Editors: Sonia Alonso, John Keane and Wolfgang Merkel

Sonia Alonso 

Dr. Sonia Alonso was awarded her PhD by the Autonomous University of Madrid and is currently senior research fellow in the research unit "Democracy: Structures, Performance, Challenges" at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB). Her main research interests involve the analysis of democratizing countries, and the relationship between ethnicity, ethnic politics, and political accountability in both new and old democracies. Her publications include Elites y masas: un análisis de la Perestroika y las huelgas mineras (2000)

homepage: here

David Beetham 

David Beetham is Professor Emeritus of Politics at the University of Leeds, a Fellow of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex, and Associate Director of the UK Democratic Audit. He has travelled internationally in his capacity as consultant on democracy assessment, and is a leading contributor to the field of human rights. He is author of many books on democracy, including Democracy and Human Rights; Democracy: a Beginner's Guide; Parliament and Democracy in the Twenty-first Century; Assessing the Quality of Democracy: a Practical Guide.

Klaus von Beyme

Having studied political science, history and sociology at the universities of Heidelberg, Munich, Paris and Moscow, Professor Dr. Klaus von Beyme is now Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg and member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. His major research fields are comparative politics and political theory and his latest publication is Die Faszination des Exotischen (2008).

Drude Dahlerup

Drude Dahlerup is Professor of Political Science at the University of Stockholm. Vice-Chair of the Danish Government's Council for European Politics from 1993 to 2000, she has also served in various research bodies in Denmark and Norway while leading a series of projects, such as the Quota Project in collaboration with International IDEA. Her main research focuses on women in politics, gender quotas, social movements, especially the Women's Movement and Feminist theory. She has recently edited the volume Women, Quotas and Politics (2006).

homepage: here

Robyn Eckersley

Previously a public lawyer, Robyn Eckersley is now Professor in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Her work focuses on environmental politics, political theory and international relations theory and her 1992 book was one of the first to argue for an ecocentric political theory. She has recently co-edited (along with Andrew Dobson) the book Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge (2006).

homepage: here

Wolfgang Merkel

Professor of Political Science at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science, Wolfgang Merkel is also the director of the research unit "Democracy: Structures, Performance, Challenges" at the Social Science Research Centre Berlin (WZB). His research focuses on political regimes, democracy, and transformation, parties and party systems, comparative public policy, social justice and reform of the welfare state. He has recently edited (along with Sonja Grimm) War and Democratization. Legality, Legitimacy and Effectiveness (2009).

homepage: here

Michael Saward

Michael Saward is Professor of Politics at the Open University, and was Head of the Department of Politics and International Studies from 2004 to 2007. He has published widely in areas that are the focus of his research: the practical enactment of democratic values, rethinking the meaning of representation, re-engaging the study of political parties with democratic theory, and the terms and practices of  citizenship. He plays a leading role in the EU Framework 7 funded programme ENACT (Enacting European Citizenship), and has recently edited the four-volume collection Democracy: Key Concepts in Political Science (Routledge 2007).

homepage: here

Philippe Schmitter

Philippe Schmitter is an Emeritus Professor at the European University Institute in Florence and also a visiting professor at the Central European University in Budapest. His current work focuses on the political characteristics of the emerging Euro-polity, on the consolidation of democracy in Southern and Eastern countries, and on the possibility of post-liberal democracy in Western Europe and North America. Member of many research committees and advisory boards, he has co-written (along with Alexander H. Trechsel) The Future of Democracy in Europe, Trends, Analyses and Reforms (2004).

Nadia Urbinati

Nadia Urbinati is Nell and Herbert M. Singer Professor of Contemporary Civilization at Professor of Political Theory at the Department of Political Science of Columbia University. Winner of the 2008-9 Lenfest/Columbia Distinguished Faculty Award, Nadia Urbinati specialises in modern and contemporary political thought and the democratic and anti-democratic traditions. She has recently published Representative Democracy: Principles and Genealogy (2006; paperback 2008) and co-edited an anthology of Giuseppe Mazzini’s essays on democracy, nation building and international relations.

homepage: here

Gregor Walter-Drop

Gregor Walter is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Transnational Relations, Foreign and Security Policy at the Otto Suhr Institut for Political Science at the Freie Universität Berlin. Before joining the Freie Universität in October 2006, he served as Head Curriculum Development at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. His research focuses on globalization and governance as well as foreign policy analysis. He has recently published Internetkriminalität – Eine Schattenseite der Globalisierung (2008).

homepage: here

Bernhard Wessels

Bernhard Wessels is senior research fellow at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB), and deputy director of its research unit "Democracy”. He is a member of the planning committee of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES), the steering committee of the EU 7th FP Project PIREDEU – Electoral Democracy in Europe, and co-director of the German Longitudinal Election Study2009-2017. His main research fields are comparative studies on political representation and electoral behaviour. He is co-author of Policy Representation in Western Democracies (OUP 1999), and co-editor of The European Parliament, the National Parliaments, and European Integration (OUP 1999). He has recently co-edited Wahlen und Wähler (2005), and Die Bundestagswahl 2005 (2007).

homepage: here

Michael Zürn

Member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Michael Zürn is the director of the department "Transational Conflicts and International Institutions" at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB) since October 2004. Before his move to the WZB and appointment as Dean of the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, he was co-director of the DFG-Special Research Project, "State in Transformation".  His research focuses on themes related to globalization, its regulation through international institutions and their normative foundations and his publications include Law and Governance in Postnational Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (2005)

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Project Manager / CSD Contact / Web Editor: Maria Fotou

Educated at the Kapodistrian University of Athens and with a Masters degree (distinction) in International Relations and Contemporary Political Theory from the University of Westminster, Maria joined CSD in June 2003 under the auspices of the Civil Society Network project (CiSoNet). Funded by EC’s 5th Framework, Maria’s research focused on Civil Society, Governance and the European Polity and involved the coordination of 15 partners from 10 European countries. Concurrently, she assisted Professor John Keane in the preparation of his The Life and Death of Democracy, a full-scale history of democracy, which is due for publication in June 2009. Since February 2008, she is European Research Project Manager running The Future of Representative Democracy project.

email: fotoum[at]westminster[dot]ac[dot]uk

WZB Contact: Sonia Alonso

email: alonso[at]wzb[dot]eu

Web Designer: Giovanni Navarria

email: giovanninavarria[at]gmail[dot]com