Themes & Panels

• Elections. What systems produce what types of results? What normative criteria inform the choice of electoral system? What makes a choice of system “better” than another? What trade-offs are involved? What has experience with electoral system design in recently emerging democracies shown?
• Judiciary. What constitutes an effective judicial system? How is this determined? What institutional designs promote effectiveness?
• Legislature. What are the hallmarks of effective legislatures? In what political contexts can this differ? How helpful is it to use quantitative yardsticks i.e. bills passed to determine legislative effectiveness?

• Civil Society. How is this term defined? How is the effectiveness of civil society in a democratic system to be determined? What checks and balances exist on civil society? How is it held accountable?
• Political Parties. How can political party effectiveness be determined? What are key elements of the functioning of political parties? How important is it that in a democracy parties operate internally democratically? How can this be assessed?
• Public Opinion: What role does articulation of public opinion play in the functioning of democratic institutions? How can this be done most effectively? What challenges exist in this regard, in a) consolidated democracies and b) nascent democratic contexts?

As the conference is designed to promote dialogue between the research and the policy design and implementation communities, there will also be a panel addressing related questions, including identification of methods for the most meaningful and productive two-way communication; and the effectiveness and impact of different types of research methodologies.

List of Panelists:      By Order of Themes      By Alphabetical Order of Names

Panel Schedule:       Outline     Complete