[Civsoc-mw] FW: V-Dem Newsletter August 2018

Mon Aug 27 21:49:30 CAT 2018

From: Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) <contact=v-dem.net at mail61.sea21.rsgsv.net> On Behalf Of Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)
Sent: 27 August 2018 11:03
To: cammack at mweb.co.za
Subject: V-Dem Newsletter August 2018

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Newsletter August 2018

Country Experts Call 

V-Dem is looking for Country Experts to assist with the next update in January 2019, willing to contribute to making the largest dataset on democracy even better in the future. In these times when democracy is at risk in many places, offer a few hours of your time, and contribute to the common good for science and international society! 

More information:  <https://v-dem.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5f5c21a3443625684cc7474b9&id=f56283c96e&e=73e9266e16> https://www.v-dem.net/en/news/call-country-experts-v-dem/

To apply to become a Country Expert, please submit  <https://v-dem.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5f5c21a3443625684cc7474b9&id=e2479842a6&e=73e9266e16> your application here.

Call for a Country Coordinator 

We are searching for a Country Coordinator on Brunei!

Qualifications:

*	Master degree in Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Public Administration, Economics, or related field; applicant holding or pursuing doctoral degree will receive priority consideration;
*	Deep knowledge of political history and contemporary politics of a country;
*	Demonstrated knowledge and interest in democracy and development research is an advantage. Previous experience in a research project is an asset.
*	Interest in establishing long-term commitment with V-Dem and ability to work for data collection during few weeks per year.

Tasks: 

*	Country Coordinator will help V-Dem to collect a list of Country Experts
*	Country Coordinator will gather data on different aspects of democracy through the V-Dem online survey on topics of Elections, Executives and Legislature for 1900-2018

A honorarium of 750 USD is offered. 

The application process requires an applicant to send a cover letter and a CV to natalia.stepanova at v-dem.net <mailto:natalia.stepanova at v-dem.net> . 

30 August - September, 2: V-Dem at APSA 

Join us during August 30 – September 2, 2018, in Boston for the 2018 APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition!

The V-Dem Institute together with research groups from University of Gothenburg (the Quality of Government (QoG) Institute and the Program on Governance and Local Development (GLD), will have a  booth, #527 at the Hynes Convention Center. 

We would also like to invite you to join us for a Beer & Wine Reception, at booth #527, on Friday, August 31 from 5-6pm. Most welcome to mingle with us!

September, 4: Interactive Panel Discussion on “Democracy for All” at UN 

SAVE THE DATE

Interactive Panel Discussion on “Democracy for All”

A global status update from the Varieties of Democracy Institute

Date: Tuesday, 4 September 2018

Time: 15:00 – 18:00

Venue: Conference Room 8, GA Building, UN Headquarters, New York, United States

While the global level of democracy is not changing dramatically, and the majority of the world’s population lives in a democracy, one third of the world’s population – 2.5 billion people – live in countries with declining democratic traits. With this in mind, the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) initiative has utilized its well established and unique approach to analyse historical, multidimensional, and disaggregated data, employing a state-of-the-art methodology, to come up with a nuanced view of the complex measurement of democracy. 

The Interactive Panel Discussion seeks to present the V-Dem Democracy Report 2018 and discuss the findings, namely that global levels of democracy are still close to an all-time high. Despite, this, even though the electoral aspects of democracy have improved in many countries in recent years, freedom of expression, media, and civil society are under threat in other parts of the world. The report also presents evidence that political exclusion based on socioeconomic status is becoming increasingly severe.

September, 5: Seminar on V-Dem at OGP 

SAVE THE DATE

Seminar on V-Dem

Date: Wednesday, 5 September 2018

Time: 12:30 – 13:30

Venue: OpenGov Hub: 1110 Vermont Avenue Northwest, Washington, DC 20005, United States

The global trend of autocratization – the gradual or sudden demise of democratic regime traits – provides new challenges to the work of international actors such as the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

Capitalizing the world’s largest dataset on democracy, the research of the Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem) can help OGP staff and partners and other advocates of open government to understand the current processes of backsliding and closing space better. For instance, V-Dem data shows that contemporary regime elites are more likely to engage in protracted, and less visible means of autocratization. While in previous eras would-be autocrats abandoned multi-party elections altogether, their contemporary cousins tend to keep them but use more subtle methods to ensure their victory.

In this seminar, the Deputy Director of the V-Dem Institute, Anna Lührmann will present the V-Dem dataset and discuss the following questions: 

- How serious are global contemporary challenges to democracy? Which thematic issues and countries are most affected?

- How are contemporary challenges to democracy different from historical ones?

- How inclusive are contemporary democracies in terms of gender, minorities and wealth? 

 <https://v-dem.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5f5c21a3443625684cc7474b9&id=f011774141&e=73e9266e16> Register here.

V-Dem at World Bank 

June 27, World Bank: Speakers from the World Bank, World Justice Project, Results for Development, V-Dem and others debated around the priorities and objectives of the design of the next generation of governance indicators.

Speakers:

- Chair: Edouard Al-Dahdah, Senior Public Sector Specialist, World Bank
- Alejandro Ponce, Chief Research Officer, World Justice Project
- Nathaniel Heller, Executive Vice President, Integrated Strategies, Results for Development (R4D)
- Liz McGrath, Director of Research & Data, Natural Resource Governance Institute
- Sally Engle Merry, Silver Professor of Anthropology, NYU College of Arts and Sciences
- Staffan I. Lindberg, Director, V-Dem Institute | Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg

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“Democracy for All? A global status update” 

July, 3: The Keough School hosted the briefing “Democracy for All? A global status update” at its Washington, DC office. The briefing focused on the V-Dem Democracy Report 2018. 

Prof. Michael Coppedge: "V-Dem Institute measures democracy through international cooperation, relying on more than 3,000 experts around the world. People who really know their own countries are providing data on how things are going.”

Prof. Staffan I. Lindberg: "2.5 billion people live in countries experiencing autocratization, democratic backslide. Countries with large populations are backsliding: Poland, Brazil, Turkey, India, U.S."

Read more  <https://v-dem.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5f5c21a3443625684cc7474b9&id=def6eb0bac&e=73e9266e16> here.
Watch the event video below. 

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 <https://v-dem.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5f5c21a3443625684cc7474b9&id=bd29dae8ea&e=73e9266e16> 

A briefing and panel discussion focusing on the 2018 report “Democracy for All?”, issued by Varieties of Democracy, (V-Dem). 

V-Dem Working Papers 

 <https://v-dem.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5f5c21a3443625684cc7474b9&id=764c3af55c&e=73e9266e16> 

Patterns of Regime Breakdown since the French Revolution

Authors: Vilde Lunnan Djuve, Carl Henrik Knutsen, and Tore Wig

University of Gothenburg, Varieties of Democracy Institute: Working Paper No. 69. June 2018