Deadline: 9-May-21
The Social Science Research Council (SSRC) invites proposals from across the social sciences and related fields that address the challenges facing democratic societies across the Americas.
This collaboration between SSRC’s Anxieties of Democracy (AOD) and Drugs, Security and Democracy (DSD) programs seeks to support research that
- deepens understanding of key challenges such as democratic erosion and authoritarian drift; political inequalities, including voter suppression; political mobilization and participation of women and minorities; and corruption and the rule of law; and
- employs a comparative perspective or is relevant to a comparative dialogue on the sources of and solutions to democratic anxieties in the Americas.
Themes
This Request for Proposals seeks to mobilize new knowledge on two key themes that offer the basis for particularly fruitful regional comparisons and dialogue:
- Political representation, political participation, and inequalities: This Request for Proposals invites projects that engage with the dynamics of political representation and participation, the sources and effects of populism and popular protest, and the intersection between socio-economic and political inequalities.
- Judicial politicization and the judicialization of politics: This Request for Proposals invites projects that contribute to our understanding of the causes and consequences of the judicialization of politics in the Americas, especially regarding political representation and participation, democratic functioning, and democracies’ capacity to tackle major public issues. It also invites research on how courts have avoided or succumbed to partisan capture and, as political and/or partisan actors, how their capacity to serve as an essential guardrail for democracy is affected.
Eligibility Criteria
The SSRC invites proposals for Democratic Anxieties in the Americas Research Grants from researchers—based at both academic and non-academic institutions—who meet the following minimum requirements:
- Researchers who have received their PhD in any social science discipline or related fields within the last five years or who have reached ABD status and are writing a dissertation toward a PhD in the social sciences and related fields.
- Applications must focus on countries from the Americas.
- Applicants must reside in a country in the Americas.
- Submission of a project proposal on a research topic that relates to one of two themes.
- Contribute an essay based on the research to SSRC’s digital forum, Items: Insights from the Social Sciences.
For more information, visit https://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/view/democratic-anxieties-in-the-americas-research-grants/