News archive
Knowledge Transfer Award 2013
(January 2014) The NCCR Democracy Knowledge Transfer Award 2013 was conferred to PhD student Manuel Vogt (ETH Zurich) for his editorial piece on the trial against former Guatemalan dictator Efraín Ríos Montt in the newspaper El Periódico.
NCCR Democracy Knowledge Transfer Award 2012
(November 2012) Karin Hasler and Nicole Greuter are the winners of this year’s NCCR Democracy Knowledge Transfer Award. They receive the prize in recognition of their longstanding involvement in the annual Swiss Youth in Science (SJF) study week through which they have managed to get young people interested in NCCR Democracy research.
“Swiss Youth in Science” study week: Young people research the consequences of globalization
(November 2012) Eight young researchers took part in the Swiss Youth in Science study week at the Department of Political Science (IPZ) and NCCR Democracy. In two projects, devised by IPZ and NCCR doctoral students, they analyzed the effects of globalization on labor markets and on the media.
NCCR Newsletter December 2012
The latest issue of the NCCR Newsletter is now online featuring articles on globalization and democracy.
New website for civic education at secondary schools: www.politiklernen.ch
The new website www.politiklernen.ch offers teachers didactic material for civic education lessons in Swiss secondary schools (levels I and II). The content is based on the knowledge and research of the NCCR Democracy and covers the topics of politics, globalization, and media.
NCCR Newsletter June 2012
Download the latest issue of the NCCR newsletter featuring articles on media and democracy.
Best Paper Award of American Political Science Association for Christilla Roederer-Rynning and Frank Schimmelfennig
(May 2012) Frank Schimmelfennig wins APSA best paper award.
Promoting democratic citizenship in Europe: Young NCCR researchers initiate network
Who is a citizen? What are the rights and duties of a citizen? What makes citizenship democratic? Central questions for democratic states, these points have been engaging academics and political actors for decades. In March 2012, several young female NCCR researchers launched DemocracyNet.eu. The network aims to promote democratic citizenship in Europe by connecting young researchers and transferring academic knowledge to society at large.
Thomas Bernauer receives prestigious ERC Advanced Grant
(January 2012) NCCR Democracy project leader Thomas Bernauer figures among seven scientists from ETH Zurich who have been awarded an “Advanced Grant” by the European Research Council (ERC).
New NCCR book series devoted to democracy research
In December 2011, Palgrave Macmillan launched a new book series on the challenges to democracy in the 21st century. The series was initiated by NCCR Democracy and publishes latest research on established democracies, democratization processes and democracy in multi-level governance structures.
Recordings of the panel discussions on the future of the Arab revolutions now online
In October 2011, NCCR Democracy and the Center for Comparative and International Studies (CIS) organized a two-day international conference on "The transformation of the Arab World: where is it heading to?" at ETH Zurich. The recordings of the two panel discussions and a conference report are available on this website.
NCCR Knowledge Transfer Award 2011
(November 2011) For the fifth time, the NCCR Democracy conferred its Knowledge Transfer Award to NCCR researchers who made a special effort in transferring their knowledge into society and contributing to a public discourse on democracy. This year, the prize was split and awarded to the team of the Democracy Barometer project and to PhD student Manuel Vogt.
“Swiss Youth in Science” study week: discovering the social sciences
(November 2011) For the second time, NCCR Democracy participated in the annual study week dedicated to the social sciences and humanities organized by "Swiss Youth in Science". The study week took place from 14-19 November and the topic this year was “freedom/lack of freedom”.
NCCR project wins 2011 International Geneva Award
(July 2011) Sandra Lavenex, Frank Schimmelfennig, Tina Freyburg, Tatiana Skripka and Anne Wetzel won the 2011 International Geneva Award for their article "Democracy promotion through functional cooperation? The case of the European Neighbourhood Policy". The award acknowledges outstanding articles that are particularly relevant for International Organizations.
