2nd ECPR-OSCE/ODIHR Summer School on Political Parties and Democracy
When
Where
Organized by
The School is sponsored by ECPR, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw and the Centre for the Study of Parties and Democracy
Aims
The main aims of the School include:
- to provide instruction and discussion on a wider range of analytical perspectives in the study of political parties, party systems, elections and democracy;
- to develop a multinational forum for both junior scholars and practitioners to critically discuss their research projects and the development of the subfield;
- to assist PhD researchers to develop their dissertation projects at the cutting edge of the field, contributing to innovation in conceptualisation, measurement, analysis and theory;
- to prepare PhD researchers for the requirements and criteria of international academic publishing, and to encourage them to submit their work to academic journals;
- to help practitioners to understand the main academic findings regarding party politics and democracy promotion;
- to build on the most recent developments and challenges of political party development and democracy promotion presented by the “Global Agenda for the Renewal of Representation”;
- to stimulate international collaboration in the field of parties, party systems, elections and democracy and to encourage PhD researchers and practitioners to take part in such collaboration.
Participants
The School is open for MA/PhD researchers, practitioners and civil society leaders in the field of political parties, elections, representative democracy and closely related areas (e.g. corruption) from and working on OSCE participating States such as Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, North Macedonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The maximum number of participants is 20. Organizers will attempt to achieve both a gender and a regional (i.e. Central and South-Eastern European as well as post-Soviet region) balance.
Your application should be appropriately filled in (please do answer all the questions!) and submitted to both Fernando.Casal.Bertoa@nottingham.ac.uk and k.grzybowska-walecka@uksw.edu.pl by Friday 31 May 2019 (inclusively), containing a 500-word abstract (and up to 5 keywords) of your proposed paper. No other documents (e.g. CV, passport) are needed at this stage.
Shortlisted participants might be contacted for a skype interview before final acceptance.
VERY IMPORTANT: Applications by citizens from and/or working in other countries, those incomplete (e.g. missing questions, no abstract or keywords) or submitted after the deadline, as well as from those who have already obtained their PhD, will NOT be considered.
Staff
The teaching staff consists of 10 leading scholars and practitioners in the field of parties and democracy from European and American Universities and International Organizations.
Teaching format
The School comprises an intensive programme of lectures, seminars and roundtables by leading scholars and practitioners in the field, and presentations with in-depth discussions of participants’ projects. The teaching language will be English. The School contains 7 teaching days, each of which is organised around a topical research question related to the overall theme of the School. Each day will comprise two main elements, each of which is scheduled to last three and a half hours. The overall number of class contact hours will thus be 50 hours.
The first element consists of a presentation by a staff member on a specific topic related to the theme of the School. This will be followed by a question-and-answer session. The second element consists of presentations by participants of their projects (which may, but do not have to be part of their PhD research). Each of these presentations, which should be no longer than 15 minutes, will be followed by rigorous discussion (approximate 30 minutes) with all other participants and staff. Per day up to three participants will present their work.
The best papers will be recommended for publication in the journal Politologia (see guidelines). The East European Politics journal will award a prize of €100 to the best paper.
VERY IMPORTANT: English is the only working language, both for papers and presentations.
UPDATE: The winners of the East European Politics annual Award for the Best Paper established in 2019 have been announced.
Miroslav Nemčok, a PhD student in political science at the Faculty of Social Studies of the Masaryk University in Brno, won the award for the paper “Active and Passive: Two Ways Party Systems Influence Electoral Outcomes”, presented at the 1st ECPR/ODIHR Winter School on Parties and Democracy (January 14-20).
Michael Škvrňák, a PhD student in sociology at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Charles University in Prague, won the award for the paper “Should I Stay or Should I Go? Explaining Party Switching on the Municipal Level”, presented at the 2nd ECPR/ODIHR Summer School on Parties and Democracy (19-25 August).
East European Politics (EEP) is an international refereed journal that publishes cutting-edge research covering the government, politics and societies across East-Central and South-Eastern Europe, Russia and all the other countries of the former Soviet Union.
Assessment and accreditation
Each participant fulfilling the above mentioned requirements will receive a certificate of participation.
On special request, PhD researchers' papers may be assessed and credited by staff members of the School. The credits awarded for successful participation and assessment will be 6.5 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits. PhD researchers wishing to have their work accredited are advised to consult the directors of the School at an early stage.
Accommodation
All participants of the School will be accommodated in shared twin rooms at Ibis Warszawa Stare Miasto (Old Town), 10 minutes walk for the OSCE/ODIHR premises. Those interested in individual accommodation might be able to get it by paying the rate difference.
Fees
There are no fees. B&B accommodation (8 nights starting on August 18th), tuition, lunches and two reception-dinners are sponsored by the organisers.
Travels arrangements/expenses will be organised/covered by the participants. However, a very limited number of participants (maximum 2 from ECPR institutions) will have the opportunity to get their travel reimbursed on a merit-base.
Location
The School will be hosted by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The OSCE/ODIHR premises are located in Warsaw’s Old Town.
Directors
The School is directed by Dr Katarzyna Grzybowska - Walecka (Assistant Professor at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Head of the MA Programme on Politics in Cyberspaceand editor of the journal Politologia) and Dr Fernando Casal Bértoa (Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham, co-director of REPRESENT, member of the OSCE/ODIHR Core Group of Political Party Experts, and co-editor of the Routledge Book Series on Political Parties and Party Systems).