The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) has set up a forum, Trends in the Development of Contemporary Democracies, to bring together scholars from the fields of political science, law, history, media and communications, political sociology, economics and other related disciplines to discuss the experiences of contemporary democracies.
The second meeting convened on Thursday, January 29th 2009 and focused on Globalization and its Impact on the Legitimacy of National Leadership.
The objective of this conference, directed by Prof. Yaron Ezrahi and Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer, is to examine the changes taking place within democracies worldwide--often at the deepest, most fundamental levels. Israel is among the family of democracies facing these challenges. The conference series enables open collaboration on questions of democratic transition and restructuring, endeavoring to develop a body of knowledge that will help democratic societies evolve responsibly. The forum also aims to distinguish between the particular and the universal elements of Israeli democracy.