European Union Democracy Observatory
The European Union Democracy Observatory (EUDO) is an independent and interdisciplinary academic organisation whose goal is to produce a permanent and periodic assessment of democratic practices within the EU.
It is a forum where ideas and good practices can be exchanged, and a resource for policy-makers, academics and EU citizens.
EUDO is a fully-integrated part of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) and was launched in 2006. It is currently being reorganized and the new set-up will be implemented in 2009.
Structure
EUDO is structured around four Observatories| which are responsible for data and documentation gathering and are directed by EUI internal professors in conjunction with external EUDO experts. Each Observatory coordinates specific research projects led by leading scholars and are financed externally.
EUDO's activities also involve workshops, seminars, research activities, a web-forum, a yearly dissemination conference and associated training.
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In 2009, the EUDO Dissemination Conference doubled as EUDO Launch Conference| and took place at the EUI on 3 and 4 December. Watch the abstract videos| and listen to the audio files| of the Conference.
For an overview of EUDO's structure and activities for 2009, see the EUDO Annual Report| .
News
Publications: EUDO Working Papers
Three working papers ("When Parties (also) Position Themselves: An Introduction to the EU Profiler" by Alexander H. Trechsel and Peter Mair, "Public Television, Private Television and Citizens’ Political Knowledge" by Gabor Toka and Marina Popescu and "Agency and the Structure of Party Competition: Alignment, Stability and the Role of Political Elites" by Kevin Deegan-Krause and Zsolt Enyedi) have been published in the new EUDO Working Paper Series| .
EUDO Virtual Data Centre
EUDO is working towards the development of a EUDO Virtual Data Centre. The Centre will consist of a web-based repository for the distribution and dissemination of quantitative and qualitative data produced or acquired by EUDO projects. The Centre, organized in Observatory- and project-level collections, will make studies available by providing data access and download - complete with accurate citation information - as well as detailed information about all the institutional subjects involved in each study. Access and use of the studies will be regulated by various access policies, but public access and use - upon specific terms - will be available for an important part of the collections.
Comparative Study on EU Member States Consultations with Civil Society on European Policy Matters
In December 2009 EUDO won a tender from the European Social and Economic Committee (EESC|) to produce a comparative study on member state consultations with civil society on European policy matters. The aim of the study is to map and analyse consultation with civil society at the national level, in order to offer policy advice on how to improve EESC-led consultative processes. The project is led by Didier Chabanet, who is supported by a team of appointed country experts consisting of EUI researchers and external fellows trained in the field. They will collect and analyse information about the way in which the `voice` of civil society is represented, not only at the national level, but in particular through EESC-led consultative processes. The study, which will be completed by June 2010, will contain 27 national reports and a cross-country comparison. For further information contact the project coordinator Tijana Prokic|.