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Planning Grant for the Establishment of:
An Insitute for Democracy and Development
at the University of Louisville

                         PI:       Charles Ziegler

                  Co-PIs:        

  Project Duration:        One Year (May 1, 2005 – April 30, 2006)
       Organization:        University of Louisville                                           

Abstract

This proposal envisions creation of an Institute for Democracy and Development at the University of Louisville. For administrative purposes the Institute would be housed in the Department of Political Science, and would report directly to the Chair of the Department. The Institute will draw on the varied and considerable expertise of the faculty at the University of Louisville, with affiliated faculty drawn from other universities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky as appropriate. The Institute would be primarily research oriented, but it would also enhance teaching and service. The Institute would develop specific foci based on faculty expertise—for example, in civil rights and liberties, urban development, East Asian and Eurasian politics, diplomacy and international conflict resolution, or foreign policy.

The Institute for Development and Democracy will explore issues of democracy and development in an urban/metropolitan and global context at the University of Louisville. The creation of a formal structure for research should enable members of the Department of Political Science and affiliated faculty at the University of Louisville and within the Commonwealth of Kentucky to compete more successfully for Federal funding, and for funding by non-profit private foundations.

The Institute will provide a central venue to foster, nurture and develop scholarly investigations related to the political, economic, sociological, and geographic aspects of democracy and development. Specific areas for research would include civil rights and civil liberties, urban economic development, emerging civil society, East Asian and Eurasian political, economic and security problems, diplomacy and international conflict resolution, causes of terrorism, and foreign policy.

Activities of the Institute will include organizing and supporting research projects of individual faculty, assisting faculty in securing external grants, hosting scholarly research conferences, hosting prominent visiting scholars, and issuing occasional papers written by faculty and visiting scholars. We envision that, over time, the Institute for Democracy and Development will become a nationally recognized center with a reputation for sponsoring quality scholarship.