Centre for the Study of Public Policy (CSPP)

Description

The Centre for the Study of Public Policy (CSPP) utilises social sciences to address significant government challenges, amalgamating quantitative, qualitative, and institutional methods from political science, sociology, economics, and allied disciplines. Established in 1976, it pioneered as the first public policy centre within a European university setting.

The CSPP focuses on comparative research across Europe and the broader OECD region, with key specialisations in government growth; social welfare; electoral processes and democratisation; and the interplay of social capital and health. Post the Berlin Wall collapse, the CSPP initiated an innovative series of Barometer surveys to comprehend mass responses to transformations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, encapsulating a wide array of political, economic, and social attitudes and behaviours through its 110 New Europe Barometer surveys.

The expanded European Union is analysed from the grassroots level at the CSPP to ascertain whether Europeans' policy concerns mainly reflect individual traits, such as age, income, and education, or national institutions and cultures. The Centre also compares EU societies with countries on its periphery or seeking enlargement, particularly Turkey, Croatia, and Ukraine. The Centre's activities are funded by national bodies like the British ESRC and the Nuffield Foundation, along with scientific agencies and foundations in Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, and the USA, and intergovernmental agencies of the European Commission, the United Nations, and the World Bank.

Research findings are disseminated via the Centre's Studies in Public Policy series, peer-reviewed social science journals, public affairs periodicals, books, and in Russian and German. Reports are presented to policymaking bodies such as the World Bank, OECD, the European Commission, UN agencies, and at seminars throughout Europe, the USA, and beyond. The Centre maintains the websites www.RussiaVotes.org and www.BalticVoices.org in addition to its primary online platform.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Founding year

1976

Contact details

On the map

Go to larger version of this map

Categorisation

Type

Project Tags

University affiliation(s)

University of Strathclyde
Glasgow