Conference and Regional Meeting, April 2007

Abstract

The recent publication of the “European Voter” (Jacques Thomassen et al.) has underlined, that there is a flourishing co-operation and a well organised database on democratic development and electoral behaviour on well established West European Democracies. At the same time, it made obvious, that there is no equivalent for Eastern Europe in spite of data collections on the “New Democracies”, that can be found in the holdings of ZA, and some progress with participation in the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems in some countries.

While the lack of resources for high-quality social research continues to be a usual issue in the Central and Eastern European region, this is sharpened by lack of coordination and lack of shared standards. The good practice of the ICORE Initiative, The European Voter and the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES), can be used as a basis to build the equivalent for Eastern Europe. To this end, access to the data inventories of ZA, the related databases and examples of the questionnaires (including multilingual comparisons) would be of great help to inform a group of highly interested researchers from Central and East European Countries and to familiarise them with the international comparative electoral database at ZA. Furthermore, it would be helpful to exchange information on best practice in European comparative research including methodological, organisational and data management aspects. This would help us to adapt and implement international standards and procedures in our data collection and data documentation efforts and thus contribute to the integration of the European database.

Tuesday April 24

14:00 – 17:00

• Welcome and introduction
  Speakers: Ekkehard Mochmann
• Introduction of the participants
• Introduction to the ZA-EUROLAB and practical information
  Speaker: Ingvill C. Mochmann
• Visit of ZA-EUROLAB and introduction to ZA facilities

Wednesday April 25

09:00 – 12:00

• Introduction to the Central Archive and its holdings
  Website: http://www.gesis.org/en/za
  Speaker: Oliver Watteler
• Central Archive Online Study Catalog (ZACAT)
  Website: http://zacat.gesis.org/
  Speaker: Reiner Mauer
• Eurobarometers
  Website: http://www.gesis.org/en/data_service/eurobarometer
  Speaker: Meinhard Moschner
• European Voter Data Base
  Website: http://www.gesis.org/en/research/eurolab/evoter
  Speakers: Ingvill C. Mochmann, Wolfgang Zenk-Möltgen
• Studies from Eastern Europe
  Website: http://www.gesis.org/en/data_service/eastern_europe
  Speaker: Brigitte Hausstein

13:00 – 17:00

• Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)
  Website: http://www.cses.org
  Speakers: David Howell, Bojan Todosijevic
• Time to search ZA holdings, take advantage of ZA infrastructure, and experience exchange with ZA and CSES experts

Thursday April 26

09:00 – 12:00

• Welcome and introductions
  Speakers: Ekkehard Mochmann, Ian McAllister
• Electoral research at GESIS/University of Cologne
  Speaker: Wolfgang Jagodzinski
• Introduction to the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project
  Speakers: Ian McAllister, David Howell
• Substantive theme and intellectual context for CSES Module 1 (1996-2001)
  Speaker: Hans-Dieter Klingemann
• Substantive theme and intellectual context for CSES Module 2 (2001-2006)
  Speaker: Jacques Thomassen
• Substantive theme and intellectual context for CSES Module 3 (2006-2011)
  Speakers: Hermann Schmitt, Bernhard Wessels

13:00 – 17:00

• The state of the art in comparative politics in Central and Eastern Europe
  Speaker: Radoslaw Markowski
• The state of electoral research in individual countries
  Speakers: conference participants (about their own countries)
  • Austria: Sylvia Kritzinger
  • Bulgaria: Marchella Abrasheva
  • Bulgaria: Boriana Dimitrova
  • Croatia: Goran Čular
  • Czech Republic: Lukas Linek
  • Estonia: Piret Ehin
  • Latvia: Janis Ikstens
  • Lithuania: Vladys Gaidys
  • Poland: Mikolaj Czesnik
  • Romania: Razvan Grecu
  • Serbia: Bojan Todosijevic
  • Slovakia: Olga Gyarfasova
• What is required in being a CSES collaborator, and the benefits
  Speakers: Ian McAllister, David Howell
• Panel: Experience sharing by existing CSES collaborators from the region
  Speakers: Lukas Linek, Radoslaw Markowski

19:00 
Special dinner to honor the contributions of Hans-Dieter Klingemann to electoral research in the region, including a keynote address at the traditional Cologne brewery “Früh am Dom”
Speakers: Jacques Thomassen, Radoslaw Markowski

Friday April 27

09:00 – 12:00
Substantive presentations using CSES data in a comparative fashion
Discussant: Radoslaw Markowski

1. Political Parties and Democratic Consolidation in Post-Communist Societies.
   Ian McAllister and Stephen White
2. Does Globalization Affect Public Perceptions of “Who is in Power Can Make a Difference”? Evidence from 37 Countries, 1996-2005.
   Jack Vowles
3. Meaningful Choices, Political Supply, and Institutional Effectiveness.
   Bernhard Wessels and Hermann Schmitt

13:00 – 15:00

• Comparative Manifestoes Project
  Speaker: Hans-Dieter Klingemann
• Book series: “Founding Elections in Eastern Europe”
  Speaker: Hans-Dieter Klingemann
• CSES: Concepts, methods, and analytical techniques
  Speaker: Bernhard Wessels
• Brainstorming of opportunities for scholarly collaboration among conference participants: preparing a draft for a monograph, possibilities for future substantive conferences or panels, proposals for other efforts
  Facilitator: Radek Markowski

15:00

• 10 years ZA-EUROLAB: A Resource for European Comparative Research
  Speakers: Ingvill C. Mochmann, Ekkehard Mochmann
• ZA-EUROLAB Reception

Saturday April 28

09:00 – 12:00 
Conclusions and action items

Conference Participants List

In alphabetical order by surname.
Contact information shown is current as of April of 2007.