About the Center

The Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at Leuphana University Lüneburg conducts research on democratic structures and procedures in politics and society, economics and the environment. The central focus of research is on questions that arise from the continuous tension between legitimacy and performance of democracy in the 21st century. The Center's research activities focus on three main areas: 1. Value Change and Human Empowerment; 2. Party Government and Institutional Change and 3. Participation and Public Policy. In addition, the CSD engages in active promotion of younger researchers as well as in international and regional networking of democracy research institutions.

The Center’s activities include

• conducting research projects on legitimacy and performance of democracy on a cross-national, comparative as well as a national and local level
• hosting international research conferences and workshops on cutting-edge themes in democracy research as well as research methods
• conducting and coordinating international primary data collections, especially the World Value Survey and the database of Central and Eastern European political systems and governments
• sponsoring doctoral and postdoctoral research at the Center in the field of democratic institutions through full-time fellowships
• hosting frequent guest lectures of both renowned scholars as well as young researchers
• facilitating research and graduate training in the study of democracy as well as in research methods and data analysis by organizing PhD seminars and  Summer Schools; participating in inter-university networks of graduate schools and institutes in Northern Germany.
• assisting to establish contacts between academia and policy-makers

Brief history
The interdisciplinary research centre was founded on July 2, 2003 under the name ‘Center for Central and Eastern European studies’ by the presidium of the University of Lüneburg. On the basis of recommendations by the Academic Commission of Niedersachsen the research centre was reorganized. On June 2, 2004 it was officially re-launched as the ‘Center for the Study of Democracy.’