NCCR Democracy (2005-2017)

Home institution: University of Zurich

Research and major results of the NCCR

The NCCR “Democracy: Challenges to Democracy in the 21st Century” was set up with the idea in mind that globalisation and the increasing interdependence between the media and politics require interdisciplinary research on democracy and a closer collaboration between political science and media and communication sciences.

The aim of NCCR Democracy’s research programme was to assess whether and how processes of globalisation and mediatisation challenge the quality of democracy in the 21st century. Its core argument is that democratic governments must meet the following two criteria: popular responsiveness and governmental responsibility. The legitimacy and stability of the democratic political order critically depends on the ability of political actors to simultaneously address these two principles.

More precisely, the core hypothesis is that processes of globalisation and mediatisation lead to a dissociation between the spheres of governmental responsibility and popular responsiveness. As a consequence, it becomes increasingly difficult for political actors to bridge the gap between ‘backstage’ policymaking (responsibility) and ‘frontstage’ electoral politics (responsiveness). The result could be a vicious circle of political distrust and a public disenchantment with the performance of political actors, providing a fertile ground for populist actors that capitalise and exploit on it.

Structural development – Perspectives for the research domain

In Europe, such a disciplinary alliance had been unprecedented when the NCCR started and, in retrospect, we can say that the long-term interdisciplinary collaboration has been very fruitful. Both disciplines have benefitted from theoretical and conceptual innovations as well as methodological development.

Already in the first year of NCCR Democracy, efforts were made to institutionalise democracy research in Switzerland on a long-term basis. The University of Zurich, the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland as well as the officials from the City of Aarau and the Canton of Aargau decided jointly to set up a democracy research centre. The Centre for Democracy Studies Aarau (ZDA) was established in 2009 and over the years has firmly established itself as a centre for research, consultancy and knowledge transfer on democracy in Switzerland and abroad.

The Centre for Democracy Studies Aarau (ZDA)