Centre for Democracy Research - Past Events
21Oct
Let the People Decide? Hope, Fear, and the Realities of Direct Democracy by Professor Daniel Kübler
Few democratic institutions inspire as much hope and provoke as much fear as the referendum. Advocates see it as the purest form of citizen empowerment, while critics warn of manipulation, populism, or ill-informed decision-making. This talk takes a closer look at these competing narratives through global evidence and the Swiss experience. Drawing on the latest data from the Referendum Database (RDB) based at the Centre for Democracy Studies at the University of Zurich, the talk first looks at how direct democracy has spread and evolved worldwide. Nearly two thirds of all countries have held at least one national-level referendum, and almost half have institutionalized this instrument in their constitutions across democracies and autocracies alike. Yet not all referendums are equally democratic: while top-down, government-initiated votes can serve rulers’ strategic goals, bottom-up, citizen-initiated referendums empower citizens to shape policy and hold elites accountable.
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11Sep
How To Save Democracy Live: What Can Ireland Teach The World About Citizens’ Assemblies?
How To Save Democracy is a new podcast co-hosted by Jon Alexander, Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School and author of the award-winning book CITIZENS, and Obama Fellow and former Arab Spring activist and Tunisian politician Omezzine Khelifa. In this event, Jon Alexander hosted a conversation with three key voices to interrogate what the world can learn from the experience of Ireland’s pioneering Citizens’ Assemblies over the last 15 years.
David Farrell holds the Chair of Politics at UCD. He led the original We The Citizens project that preceded the Irish Constitutional Convention and the Citizens’ Assembly, and was closely involved in supporting the first 3 Irish processes.
Art O'Leary is Secretary General at An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Electoral Commission of Ireland. He has been closely involved in Citizens' Assemblies in Ireland since 2012.
Louise Caldwell is one of the randomly selected citizens to have taken part in the Assembly, and on the board of People Powered.
05Mar
Independents in politics and Government - a good development?
Independents are playing a greater role in government than ever before, and their numbers are growing in the Dáil. But is that a good thing? Is the row over Dáil speaking time for independents a case of over-reach - and if so who’s to blame - the Government or the opposition? These questions were debated by our panel of experts in the latest public discussion brought to you by the Centre for Democracy Research.
Panelists
Sean Defoe, Newstalk (Moderator)
Finian McGrath, Minister of State in the 2016-2020 minority Government
Sinead Gibney TD, Social Democrats
Brian Murphy, Chief of Staff in the 2016-2020 minority Government
05Mar
Affective polarization and citizens’ views of political discrimination Seminar
A seminar from Markus Wagner, Professor, Department of Government, University of Vienna. The talk examined the extent to which people feel that they are treated unfairly due to their political stances and partisan affiliation.
18Nov
Inside General Election 2024
Just ahead of the Irish general election a panel of Eoghan Murphy (former Housing Minister and OSCE Election Monitor), Mary Regan (RTE), Deirdre Grant (Red Flag), Margaret Ward (OSCE Election Monitor), hosted by Bryan Dobson (formerly RTE) discussed the big issues of General Election 2024.
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22Oct
Inside US Elections 2024
Attendees were addressed with insights on the upcoming US elections from Biko Koenig (Franklin
and Marshall College) and Shane Greer (Campaigns and Elections magazine).
11Dec
Rethinking currency internationalisation: Offshore euro creation and the EU’s international monetary governance
A seminar on rethinking currency internationalisation from Jens van t’Klooster, Assistant Professor of Political Economy at the University of Amsterdam’s Department of Political Science.
UCD Earth Institute Democracy & the Environment Seminar #6:
Capacity of Democratic Institutions
UCD Earth Institute Democracy & The Environment Series VI: "The Capacity of Democratic and Legal Institutions to Deliver Climate and Environmental Action" co-organised with UCD Dublin European Institute and the UCD Centre for Democracy Research, 26 November 2024.
Climate action and environmental protection are political problems which democratic and legal institutions struggle to solve. This is particularly stark in liberal democracies that aspire to actively engage with the plurality of interests in society and build inclusive coalitions to bring voters along with the huge structural transformations required in the transition to net zero.
In this event, Professor Aidan Regan (UCD School of Politics & International Relations) will talk about this ‘trilemma of advanced capitalism’ whereby governments are increasingly faced with a trade-off between economic growth, democracy and addressing the climate emergency.
Dr Andrew Jackson (UCD School of Law) will discuss the role of law and legal institutions in delivering climate action. Niamh Garvey from the National Economic and Social Council will reflect on the role of NESC as an independent multi-stakeholder council to advise government and how this can facilitate civil society engagement in policy.
Chaired by Professor Imelda Maher (UCD Dublin European Institute) with an introduction by Director of the UCD Earth Institute Professor Eoin O'Neill.
*Filmed at the Museum of Literature Ireland, Dublin.