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May 4, 2009

Dear CSES colleagues,

We would like to remind you of the below opportunity, which has been circulated recently and involves the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems.

Best regards,
-Dave
David Howell, Director of Studies
Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)

Marie Curie Initial Training Network in Electoral Democracy (ELECDEM)

We are seeking to appoint 14 early researchers (PhD fellowships) and 4 experienced researchers (post-doc fellowships) to an EU funded training network on electoral democracy. The ITN will bring together 11 expert teams from 9 European countries to provide substantive and methodological training in elections research to a cohort of early stage and experienced researchers. Researchers will join a team that brings together world leading scholars in the cross-national study of elections. The research projects draw on cross-national election studies, European Election Study, the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems [CSES], and industry partners TNS-Opinion and Kieskompas to provide training and research opportunities. Start dates for early stage researchers will be October 2009 and experienced researchers to start as recruited.

ELECDEM proposes a comprehensive approach to the study of electoral democracy using cross-nationally comparative databases, content analysis and experiments in order to examine the impact of globalisation, technological developments in communication and institutional change on representation and accountability. The three network themes are:

• Globalisation, Diversity and Elections
• Institutions, Mobilisation and Preferences
• Communication, Mobilisation and Preferences.

In addition to the lead academics listed below, Professor Richard Johnston, Research Director of the Annenberg Election study at the University of Pennsylvania, joins the network as a visiting scientist. Pippa Norris, McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics, at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, will serve on the advisory committee. Other associated partners include IPSOS Mori, Electoral Studies and Ian McAllister from the CSES.

Summary of Research Projects Available by Location

Partner Institution	Lead	Projects	Positions available
University of Mannheim, MZES	Hermann Schmitt and Andreas Wust; contact Hermann.Schmitt@mzes.uni-mannheim.de	a. Immigration and Political Participation; b. Institutions, Post-communist Societies and Political Trust	2 Early Stage Researchers (36 months each)
University of Amsterdam, ASCoR and AAS	Wouter Van der Brug and Claes de Vreese; contact: w.vanderbrug@uva.nl or C.H.devreese@uva.nl	a. Issues, Values, Ideologies and Party Choice; b. The Dynamics of Political Communication	2 Early Stage Researchers (36 months each)
University of Exeter, Politics	Susan Banducci, Jack Vowles and Jeffrey Karp; contact: s.a.banducci@ex.ac.uk	a. Democratic Preferences and Representation in Cross-national Perspective; b. Gender, Campaign Messages and Mobilisation Effects	2 Early Stage Researchers (36 months each)
TNS-Opinion, Brussels	Pascal Chelala; contact: pascal.chelala@tns-opinion.com	Measuring Citizen Preferences in a Globalised World	1 experienced researcher (12 months)
University of Vienna, Methods in the Social Sciences and Political Science	Sylvia Kritzinger and Sieglinde Rosenberger; contact: sylvia.kritzinger@univie.ac.at	a. Institutional Structures and Partisan Attachments; b. Party Competition and Vote Choice Models: A Comparative Approach	2 Early Stage Researchers (36 months each)
Central European Institute	Gabor Toka; contact: tokag@ceu.hu	a. Voting Behaviour and the Quality of Governance; b. Practical Political Knowledge	2 Early Stage Researchers (36 months each)
Oxford University, Politics and International Relations	Sara Hobolt, Ray Duch and Geoffrey Evans; contact: sara.hobolt@politics.ox.ac.uk	a. Accountability and Attribution of Responsibility in the European Union; b. Observational and Experimental Studies: Campaign Effects	2 Early Stage Researchers (36 months each)
European University Institute, RSCAS	Mark Franklin; contact: mark.franklin@eui.eu	European Elections and Democratic Legitimacy	1 experienced researcher (12 months)
IVO, Institute for Public Affairs, Brataslava	Olga Gyarfasova; contact: olga@ivo.sk	Electoral Behavior in New Democracies	1 experienced researcher (12 months)
Sabanci University, Political Science	Ali Carkoglu; contact: alicarkoglu@sabanciuniv.edu	a. Communication and Mobilisation; b. Media and Partisanship	2 Early Stage Researchers (36 months each)
Kieskompas, Amsterdam	Andre Krouwel; contact: APM.Krouwel@fsw.vu.nl	New Technologies and Political Preferences: The Electoral Compass	1 experienced researcher (12 months)

Eligibility criteria:

1. To qualify as an Early Stage Researcher applicants must be in the first 4 years (fulltime equivalent) of their research careers starting at the date of obtaining the degree formally entitling them to embark on a doctorate in the country in which the degree was obtained, or in the country in which the ELECDEM partner he/she is applying to is located.
   
   
2. To qualify as an Experienced Researcher applicants must: 1) be in possession of a doctoral degree or 2) have at least 4 years of full time research experience after obtaining the degree formally entitling them to embark on a doctorate in the country in which the degree was obtained, or in the country in which the ELECDEM partner he/she is applying for is located. Research experience may not exceed 5 (full time) years at the time of appointment.
   
   
3. An applicant cannot be a national of the State in which the ELECDEM partner he/she is applying for is located. In the case of an applicant holding more than one nationality, he/she will be able to be hosted by a partner in the country of his/her nationality in which (s)he has not resided during the previous 5 years.
   
   
4. At the time of appointment, the successful applicant may not have resided or carried out his/her main professional activities or studies in the country of the appointing partner for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to his/her appointment.
   
   
5. Positions are open to all nationalities.

For more information: please contact each partner directly or Prof. Susan Banducci (s.a.banducci@ex.ac.uk), coordinator of the ELECDEM ITN. For further details see: http://www.ex.ac.uk/politics/elecdem