The CEU DI Working Paper series has launched today.

The first publication is “Basic Democratic Trust” by Andreas Schedler, Lead Researcher of the DI’s De- and Re-Democratization (DRD) Workgroup.

You can access the Working Paper on the DI website here, and the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) here.

The starting point for the Working Paper is the increasing prevalence of polarization in democratic systems.

Schedler introduces the concept of “basic political trust” to resolve the paradox whereby democracy requires both trust and distrust. The  systematic mapping of democratic trust identifies its twin opposites: distrust (within cooperative relations) and “enemyopia” (within hostile relations).

The practical contribution of the paper is “a language to talk about the hidden, cognitive bases of democratic stability: firm, tacit, mutual expectations of norm compliance that define what is ‘normal’ and what is ‘unthinkable’ in the competitive game of politics.”

The DI Working Papers showcase research-in-progress on the challenges democracy faces across the globe today.  This research engages in deep and sustained scientific investigation to create new knowledge.

The series communicates research findings to policy-makers and other stakeholders engaged in the global discourse on democracy. The ultimate goal is to promote the success and sustainability of democracies worldwide.

The Managing Editor of the CEU DI Working Paper Series is Dr Oliver Garner, who also acts as editor of the RevDem Rule of Law section.

RevDem will continue its collaboration with the CEU DI Working Papers series to disseminate the research findings that are most relevant to contemporary debates on the state of democracy in the world today.