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"(Dis)Satisfaction with Democracy and Citizens’ Involvement in Post-Communist Europe"

30/06/2014

Call for Papers

Workshop (Dis)Satisfaction with Democracy and Citizens’ Involvement in Post-Communist Europe


2-3 October 2014, CBEES Soedertoern University, Stockholm

25 years on from the regime change, the post-communist political space remains difficult to understand and predict. The entire region continues to be a reality check from both a theoretical and empirical perspective. Political institutions such as governments or parliaments remain untrusted by more than one third of the populations there; volatility and low party membership are perennial features of electoral competition; migration flows and European integration have led to a dynamic which is difficult to grasp; and the recent street protests in Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine have brought to the fore the strength of citizens' involvement. These observations point towards several cross-national attitudes in respect of, and experiences as regards, representative democracy.

To understand the complexity of this picture more clearly, a careful look at the causes and consequences of trends and events is necessary. This workshop aims to bring together up to 20 researchers who will discuss the determinants and manifestations of disenchantment with representative democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, Baltic States and post-Soviet countries (further – post-communist Europe), and how these determinants and manifestations can be linked to protests or similar expressions of dissent. We encourage theoretical, methodological or empirical (either comparative or single case studies') papers that fall within one of the following broad topics as related to post-communist Europe:

- Attitudes towards democracy.
- Institutional actors and political protests.
- Challenges of representative democracy.
- Trends of political participation.
- The use of direct or participatory democracy tools.
- New forms of political engagement.

Submission procedure

Interested applicants should send a short abstract (max. 250 words) of their proposal for a paper together with a short biography (maximum 100 words about their academic affiliation and research interests) to by 10 August 2014. Early applications are strongly encouraged and the selection committee will not consider any applications received after the deadline.

The language of the conference is English.

There is no conference fee.

The organisers (Centre for Baltic and East European Studies at Soedertoern University) will cover the costs related to accommodation (two nights, 1 and 2 October), meals and coffee breaks during the workshop.


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