Network Activities

The network activities follow from the goals specified above and are directly in line with the results obtained at the Mannheim meetings and the Uppsala meeting ( Link to all the meeting protocols of the Working Group). These activities include the design of a common-core questionnaire, the further development of organisational/local studies, preparing new data collectings, stimulating research in other countries, performing and publishing the results of comparative analyses, and communicating about the activities. These activities will require several international scientific meetings in 2000-2002.

• Design of a common-core questionnaire
  The intensive discussions on the basis of a very elaborated overview of existing instruments have already resulted in a common-core questionnaire to be used in several countries. Besides, this common core is designed in such a way that the use of available studies is maximised.

• Development of organisational/local studies
  An inventory of local studies has been discussed and agreement is reached about the necessity to include this type of studies in the research design. A common research design has been accepted and is already implemented in several countries.

• Preparing new data collectings
  The committee for a 'European Social Survey' has been approached to include a module on social capital and citizenship in one of the first waves. Depending on the time schedule of an ESS a module questionnaire will be drafted and developed in close co-operation with ESS organisers.

• Stimulating research in other countries
  Researchers from Austria, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, and Hungary co-operate. Colleagues from other countries of whom we know that they have strong interests in this type of research are approached. The co-operation is designed in such a way, that scholars from countries not attending in the first phase of the co-operation in early 1999 can join the group.

• Performing and publishing the results of comparative analyses
  The available national data sets and the data collected in the near future will be used for comparative analyses on social capital, citizenship, trust, and social involvement. Preparations for building an integrated data set will start in Summer 2000 and will take about 10 to 12 months. The group plans to publish, firstly, an inventory of available data sets and instruments, and, secondly, at least one joint volume presenting the results of the analyses and an evaluation of the opportunities to improve democratic decision-making procedures.

• Communicating
  In order to realise the above mentioned activities four meetings of the participants are planned. These meetings follow the direction of the activities as chosen at the Mannheim meetings and the Uppsala meeting in June 1999.

Further Collaboration

In addition to the already mentioned contacts with the committee for a "European Social Survey" and several large-scale national programmes like the British ESRC-activities in this area, further collaboration is explored:

• a proposal will be submitted to deal with the specific problems of organisational/local studies in a so-called research session of the European Consortium for Political Research. In this way, contacts with specialised scholars working in this field are stimulated.

• the opportunities for participating in the Fifth Framework Programme of the EU are already discussed in the group. Top-priority has been given to the common-core questionnaire, but it is planned to discuss these opportunities after the common-core questionnaire has been drafted.

• intensive contacts already exist with the group of scholars co-ordinated by Castiglione and Ballamy (Exeter) planning to study the problems of European citizenship and democracy from the perspective of political theory. It is agreed that further co-operation is desirable.

• first contacts have been established with a group of scholars from the Baltic region working on similar topics and problems. It is agreed that the opportunities for further co-operation will be explored.