[Discussion] CONF./CFP- Comparative Institutional Transformations, May 2006, Yerevan

[gonul@pultar.org]

From: Alexander Markarov <amarkarov@ysu.am>


CONF./CFP- Comparative Institutional Transformations, May 2006, Yerevan

Call for Papers
International Conference
Comparative Institutional Transformations and Institutional Design in the
Post-Soviet Region
11 - 13 May 2006
Yerevan, Armenia

Within the framework of the INTAS Network project 'Eurasian Political Studies
Network: Developing comparative studies of regime transformations in
multicultural societies and state-nation-building process in post-soviet
region', the Eurasian Political Studies Network** in cooperation with Yerevan
State University announces a Call for Papers for the International Conference
'Comparative Institutional Transformations and Institutional Design in the
Post-Soviet Region', to be held in Yerevan, Armenia, on 11-13 May 2006.

**The Eurasian Political Studies Network (EPSN) was founded in 2002 to
co-ordinate and develop political science research and education in
post-communist countries. The network was build with the aid and participation
of West European (University of Kent), US (University of New-Mexico, Southern
Illinois University) and Japanese (Slavic Research Center of Hokkaido
University) institutions, and with co-sponsorship from the Civic Education
Project.

Political development in recent decades can be presented in terms of
transitions, institutional redesign associated with system transformation, and
the development of various regimes 'with adjectives', with democratic
consolidation being achieved only in some cases. This transitional process
has brought to the fore questions of constitution building, the formation of new
political institutions, the creation of market economies, and in some cases the
need for the resolution of ethno-national conflicts. This conference seeks to
provide analysis of political institution formation and development in the
post-Soviet countries from a comparative and historical perspective, combining
both case studies and broad comparative analysis.

Among the issues to be studied particular emphasis will be on:

 - The genesis of macropolitical institutions, including the development of
presidential institution and legislatures in the region, their role, formal and
informal authority, functions, interrelations, and their development over time
and comparative country perspectives;
 - Elections and the development of electoral systems;
 - Parties and party politics;
 - Constitutional (re)design problems for new democracies.

The conference will in addition address these issues within the methodology of
comparative transitional studies and examine the problems of developing
theoretical models and comparative frameworks in the analysis of recent
transitional processes and democratic development. Such comparison should help
answer the following questions:

 - Does the term 'post-communism' or 'post-Soviet societies' still matter?
 - Is there an identifiable 'post-Soviet political reality'; or are the
   relevant polities definitely diverging?
 - Can we reasonably talk about different modes of political development or
   just about different stages?
 - Are external or internal factors critical for such a divergence or
   convergence?
 - Are these factors essentially political or societal?
 - For each country, is the weight of the same factor(s) or the
   configuration of different factors (even their presence or absence) crucial
   for the chosen way of state-building and nation-building?
 - Can we reasonably consider each polity's political regime as mostly
   democratic, authoritarian, or neo-patrimonial, or just as 'transitional'?

The preliminary list for conference panels includes:

Comparative constitutional design and development
Comparative democratisation
Comparative institutional reform and development
Elections and electoral processes
Formal and informal institutions
Lobbying
Models of regime change
Parliaments and their development
The development of presidentialism
Regime formation and development

The methodology section will address following issues:

1. Process of transition
2. Quality of regime
3. Political culture
4. Constitutional design
5. Party system
6. Identity formation
7. Elites and their structures

Please submit the abstracts (no more than 2 pages (750 words)) and brief CV by
10 February 2006 via email to: amarkarov@ysu.am, addressed to Dr. Alexander
Markarov, Associate Professor of Political Science, Deputy Head, YSU
International Relations Office.

The full text of papers will be due by 5 May 2006.

Papers to be between 4,000 and 9,000 words submitted as Word files. Please,
append them with your brief scholarly biography of 150 words with your
institutional affiliation, and email or regular address.

Contributions in Russian or English are welcome.

Participation of junior scholars from the region is particularly encouraged.

It is expected that the conference papers will be published as an edited volume.
The possible publication date of the volume: Spring 2007.

We will appreciate circulating this call for papers among your colleagues.

For additional information please contact:

Dr. Alexander Markarov,
Associate Professor of Political Science,
Deputy Head, YSU International Relations Office
Tel: (+374-10) 555 - 244
Fax (+374-10) 55 - 46 - 41
E-mail: amarkarov@ysu.am



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