Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies

The Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies (WCED) promotes scholarship to better understand the conditions and policies that foster the transition from autocratic rule to democratic governance, past and present. Initially focusing on transitions in Europe and Eurasia, it will subsequently expand its scope to other emerging democracies across the globe.

Housed in the International Institute at the University of Michigan, the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies began operation in September 2008. Named in honor of Ronald and Eileen Weiser and inspired by their time in Slovakia during Ambassador Weiser’s service as U.S. Ambassador from 2001-04, WCED will expand scholarship on democracy’s extension for the public good.

WCED works in association with the Ronald and Eileen Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (comprised of the Center for European Studies; Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies; and Copernicus Center for Polish Studies), an organization dedicated to enhancing interdisciplinary knowledge about, and public engagement with, the institutions, cultures, and histories of these regions.