The Center on Democratic Performance was established in 1999 at Binghamton University as a research center of the Research Foundation of State University of New York. Its mission is to assist the academic and policy communities in understanding the functioning and performance of democratic political institutions. Since 1999 the Center has undertaken a number of research projects, country assessments, and held workshops on topics ranging from satisfaction with democracy to cooperation and conflict. A key initiative of the Center has been to generate systematic data on democratic elections around the world. The ERA database provides an accessible format to evaluate elections between 1974 and 2002 for over 130 countries.

The advisory committee of the Center is comprised of experts on democracy, human rights, and conflict management, as well as policy makers and elected officials. The activities of the Center have been funded through the Research Foundation of the State University of New York, the National Science Foundation, the World Bank, and Science Applications International, among others. Fellows of the Center have consulted with the US Department of State, US Agency for International Development, and the World Bank.

It is directed by Michael D. McDonald , Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at Binghamton University .

For more information, please write, call, or send e-mail to:

Center on Democratic Performance
Department of Political Science
Binghamton University Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
Tel: (607) 761-4933 Fax: (607) 777-2675
E-mail: cdp@binghamton.edu