Centre for Voting and Parties
Centre for Voting and Parties (CVAP) is a research centre that focuses on the study of the central institutions in the modern representative democracy (Elections, Voters, Electoral Systems, Political Parties, Parliaments, Governments, Constitutions and more), with the behaviours and processes that this system entails.
Centre for Voting and Parties is embedded in the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, and is a meeting place for researchers from UCPH and Universities from both Denmark and abroad in common research projects and activities.
In general terms, the researchers at the Centre for Voting and Parties study:
- The electorate: opinions, values, knowledge, and behavior
- Elections: to the Danish parliament (the folketing), local authorities, regional councils, the European Parliament, etc.
- The political parties: their organisation, members, behaviour, etc.
- Plebiscites
- Parliaments and their institutions, especially the Danish parliament, its committees, party groups, etc.
- Electoral campaigns and campaigning, including the communication of parties, etc.
These topics are studied both from a specifically Danish perspective and from an international, comparative perspective.
Party membership and parties' role in representative democracy is in transition. At the aggregate level the number of members is declining but a number of individual parties are experiencing increasing membership figures. Who are the members? Why do they enroll? What do they do? Why do they participate? What are their political opinions? What do they think of intra-party democracy? Why are some of them on the way out of their party? Karina Kosiara-Pedersen was part of the group conducting the first Danish party member survey in 2000/1 and has since then conducted two additional party member surveys. The 2012 survey was funding by the Danish research council with a grant to ‘Modern Party Membership’ (MOPA). Results are published in ‘Demokratiets Ildsjæle’ and in ‘Nordic Party Members’. The 2018-2019 party member survey is conducted as part of an international comparative research project together with the leading party scholars from Europe, Canada and Australia.
For more information, see http://www.projectmapp.eu/
Centre Director
Karina Kosiara-Pedersen
Mail: kp@ifs.ku.dk
Phone: +45 35 32 34 16
Location
Centre for Voting and parties is located at the Department of Political Science, Centre for Health and Society (in Danish known as CSS - Center for Sundhed og Samfund). The centre is located at the old municipal hospital of Copenhagen (Kommunehospitalet).
Researchers
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anne Rasmussen | Professor | +4535320503 | |
| Frederik Georg Hjorth | Associate Professor | +4535324104 | |
| Karina Kosiara-Pedersen | Associate Professor | +4535323416 | |
| Kasper Møller Hansen | Professor | +4535323392 | |
| Peter Kurrild-Klitgaard | Professor | +4535323798 | |
| Søren Damsbo-Svendsen | PhD Fellow | +4535321446 |
Contact
Centre Director
Karina Kosiara-Pedersen
Mail: kp@ifs.ku.dk
Phone: +45 35 32 34 16