Center for Global Democracy extends the work begun by LAPOP Lab
The College of Arts and Science has launched the Center for Global Democracy, a premier social science institute dedicated to pioneering research and innovation in democratic politics around the world. Noam Lupu, professor of political science, directs the new center.
Public support for democracy and trust in democratic institutions is eroding across many parts of the world, and both policymakers and funders are looking for innovations to stem this alarming tide. The Center for Global Democracy will conduct research and analysis to help inform decision makers and, ultimately, promote democracy across the globe. LAPOP Lab is now housed within the center and will continue its decades-long survey research. Building on the influential work of LAPOP Lab, which is focused primarily on Latin America, the new Center for Global Democracy will expand its research to other parts of the world.
Founded in 2004 by the late Mitchell Seligson, LAPOP Lab is renowned for its flagship AmericasBarometer survey, a biennial study of more than two dozen countries in the Western Hemisphere through a citizen survey of social and political attitudes. It is the only scientifically rigorous comparative survey of democratic values and behaviors that covers all independent countries in North, Central, and South America, as well as a significant number of countries in the Caribbean. For the past ten years, Liz Zechmeister, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science, has led LAPOP Lab.
The impact of LAPOP Lab’s research is both vast and impressive. Researchers worldwide have accessed their data tens of thousands of times, and numerous international organizations use their findings to shape policies and programming. AmericasBarometer data have been referenced in hundreds of dissertations and academic books and thousands of journal articles, cited in congressional reports and hearings, mentioned in Ecuador’s presidential debate, and used in the reform proposals of a high-level presidential commission in Peru.
“Liz’s leadership of LAPOP Lab has laid the groundwork for this new, expanded, innovative center,” said Lupu. “She helped to establish LAPOP Lab as the global authority on public attitudes about democracy and put the lab at the frontier of international survey research. She’s inspired all of us with her dedication not only to the important work that we do but also to the individuals on our team who do it.”
As the new Center for Global Democracy gains traction, Lupu plans to build on the foundation that LAPOP Lab created. This includes plans to bring another global survey project to Vanderbilt within the next year. The center also recently launched a summer school on international survey methods that has already trained more than 50 participants from around the globe.
“We’ll continue to do the important research that LAPOP Lab has always done but we’re also working on new projects and engagements,” said Lupu. “We plan to regularly bring scholars of democracy from around the world to Vanderbilt to share insights about how democracies emerge, function, and decline.”
New programming for the center begins immediately, with a visit from Kevin Casas-Zamora, secretary-general of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, who will speak on Monday September 30 at 9 a.m. in the Student Life Center Ballroom. Casas-Zamora, a former vice president of Costa Rica, will discuss the critical role of money in politics and its impact on democratic health. The event also celebrates the official launch of the center.
“The Center for Global Democracy is needed now more than ever, due to the troubling trend of democratic erosion worldwide,” said Timothy P. McNamara, Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean of the College of Arts and Science. “The work that these highly skilled researchers are doing is unmatched and will have even greater global impact under the new center.” He continued, “I am deeply grateful to Liz Zechmeister for her capable leadership of LAPOP Lab over the past decade and I know Noam Lupu will lead the new center to innovative horizons.”
Lupu looks forward to this next stage, with the group pushing ahead with more groundbreaking research. They are currently finalizing new survey studies, including one with Venezuelan migrants in Colombia and Peru to better understand their experiences and expectations. They have also begun to work on the 2025 round of AmericasBarometer.
“My hope is that our new work helps policymakers and reformers think about ways to innovate around how democracies work,” said Lupu. “We’ve spent many years documenting declining public commitment to democracy across Latin America. This new chapter allows us to continue that pioneering work while also expanding our research and programming to the rest of the world, to further bolster global public support for democracy.”