The Cline Center for Democracy at the University of Illinois

The Richard G. and Carole J. Cline Center for Democracy at the University of Illinois engages in a series of activities designed to understand, refine and nurture democratic political orders.  The Cline Center’s orientation is global and its raison d’etre is to enhance the capacity of democracy to advance societal welfare.  So conceived, the work of the Center contributes to an enlightened, 21st century conception of the University of Illinois’ land grant mission.  The Center’s focus is on democracy because, more than any other form of government, it provides the structure, stability, and dynamism needed to harness human and natural resources for the well-being of society.  Promoting democracy has been a cornerstone of American foreign policy since Woodrow Wilson’s presidency.

The last quarter of the 20th century has been heralded as the Age of Democracy.  In what has been labeled its “third wave,” democracies have emerged in historically unprecedented numbers.  Indeed, democracy is currently viewed by many as the only legitimate form of government.  Despite this, there are no guarantees that democracy’s third wave will continue... or that its societal benefits will be maximized.

Recently, the pace of democratization has slowed discernibly and several new democracies have faltered.  Moreover, the well-documented deficiencies of mature democracies have given rise to new doubts about both its long-term viability and its capacity to advance societal welfare. Indeed, many have contended that democracy’s societal benefits are fully realized only when joined with free markets and structured in ways that check governmental power, enhance accountability, protect basic freedoms and liberties, and provide for equality of opportunity.  Structuring democracies in ways that comport with these principles adds to the challenges facing societies in the 21st century.

To address these challenges, the Cline Center for Democracy engages in research and public engagement within four areas: Democratic Citizenship and Civic Engagement, Democratic Institutions and Processes, Global Democratization, and Democratic Governance and Societal Welfare. Within these areas the Center’s objectives are: (1) to generate a stream of ideas, research, and information that address a wide range of issues that affect the vitality of democracy and its ability to improve the human condition; and (2) to stimulate and facilitate discussions of important issues among broad publics, thus enabling them to discharge their responsibilities as democratic citizens. 

While the Cline Center is not a teaching unit, students are an integral part of both its research and public engagement activities.  The Center also conceived, initiated and facilitates the University of Illinois’ Civic Leadership Program.  That program is designed to inspire new generations of students to participate in, and re-invigorate, civic life, which is central to the operation of democracy.

The scope of the Cline Center's activities makes it one of the most comprehensive centers for the study and promotion of democracy in the world.  The various components of this site provide information on its research, public engagement and student activities.  The Center's research focus goes well beyond the purely academic, and the scope and form of its projects lead them to have high applicability to real problems happening around the world. 

Most recently, the Cline Center formed an alliance with the global law firm of Baker & McKenzie and the Nobel-nominated Public International Law & Policy Group. The Center makes information from its Societal Infrastructures and Development Project available to Baker & McKenzie and PILPG's work in troubled hotspots around the world, including Nepal and Darfur.

Robert Deignan, who directs Baker & McKenzie's pro bono practice, noted in a talk at a recent Cline Center conference in Chicago: "The Cline Center has an unmatched collection of data, information and documents and together with a highly refined research methodology it adds a level of scholarship to the work of Baker & McKenzie and the Public International Law and Policy Group simply not obtainable anywhere else in the world." 

Through its partnership with Baker & McKenzie and PILPG, the Cline Center is able to apply the results of its research to solve real-world problems, placing it, in Deignan’s words, "at the forefront in helping to establish the rule of law throughout the world…and permit many people throughout the world to know peace for the first time."  Read about the Cline Center's work in the January/February 2008 issue of the University of Illinois Alumni Magazine.