Participants of ECPR/ODIHR Winter School in Warsaw share perspectives on political party, representative democracy issues

Researchers and practitioners from the OSCE region discussed a wide range of analytical perspectives in the study of political parties, party systems, elections, representative democracy and closely related areas, and the practical implications of these for democracy-support efforts during a Winter School held in Warsaw from 14 to 20 January 2019.

The Winter School on Political Parties and Democracy was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), in partnership with the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw and the Research Centre for the Study of Parties and Democracy at the University of Nottingham.

The participants, 11 men and 11 women, were MA and PhD researchers, practitioners and civil society leaders in the field of political parties and democratic governance from 15 selected OSCE participating States.

Marcin Walecki, Head of the ODIHR Democratization Department, stressed the unique combination of expertise this first ECPR/ODIHR Winter School brought together.

“The variety and high level of the research presented, as well as the number of OSCE participating States represented at the Winter School, is evidence of the distinctive importance of bringing academics and practitioners together in Warsaw to discuss current challenges to political party systems across the OSCE region,” he said.

Irina Kulikova, a student at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, said: “This event is an excellent opportunity in my professional and academic career, offering a solid link between the study of political parties and the international human rights framework. Feedback and insights received from leading professors, researchers and practitioners have been invaluable.”

The participants discussed ODIHR’s core areas of work, such as political party regulation, political corruption, elections and campaign financing, as well as the political participation of youth, women and persons with disabilities. The event also included two roundtable discussions,  “The Crisis of Political Parties and Representative Democracy” and “The Life and Work of Peter Mair”, a professor of Comparative Politics at the European University Institute in Florence whose research focused on political parties and party systems. The discussions were attended by leading international professors.

The Winter School followed the ECPR/ODIHR Summer School, which took place in July 2018.