* Conducting research in elections and voting, democratic legislatures, public opinion, social, economic and political indicators in Africa, and AIDS and democracy * Publishing working papers, available in hard-copy through the publications officer or on their Web site

The working unit is part of a academic center itself department of an university, and so neither an independent nor a pure public poliy institution. It is presented here disregarding its potential lack of think tank characteristica because of its membership in the NDRI.

"The Centre for Social Science Resarch (CSSR) was created in July 2001 with generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The CSSR comprises four research units and a resource center. These are: the Aids and Society Research Unit (ASRU), the Democracy in frica Research Unit(DARU), the Social Surveys Unit (SSU), the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) and the Data First Resource Unit (Data First)." ([http://www.cssr.uct.ac.za/sites/cssr.uct.ac.za/files/annual_report2002.pdf CSSR Annual Report 2001/2002], p. 2, accessed: 2015/05/02) "The Democracy in Africa Research Unit (DARU) effectively began as a functioning unit in January 2002. Activities this year were focused around: (1) refining its mission to concentrate on three core research programs; (2) developing partnerships to support research and data collection in these areas; (3) putting people in place to begin research in these areas; and (4) initiating research output. <br>Refining the Mission<br> DARU will support students and scholars who conduct systematic research on: # Public opinion and political culture in Africa, and its role in democratization or the consolidation of democracy. # Elections and voting in Africa, and their role in democratization and consolidation. # The impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on democratization in Southern Africa. DARU may also support research projects on topics related to other aspects of democratic politics in Africa that are based on a systematic research design. But projects focusing on the three core areas will receive priority when selecting among proposals." ([http://www.cssr.uct.ac.za/sites/cssr.uct.ac.za/files/annual_report2002.pdf CSSR Annual Report 2001/2002], p. 8, accessed: 2015/05/02)