This program sponsors research and programs on the social foundation of democratic processes in the United States and abroad. The program aims to broaden and deepen democracy by understanding its cultural roots, the social impediments to majority rule, and the respect for minority rights. Issues such as trends in civic engagement and political participation, the development of democratic norms, evolving forms of political organization and social networks, and the causes and consequences of globalization will be examined.

Currently, two NSF-supported programs are being conducted in this area.

Assessing the Consequences of Politicized Confirmation Processes. This one-year project examines the impact of confirmation processes on the willingness of the American people to extend institutional legitimacy to the United States Supreme Court.
The Politicization of State Judicial Elections: The Effects of New-Style Campaigns on State Court Legitimacy. This three-year project examines whether change in attitudes toward law and courts is a function of exposure to politicized judicial campaign advertisements. Data from a three-tier survey of a broad sample of the American public’s view of actual campaign ads is being analyzed.

Faculty Associates
The program supports the research of faculty at Washington University and elsewhere on an interdisciplinary basis. Leaders of the program are:

• Professor James L. Gibson is Sidney W. Souers Professor of Government at Washington University in St. Louis. He has published in virtually every major political journal (from the American Political Science Review to the British Journal of Political Science), has co-authored two books, and his research has received several citations for excellence.

• Professor Steven S. Smith, Washington University’s Kate M. Gregg Professor of Social Sciences and one of the most distinguished scholars in the study of American and Russian politics. Professor Smith directs the Weidenbaum Center.