What is the CSDC?

The CSDC brings together a group of scholars from six Quebec universities, who work on research related to democratic citizenship. The universities are Concordia University, McGill University, Université Laval, Université de Montréal (UdeM), Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), and Université TÉLUQ. The purpose of the Centre is to develop inter-disciplinary and multiple methodological perspectives in the study of challenges that democracies face in a rapidly changing world.

The Centre was established in 2008 under the leadership of Dr. Elisabeth Gidengil. Dr. Dietlind Stolle lead the Centre to its present size (32 members and close to 140 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows ) from June 2013 to September 2020. Going forward from September 2020, Dr. Frédérick Bastien will start as Director and together with  Dr. Allison Harell, the Associate Director, will lead the Centre to start its 2nd decennia. For a quick overview of the CSDC, check out our infographic by clicking here. 

The Centre’s main goals are to promote scientific research on fundamental questions relating to democratic citizenship, to contribute to policy debates on strengthening democracy both in Canada and abroad, to take a leadership role in the development of large-scale cross-national research projects, and to provide an enriched training environment for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

CSDC researchers address a wide range of questions relating to the relationship between citizens and the political process. How do citizens decide who to vote for? Can citizens hold governments accountable? How do citizens form attitudes about public policy? What accounts for political participation, or, perhaps more importantly, a lack of political participation? What are the implications of social diversity for engagement, or policy support? These and related questions play a central role in the work pursued by scholars at the CSDC.

Mission

The CSDC’s mission is to be a leading research centre in Quebec and Canada, and one of the best centres in the world for research, training and policy development on complex, urgent and important issues concerning democratic citizenship from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Specific objectives:

• To promote scientific research of the highest national and international caliber on fundamental questions relating to democratic citizenship from a variety of disciplinary perspectives;
• To contribute to political debates on strengthening democracy at home and abroad;
• To take a leadership role in the development of large-scale (trans) national research projects;
• To provide an enriched training environment for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

For a quick overview of the CSDC, check out our infographic by clicking here.