2015 Zurich - Democratic Innovations

The 2nd Swiss Summer School Democracy Studies took place in June 2015 at the University of Zurich and raised the issue how established democracies can be re-invigorated and renewed. It provided theoretical and empirical insights into how established democracies adapt to new challenges and transform in that process.

A mixture of lectures and intensive exchange between PhD students and established scholars characterized the 2015 Summer School. It gave PhD students a unique opportunity to discuss their research projects in small groups and with well-known experts from their field. The program involved five one-day sessions which focused on a particular theme related to the wider topic of Democratic Innovations:

• New Forms of Citizen Participation in Established Democracies (Brian Wampler, Boise State U, USA / Daniel Kübler, U of Zurich)
• Deliberative Democracy (Michael Neblo, Ohio State U, USA / Marco Steenbergen, U of Zurich)
• Social Media and Democracy (Homero Gil de Zuniga, Vienna, Austria / Frank  Esser, U of Zurich)
• Political Consumerism: A New Form of Political Behavior? (Dietlind Stolle, McGill U Montreal, Canada / Birte Gundelach, U of Zurich)
• E-Democracy: Digital Channels of Participation (Eva Anduiza, UA Barcelona, Spain / Uwe Serdült, U of Zurich)

Various social activities, such as a group dinner with the experts or a sightseeing Zurich tour, complemented the academic program. The full program is available here.

A total of 47 doctoral students applied to attend the Summer School. Twenty-five doctoral students were admitted to join the event, of which 23 from 8 countries (CH, AUT, CZE, FIN, GER, IRA, ITA, TUR) took the opportunity.

An online survey was conducted to evaluate the 2nd Swiss Summer School Democracy Studies. All 23 participants were invited to participate in the survey, of which 22 completed the standardized questionnaire. All answers to this survey were anonymized. The results of this poll are presented here in detail.