"Juan Linz" Institute

Objectives

The fundamental objective of the new Institute is to promote interdisciplinary and excellent research and training in the Social Sciences, understood in a broad sense.

The Institute aims to address several lines of research of great social, economic, and political relevance. It intends to do so by committing to interdisciplinarity and collaboration among members of different UC3M Departments.

Lines of research

• First, a research line on the political economy of states, regimes, and institutions (both national and international), whose main objective is to identify the causal determinants of stability, change, and conflict. Due to its thematic focus and methodological approach—strongly influenced by econometric studies—the best work in this area results from collaboration among scholars from different fields: Political Science, Economic History, Economics, Statistics, and Law, among others.
• Second, a research line on the determinants and consequences of social inequality in all its dimensions (income inequality, wealth and property inequality, gender and ethnic inequality, among others). Phenomena linked to inequality lie at the root of many of the conflicts and tensions of our time. The study of inequality is complex and requires an interdisciplinary analysis that involves collaboration among scholars from Sociology, Political Science, Law, and Economics, so that they can examine the multidimensional factors that affect its production and expansion, as well as the political and social dynamics it generates.
• Third, a research line on the effect of new forms of communication on the functioning of democracies and dictatorships. There is an ongoing debate about the consequences that communication through social networks and online platforms may have on democracy, including the spread of false information (fake news), the formation of echo chambers, and the loss of trust in traditional media. All of these phenomena affect government oversight, the quality of public debate, and the polarization that divides societies. These topics require interaction and collaboration among experts in Political Science, Sociology, and Communication, among other fields.

In addition to these three research lines, the IJL will remain open to proposing and developing alternative and interdisciplinary lines of research that respond to scientific advances and to social, economic, and political phenomena of academic interest in the future.