Leading democracy scholars from all over the world held a two-day workshop October 10-11 on "The Quality of Democracy: Improvement or Subversion?" organized by the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). The topics of discussion included "Accountability and Responsiveness" and "Freedom and Equality," and comparative case studies between Eastern and Western Europe, Latin America and Asia, and South Asia and Africa.

Lead organizers of the workshop were Larry Diamond, coordinator of CDDRL's program on democracy and Leonardo Morlino, European University Institute, Florence. Participants included, Guillermo O'Donnell, Notre Dame; Philippe Schmitter, European University Institute, Florence; Marc Plattner, National Endowment for Democracy; Robert Mattes, University of Cape Town; E. Gyimah Boadi, University of Ghana; and Michael A. McFaul and Terry L. Karl.