, based in Washington DC, dedicated to studying Islamic and democratic political thought and merging them into a modern Islamic democratic discourse.

The organization was founded in March 1999 by a diverse group of academicians, professionals, and activists–both Muslim and non-Muslim–from around the USA who agree on the need for the study of and dissemination of reliable information on this complex topic.

Website: https://www.csidonline.org