NCCR Newsletter February 2011
Focus on the quality of democracy. With articles on the Democracy Barometer, deliberation and the impact of voting advice applications on democracy.
Press release: Democracy barometer shows how democratic established democracies are
(January 2011) The Democracy barometer, a new instrument for measuring the quality of democracy, presented its findings at a media conference on 27 January at the University of Zurich. The results show that Denmark has the highest quality of democracy, followed by Finland and Belgium. Switzerland's democracy turns out to be only mediocre and ranks fourteenth compared with the twenty-nine established democracies analyzed.
NCCR Democracy participates in "Schweizer Jugend forscht" (Swiss Youth in Science) study week on the social sciences
(November 2010) The NCCR Democracy launched a cooperation with "Swiss Youth in Science" and participated in the annual study week for the social sciences and humanities taking place from 8-13 November 2010. Swiss Youth in Science is an organization that encourages and promotes young people to explore their potential for research.
Rebecca Welge wins NCCR Knowledge Transfer-Award 2010
(October 2010) For the fourth time, the NCCR Democracy conferred its KnowledgeTransfer-Award to a young NCCR researcher. The winner was PhD student Rebecca Welge who received the prize for a civic education course she conducted at the European Youth Conference.
Swiss legislative database "Smartmonitor" launched
(August 2010) Smartmonitor provides the scientific community in Switzerland and abroad with basic data on the Swiss federal parliament such as voting behavior of legislators and information on the bills voted on. Data access is open to everyone: data downloads for scientific purposes (basic research) are free of charge.
NCCR Democracy Newsletter May 2010
Focus: taking stock after four years of NCCR research. This issue of the NCCR Democracy newsletter presents activities and achievements of the first phase of research and gives an outlook on phase II.
Swiss party landscape in comparison to other European countries more "extreme"
(May 2010) A study by Andreas Ladner and colleagues shows that the Swiss party system has the highest degree of polarization compared to other European party systems. The study is based on data collected by the voting advice application EU Profiler.
Intense political campaigns help to educate
(March 2010) Only a limited number of referendum campaigns end up swaying opinion in Switzerland. However, they do significantly influence the electorate, according to NCCR Director Hanspeter Kriesi in an interview with the latest edition of the research magazine “Horizons”.
How democratization can jeopardize peace
(January 2010) Interview (in German) with Judith Vorrath in ETH Life on the preconditions of a peaceful democratization process after civil wars.
EU Profiler wins "World e-democracy forum award" 2009
(October 2009) The EU Profiler wins the internationally most renowned award in the field of e-democracy. The price acknowledges the EU Profiler's contribution to changing the world of politics with the Internet and new technologies. It was conferred at the World e-democracy Forum organized in the French National Assembly in Paris on 22-23 October 2009.
Knowledge Transfer Award 2009
For the year, 2009 the NCCR Democracy Knowledge Transfer Award was conferred on PhD students Judith Vorrath and Annel Wetzel recognizing their special achievements in transferring knowledge gathered in NCCR research to groups outside academia.
NCCR Democracy Doctoral Program: call for applications
(October 2009) The NCCR Democracy Doctoral Program offers a limited number of positions to outstanding doctoral students in political science, communication science or any related discipline. Deadline for applications is 1 December 2009.
NCCR Democracy continues for another four years
In August 2009, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) officially accepted the second research phase of NCCR Democracy starting on 1 October 2009 and lasting for four years.
First European voting aid EU Profiler launched
On 23 April 2009, the first Europe-wide voting advice application was launched in Brussels. The EU Profiler provides voters with thoroughly researched information about the political parties to take part in the European Parliament elections 2009. Furthermore, it gives users a political profile, based on their responses to a questionnaire, that can be compared to the party preferences.
Living Reviews in Democracy launched
March 2009: The first two issues of the Living Reviews in Democracy are now online.
NCCR Newsletter February 2009
February 2009: 6th issue of NCCR Democracy Newsletter published
NCCR Knowledge Transfer Award 2008
September 2008: The 2nd NCCR Democracy Knowledge Transfer Award has been conferred to eleven young NCCR researchers who presented their work to a broad public at the Parcours des Wissens in March 2008.
