Research and Conferences

The International Forum for Democratic Studies' research analyzes the conditions and challenges of democratic transition, reform, and consolidation around the world. Through its conferences, seminars, reports, edited volumes, and other research projects, the Forum examines the particular issues facing emerging democracies, troubled democracies, and transitional societies as well as the common problems of institutional performance and democratic quality that confront both new and established democracies.

Network of Democracy Research Institutes (NDRI)

The core of the Research and Conferences Program is the Network of Democracy Research Institutes (NDRI), a global association of think tanks that conduct research on democracy, democratization, and related topics in comparative government and international affairs.

Included in the Network are:

• Independent institutions
• University-based study centers
• Research programs affiliated with other organizations

The Network was established to foster interaction among institutions, democracy scholars, and activists, to strengthen research on democracy, and to promote greater awareness of the diversity and vitality of democracy studies. Through a Web site, an electronic newsletter, professional exchange visits, and publication exchanges, the Network provides information about the work of its member institutes, including conferences and workshops, publications, and other activities. :: VISIT

Forum Events

Major events organized by the Forum in recent years include:

• "Poverty, Inequality and Democracy" :: PDF cosponsored in April 2009 with the Institute for Public Affairs in Slovakia and Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law
•  "Can Cuba Change?," a January 2009 event based on a cluster of articles in the January 2009 Journal of Democracy
•  "Public Opinion and Democracy: What Africans, Asians, and Arabs Think", a November 2009 discussion based on the Journal of Democracy book How People View Democracy.

From 1998-2002, the Forum and the Sejong Institute in South Korea cosponsored the Democracy Forum for East Asia, which organized eight conferences on such topics as the role of civil society in promoting democracy, thedemocratization of political parties, and how the mass media fight corruption.

The Forum also regularly sponsors smaller meetings in Washington that focus on particular countries or regions, or on topical issues of democratic development. These often include NDRI scholars and Journal of Democracy contributors as featured speakers.

Forum Publications

In addition to the Journal of Democracy, the International Forum for Democratic Studies have produced a number of conference reports and books that examine not only the particular issues facing emerging democracies and transitional societies but also the common problems of institutional performance and civic participation that confront both new and established democracies. :: MORE