Concluded projects

of the Institute of Conflict Research

Quality indicators of democracy: Discussions of democratic reform and perceptions of democracy by the people

Project Management:	Univ.Prof. Dr. Anton Pelinka
Project Team:	Dr.in Karin Liebhart DDr. Hubert Sickinger
Financed by:	Dr. Karl Renner-Institut
Concluded in	December 2009
	German

The project is divided into two parts: Europeanization of political systems, trends towards multi-level governance and the rise of new digital media (Web 2.0), which are common framework conditions in states such as Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom, are the subjects of case studies in Part I. These developments have strong impacts on the quality of democracy as well as on the political culture, political attitudes and potentials for political action on the part of citizens. The study traces selected national traditions of political discourse and compares key discussions of democratic quality and democratic reform in the above-mentioned countries. Gender and minority issues and the instrumentalization of democratic mechanisms by (right wing) populist parties are additional subjects of study.

Part II describes the options of an Austrian "democratic climate" index: Based on a discussion of comparative surveys of "political culture" and (global / European) value studies, this part of the report describes options of measuring the short-term as well as the long-term development of the "democratic climate" in Austria. The text provides possible versions of a questionnaire that could be regularly used in ("omnibus") public opinion polls.