Center for the Study of Democracy

About: Center for the Study of Democracy is a nonprofit organization based out in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Politics & Democracy. The organization has 63 authors who have published 163 publications receiving 2845 citations.

Civil Society and Japan’s Dysfunctional Democracy

Abstract: Japan has long been described as a dysfunctional democracy due to the limited role of grassroots movements compared to other industrialized countries. This paper critiques the notion of an Asian pa...

Liberal democracy as the end of history: Western theories versus Eastern Asian realities

Abstract: A growing number of political scientists have recently advocated the theses that democracy has emerged as a universal value and that it is also becoming the universally preferred system of governme

Clashing Values: Supranational Identities, Geopolitical Rivalry and Europe’s Growing Cultural Divide:

Abstract: Soon after the collapse of Soviet-type communism in Central and Eastern Europe, a new geopolitical division began to reshape the continent. Our study demonstrates that this newly emerging geopoliti...

Owner parties and party institutionalisation in Italy: is the Northern League exceptional?

Abstract: Studies on party institutionalisation commonly argue that parties with personalist leadership and weak organisation are unlikely to remain in power beyond leadership succession. In other words, these parties will rarely attain their own institutionalisation. From this perspective, the recent Italian political reality represents a conundrum. Three parties of this type – Northern League; Forza Italia; Italy of Values – confronted significant resignation issues concerning their leaders, but only the League, contrary to the theory, made a decisive step toward institutionalisation by removing its founding father and remaining an actor with national blackmail potential. This article addresses this challenge and provides a solution to this conundrum. In particular, the article demonstrates that an approach that considers both party factors and critical events is necessary to account fully for the variance of outcomes and, more generally, for party change.