Monitoring Electoral Democracy (MEDem) is an evolving European research infrastructure aimed at supporting more comprehensive, comparative and innovative research on electoral democracies. MEDem pursues this goal by integrating and linking different sources of data and information on the functioning of democracies, as well as by developing standards and tools for collecting, processing, visualising and analysing data.
MEDem also strengthens existing national and comparative research on electoral democracy by incorporating it into a stable European network of research teams and researchers working together within the infrastructure. An important element of the initiative is the MEDem Training and Capacity-Building Centre, whose activities are led by the University of Silesia in Katowice, as the Centre’s lead institution, together with Jagiellonian University and SWPS University. The Centre provides training and supports the development of research competencies, laying the foundations for further strengthening academic excellence.
In this way, MEDem contributes to improving the quality of research on European electoral democracies, enhancing both its scientific quality and its societal impact. The infrastructure has been officially included in the 2026 ESFRI Map and the Polish Research Infrastructure Map.
Why is MEDem needed and what does it offer?
Social sciences play a key role in the proper functioning of liberal democracies, as they help us better understand how citizens, political elites, parliaments, governments and the media interact within the democratic process.
Electoral democracies – both in Europe and in other parts of the world – currently face a number of challenges, including growing populism, disinformation and declining trust in public institutions. Due to the complexity of contemporary political processes, these phenomena cannot be analysed solely within the boundaries of a single country, from a single research perspective or at a single point in time.
At the same time, many institutions use different methods for collecting, describing and archiving data, depending on the country, research topic or type of research material. As a result, a significant proportion of the available resources remains difficult to access or cannot be directly used for comparative research.
Data on the functioning of different democracies should therefore be harmonised, accessible, interoperable and reusable. This makes it possible to fully realise their scientific and societal potential. Ensuring these conditions is one of MEDem’s key tasks.
MEDem in Poland
At the University of Silesia, MEDem is coordinated by the Centre for Research on the Digital Public Sphere in cooperation with the Institute of Journalism and Media Communication and the Institute of Political Science.
The national consortium also includes Jagiellonian University, represented by the Institute of Journalism, Media and Social Communication and the Centre for Quantitative Research in Political Science, as well as SWPS University, represented by the Institute of Social Sciences.
The Polish consortium is headed by Damian Guzek, PhD, DLitt, Associate Professor.
