Democracy, media and development

The research program was launched in 2008. It is concerned with development in the context of democracy, i.e. within parameters of the system of parliamentary democracy. Development is understood as a factor that strengthens societal democratic potentials. Namely, democracy https://www.fuds.si/en/democracy-and-development/necessitates its own social requisites encompassing economic (material welfare) social (extensive and autonomous middle class) and cultural factors, which enable its prevalence (values of individual autonomy). On the other hand, democratic politics can be perceived as one of the generators of upgrading developmental performance. Quality of governance is, at least in the context of developed Western societies, integrated in the framework of democratic values, norms, principles and practices.

Good governance depends on states and the consequences of communication processes in society. We observe the ways traditional and new media set the agenda, form, disseminate messages and frame societal discourse. We focus strongly on individuals and societal ability to participate in contemporary mediated communication processes and build resilience towards its negative effects by researching media literacy. Especially in the case of organisations and businesses the issue of participation in contemporary communication flows is formulated in a quest for efficiency and strategic prudence of communication processes with various relevant stakeholders influencing organisational processes and outputs.

Primary aims and objectives of the research program are:

  1. investigation of the character of societal transformations and relations between their political, social, economic and cultural aspects, with special focus on processes of transformation in Central and Eastern European societies;
  2. investigation of democratic processes on national, European and global level;
  3. analysis of relationships between different dimensions of democratic political setting;
  4. evaluation of capacities political actors for creation and implementation of developmental strategies
  5. explore socio-cultural aspects of contemporary communication processes.

The program’s research approach is based on comparative analysis of above mentioned social phenomena on a general level which is complemented with case studies. Combining different theoretical approaches and research methods represents the basis of innovative analysis and explanations of causal relations between different components of the democratic political setting and developmental performance of societies.

matevž tomšič

Head of the research programme:
Full. Prof. Matevž Tomšič, PhD

Members:

Full Prof. Matevž Tomšič, PhD
Full Prof. dr. Mateja Rek, PhD
Full Prof. Luca Brusati, PhD
Assoc. Prof. Simona Kukovič, PhD
Assist. Prof. Peter Verovšek, PhD
Assoc. Prof. Petra Kleindienst, PhD
Asist. Rok Bratina
Asist. Sabina Mešič