Launching Events Series HS21

The Doctoral Programme Democracy Studies was relaunched in Autumn 2021 as part of the subject group Social Sciences in the Graduate School of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Zurich.

You can access the content of our four events below:

07.10.2021 h 17.00

Introduction to the new DPDS programme and the Certificate in Democracy Studies within the Social Science subject group PhD meeting.

Watch the Presentation Day on SWITCHTube

28.10.2021, h. 17:00 Zoom

Is there a contradiction between democracy and quality of government?: 

Most definitions of democracy rely on a set of procedural rules for how political power should be accessed legitimately. The basic norm for these procedural rules are according to noted democracy theorist Robert Dahl political equality realized by equal democratic rights. In this understanding of political legitimacy, democracy is a “partisan game” where various interests are given fair possibilities to compete for political power.

The concept of “quality of government” relates to the legitimacy in the exercise of political power and is based on the norm of impartiality that is the opposite of partisanship. This is to be realized by, for example, the rule of law and a public administration built on meritocracy.

Several tensions between these two bases for achieving political legitimacy will be present. For example, a democratically elected government may want to politicize the public administration and may establish public services and benefits directed only to their political supporters. The rule of law includes the principle of equality before the law, but a democratically elected government may take actions that put it “above” the law.

Various measures to handle these and other tensions between democracy and the quality of government will be presented in this lecture.

Watch the Annual Inaugural Lecture on SWITCHTube

A widespread common sense holds that well-functioning public institutions must be accountable for their action. But this common-sense easily turns into an empty catch-all claim failing an adequate analysis of what “being accountable” means in the context of institutional action. This analysis requires some clarity about what institutional action is. In this presentation, I offer such an analysis, and distinguish different kinds of institutional accountability, internal and external to institutional action. I then discuss how public institutions may succeed or fail to be accountable on the various senses. I illustrate this final discussion with special reference to a major institutional dysfunction: corruption.

Keynote Lecture of the Democracy Studies PhD Research Workshop
"Vested Interests and Democracy"

Watch the online lecture on the Democarcy Studies SwitchTube Channel