Research Project 2012 on Environmental Participation and Climate Change in the P.R. China (in preparation), in cooperation with Prof. Zhou

Methodology: surveys on values, attitudes and behaviour of local populations in Xiamen and other cities areas, expert interviews.

Environmental Governance and Local Capacity Building Approaches in the P.R. China. Case studies (in preparation), in cooperation with Prof. Zhou

Methodology: analysis of existing literature and project reports, expert interviews, analysis of project in design and implementation phase.

Research Project 2011 on Democracy Index Projects (BTI, FHI).

project completed, paper submitted and accepted for publication by Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft, publication in mid-2012.

Team Leader PD Dr. Berthold Kuhn, Freie Universität Berlin, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences

Political Science has recently witnessed a proliferation of index projects measuring democracy, governance and transformation processes. This paper addresses the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) and the Freedom House Index (FHI) which are considered to be among the best known indices in their area of thematic focus. It presents the results of an expert survey among researcher and practitioners of different age, sex and qualification which is based on a questionnaire and interviews. It also includes some experts working in both fields and students. The findings from the interviews and the questionnaires which were filled out by 82 potential German speaking users of the indices indicate that the BTI gets slightly higher scores of general appreciation but the FHI is still more frequently used. The indices receive appreciation but also different kinds of criticism, mainly on conceptual and methodological issues. One key recommendation is to better involve regional and national institutions in the process of making the assessments and drafting the reports.