SCOPE 2017

SCOPE: SCIENCE OF POLITICS 2017

4th edition of the international interdisciplinary conference of political research

26-28.05.2017, University of Bucharest

This edition's theme incorporates two distinct but complementary interpretations of democracy/democratization, public good, and of the relation between them.

The first one focuses on changes in the ways we define, conceptualize, and understand democracy, not only as researchers, but also as citizens. The literature on democracy / democratization has developed significantly over the last years and the availability of new instruments for measuring democracy can only help in advancing further the research agenda on these topics. At the same time, the citizens themselves are increasingly critical with respect to the practical implementation of democratic principles and they try to identify alternative solutions to the dysfunctional situations they identify. Furthermore, the advancement of and access to digital technologies, especially social media, have also transformed the public space and the traditional relations between the State and the individual. These transformations triggered substantial changes in areas previously almost completely outside the reach of public control, such as foreign policy and international cooperation for development, reshaping the limits of accountability in democratic public policy-making and challenging in new ways the non-democratic regimes.

The second interpretation focuses on the rise and falls of democracy both at supra-national and sub-national levels, transcending the traditional national sphere of politics and policy-making. In recent years we have witnessed a democratic decline as well as increased authoritarian/populist tendencies across Europe, Latin America and Asia, often discursively related to trans-national contexts, such as the migratory/refugee fluxes and the mismanagement of public funds through international arrangements. We have also witnessed a decreasing level of public trust in both educated expertise and traditional democratic politics, as well as a decreasing level of civility in political debates, most surprisingly in more consolidated democracies, with the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US presidential elections, for instance, making global headlines for months for such reasons. Similarly, the enthusiasm generated by the “Arab Spring” has quickly transformed in disappointment following the failure of these protest movements. By contrast, states in Sub-Saharan Africa have registered significant progress on their democratization path. At the same time, an ambitious global agenda – The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN member states after arguably one of the most complex exercises in public consultation at global level, includes specific targets on achieving, preserving and advancing democracy and rule of law, which requires governmental and inter-governmental commitments for the next fifteen years. Not least, at sub-national level, the increasing pressures the citizens have brought on the political system are also leading to significant changes in conducting national and international politics and policy-making, depending on the system’s ability to listen and implement them.

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This edition was organized by the Centre for International Cooperation and Development Studies (IDC) of the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Bucharest (FSPUB), with the support of a grant of the Romanian Ministry of Education, CNCS-UEFISCDI, project demoAID - New Actors & Mechanisms of Democratic Accountability in International Development: Reputation Building of ODA Emergent Donors (PN-II-RU-TE-2014-4-2851), as well as with the support of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) research committees RC 13 (Democratization in Comparative Perspective) & RC33 (The Study of Political Science as a Discipline), the European Confederation of Political Science Associations (ECPSA), and the Alumni of the University of Bucharest Association. The working languages were English and French. The event took place at Casa Universitarilor, a historical building of the University of Bucharest, located in the city centre, close to most touristic landmarks.

OPENING KEYNOTE

Lawrence WHITEHEAD

Oxford University

Laurence Whitehead is a Senior Research Fellow in Politics at Nuffield College, Oxford University, and Senior Fellow of the College. During 2005/6 he served as Acting Warden (2005-06) there. In 2011-12 he served as Senior Proctor of the University. His most recent books are Latin America: A New Interpretation (Palgrave, 2006 second revised updated edition 2010), and Democratization: Theory and Experience (Oxford University Press, 2002). His recent edited publications include Illiberal Practices: Territorial Variance within Large Federal Democracies (jointly with Jacqueline Behrend; Johns Hopkins UP, 2016), The Obama Administration and the Americas: Shifting the Balance (jointly with Abraham F. Lowenthal and Theodore J. Piccone; Brookings Press, 2010), Democratization in America: A Comparative –Historical Analysis (jointly with Desmond King, Robert C. Lieberman, and Gretchen Ritter; Johns Hopkins UP, 2009) and Criminality, Public Security and the Challenges of Democracy in Latin America (jointly with Marcelo Bergman; Notre Dame University Press, 2009). Among his many journal articles the latest is on “The ‘Puzzle’ of Autocratic Resilience: the Case of Cuba” in The Third World Quarterly (autumn 2016). He is editor of the Oxford University Press series ‘Studies in Democratization’ and President of the Conseil Scientifique of the Institut des Ameriques in Paris, and belongs to the steering committee of the Red Eurolatinoamericana de Gobernabilidad para el Desarrollo

KEYNOTE

Cecelia LYNCH

University of California Irvine

US scholar of international relations and comparative politics, known particularly for her ground-breaking work on religion and ethics in international affairs. Co-editor of the leading blog Critical Investigations into Humanitarianism in Africa and co-author (with Audie Klotz) of the first book on the constructivist approach in international relations to analyse substantive issues, methodology and research design. Recipient of numerous research grants and awards, including recently the J. Ann Tickner Award of the International Studies Association (ISA) for pushing boundaries in international studies.

KEYNOTE

Svend-Erik

University of Aarhus

Svend-Erik SKAANING is Professor of Political Science at the University of Aarhus, Denmark and co-principal investigator of the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project. He has published numerous articles on democratization, civil liberties, and the rule of law, as well as several books on these issues, including The Rule of Law: Definition, Measures, Patterns, and Causes (jointly with Jørgen Møller; Palgrave, 2014), Democracy and Democratization in Comparative Perspective: Conceptions, Conjunctures, Causes and Consequences (jointly with Jørgen Møller; Routledge, 2013), and Requisites of Democracy: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Explanation (jointly with Jørgen Møller; Routledge, 2011). His most recent edited volumes are The State-Democracy Nexus: Conceptual Distinction, Theoretical Perspectives, and Comparative Approaches (with Jørgen Møller; Routledge, 2016) and Developing Democracies: Democracy, Democratization and Development (with Michael Böss and Jørgen Møller; University of Aarhus Press, 2013). He is currently working on a book manuscript on democracy and dictatorship in interwar Europa and papers on relationship between democracy, conflict, and human development.