The Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI) is part of the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. CSDI aims to advance interdisciplinary, publicly-engaged research, teaching, and dissemination of knowledge about innovation in democratic practice and institutions at the local, national, and international level.
Directed by Professor Heidi Tworek, CSDI takes an evidence-based and collaborative approach to strengthening and rethinking democracy in a digital age. We convene academics, students, civil society organizations, and public officials to galvanize inclusive conversations and action on democracy.
Our interdisciplinary work seeks to:
- Understand the past;
- Analyze the present;
- Train for the future.
- Mark Warren (2004-2007)
- Kenneth Carty (2007-2009)
- Richard Johnston (2009-2013)
- Max Cameron (2013-2021)
- Gerald Baier (2021-2022, interim director)
- Chris Tenove (2023-2024, interim director)
- Heidi Tworek (2022 - )
The CSDI team is a diverse and interdisciplinary group of people with a common purpose to understand and improve democratic institutions and policies. Students and faculty working at the Centre come from various schools and departments at UBC, including the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media, Department of History, Department of Political Science, and the School of Population and Public Health.
Director
Heidi Tworek, Canada Research Chair, Professor, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and Department of History
Assistant Director
Chris Tenove, Research Associate and Lecturer, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Steering Committee (2022-24)
- Afsoun Afsahi, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
- Maxwell Cameron, Professor, Department of Political Science and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
- Mary Chapman, Professor, Department of English Language and Literatures
- Ernie Chow, Graduate Student, Department of History
- Devon Greyson, Assistant Professor, School of Population and Public Health
- Nehal Gupta, Graduate Student, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
- Raksh Kainth, Graduate Student, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
- Nellie Kamau, Graduate Student, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
- Peter Klein, Professor, School of Journalism, Writing, and Media, SPPGA Faculty Associate
- Sheryl Lightfoot, Professor, Department of Political Science and the First Nations Studies Program and Canada Research Chair in Global Indigenous Rights and Politics
- Kari Marken, Lecturer, Sauder School of Business
- Raymond Ng, Professor, Computer Science
- Kavita Philip, President’s Excellence Chair in Network Cultures, Professor, Department of English Language and Literatures
- Lisa Sundstrom, Professor, Department of Political Science
CSDI’s central objective is to support publicly-engaged research, teaching, and dissemination of ideas and knowledge about democratic practice and institutions in Canada and around the world.
The secondary objectives are to:
- Design and conduct interdisciplinary research on the state of democracy at the local, national, and international levels, as well as propose solutions to improve the inclusivity and functioning of democracy.
- Prepare students to become policymakers and public officials at the municipal, provincial, federal, and international levels by providing a theoretical and hands-on education.
- Contribute to a critical society by disseminating and mobilizing knowledge.
- Bring together students and scholars with different profiles who seek to contribute to the study of democracy, as well as other relevant actors, such as public officials, governmental organizations, and civil society organizations.
Since its creation in 2004, CSDI has worked on multiple projects around democracy in Canada and internationally. One of CSDI’s largest projects to date was co-leading a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Grant on Participedia. Participedia is a global network and crowdsourcing platform for researchers, educators, practitioners, policymakers, activists, and anyone interested in public participation and democratic innovations. This work involved more than 30 institutional partners and researchers from around the world between 2014 and 2020. Participedia received a second SSHRC Partnership Grant and is now run at McMaster University.
CSDI has worked on multiple projects around democracy. From 2015 to 2018, the Institute for Future Legislators received $105,000 from the Vancouver Foundation. The Institute for Future Legislators is a unique, hands-on mentoring and training program open to anyone seeking the skills and knowledge necessary to serve in elective office—whether at the local, provincial, or federal level.
In 2017-18, CSDI received support from the UBC Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters to work on challenges to democracy. This catalyzed further research grants for CSDI members at UBC, such as a SSHRC Connection Grant for Prof. Max Cameron, a SSHRC Connection and Partnership Development Grant for Prof. Lisa Sundstrom on Activists in International Courts, and Prof. Sheryl Lightfoot’s participation in a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant on Indigenous rights.
Since Prof. Heidi Tworek became director of CSDI in July 2022, CSDI is focusing on two main policy issues: platforms and media, and health. We have received grants from sources including the Heritage Ministry to examine platform governance in Canada, and SSHRC to understand the role of social media during elections. We partner with universities and centres within Canada and internationally on projects including the Non-Aligned News Research Partnership, and the Canadian Digital Media Research Network.