Newsletter September 2008
September 2008: 5th issue of NCCR Democracy Newsletter published
In den Medien: Smartvote-Analysen relativieren Klischees von "liberalen" SVP-Kantonalparteien
April 2008: Berner SVP auf gleicher Linie mit Zürcher SVP. Siehe Medienberichte vom 22.4.2008.
NCCR Democracy at the Parcours des Wissens -175th anniversary of Zurich University
March 2008: In the framework of the 175th anniversary celebrations of the University of Zurich, NCCR Democracy participated in the Parcours des Wissens which took place from 8-16 March 2008 at Sechseläutenplatz in Zurich.
New publication: On-line voting assistance tools and democracy
January 2008: Publication by Dr. iur. Bernhard Rütsche, in: Bibliothek zur Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht, Beiheft 47, Verlag Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel 2008.
Newsletter November 2007
November 2007: 4th issue of NCCR Newsletter published.
Center for Democracy founded in Aarau
June 2007: The City of Aarau, the University of Zurich and NCCR Democracy establish a Center for Democracy in Aarau (ZDA) committed to democracy research and knowledge transfer into society.
Newsletter June 2007
June 2007: 3rd issue of the NCCR Newsletter published.
Knowledge Transfer Award 2006
April 2007: The first NCCR Democracy Knowledge Transfer Award 2006 was given to Jan Fivaz and Stefani Gerber of the University of Bern for their project “Parteienkompass” (party compass). The award is conferred annually and recognizes special achievements in transferring knowledge gathered in NCCR research into society.
Media and Democracy - 2nd NCCR General Assembly Meeting
April 2007: Public debate at the University of Zurich, KOL G 217. Guests: Gianpietro Mazzoleni (University of Milan), Stephan Klapproth (Swiss TV "10vor10"), Martin Senti (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), Marco Färber (Swiss Radio DRS) and Jonas Viering (freelance journalist, Berlin).
Newsletter No.2, December 2006
December 2006: The second issue of the NCCR Democracy Newsletter is available.
NCCR working paper series launched
October 2006: The NCCR Democracy launched a working paper series in which NCCR members will publish interim research results, conference papers, data collection reports, etc.
First evaluation of NCCR Democracy by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
September 2006: The first annual site visit took place with the purpose of evaluating the first year’s work and of giving recommendations and advice on the future development of the research program.
Call for project proposals
September 2006: The NCCR Democracy invites scientists in Switzerland to submit proposals for new projects in its research areas. Proposals are open to both current NCCR members and other researchers from Swiss universities and research institutes.
New project on cantonal strategies for the development of Swiss metropolitan areas
August 2006: A new project in Module 2 analyzes the experiences made in the formulation and implementation of metropolitan strategies in Swiss cantons. The goal is to shed light on these strategies in order to improve decision-making on metropolitan development in Switzerland in the future.
In the media: smart-voting
July 2006: Press articles on Smart-voting in Le Temps and Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Newsletter No.1, June 2006
June 2006: The first NCCR Democracy newsletter is now available in pdf format.
New project 16a added to the knowledge transfer module
May 2006: A new project “Judging candidates in e-democracy: implications of smartvote, profile and ratings from a legal perspective” (IP 16a) was added to the knowledge transfer module. The project deals with the legal aspects of electronic voting.
Peer mentoring group established
April 2006: A peer mentoring group has been set up by fourteen female NCCR doctoral students and post-docs. This program is the NCCR’s initiative to promote women researchers in political and communication science.
Start of the NCCR doctoral program
April 2006: The doctoral program started with an introductory course on contemporary democratic theories held by Prof. Michael Saward of the Open University, UK.
New NCCR project "Democratic processes and political behavior"
January 2006: NCCR members and partners received third party funding for a new project that will be integrated into the Knowledge Transfer Module.
