Leonardo Morlino was, is, and will certainly remain a central reference point and authoritative voice for the democracy studies. His contributions have been instrumental in establishing and solidifying the field of transitology, and Leonardo's oeuvre is an indispensable and substantial source, especially for those concerned with democratization in Southern Europe and Latin America. The richness of his work and the sharpness of his thinking have accompanied and inspired generations—the plural is entirely appropriate—of democracy researchers.

But today I would like to talk about how Leonardo made a unique and extremely significant contribution to our scientific community. He demonstrated an exceptional aptitude for fostering connections and inspiring enthusiasm among scholars, a proficiency that I have seldom observed to such a remarkable degree. At the point at which research of democratic consolidation was beginning to lose momentum, Leonardo Morlino pioneered a novel field, thereby substantially advancing the study of democracy. The concept of democracy quality, which he propounded, subsequently emerged as the primary focus of research in the 2010s and beyond, yielding significant insights, controversies, and, in any case, novel avenues for research.

Leonardo understood how to translate scientific ideas and concepts into concrete research networks. One product of this was the establishment of the Research Committee 34, entitled “Quality of Democracy.” Leonardo was President of IPSA when the first joint IPSA-ECPR conference took place in Sao Paulo in 2011. On that occasion, he chaired numerous panels, one on democratic quality of which I also had the privilege to participate in. Following the panel, Leonardo approached a number of colleagues and made the case for the institutionalization of the topic of democratic quality within an RC at IPSA. He encouraged our Brazilian colleague José Alvaro Moisés and me to do so – with the compelling persuasiveness, so characteristic of him. Thus, RC 34 was founded by José and me and launched at the Madrid World Congress in 2012, and it flourished to a very active and vibrant network. A particularly notable highlight was undoubtedly the high-level international conference that we organized in Frankfurt 2013. This event subsequently led to the publication of a special issue of the International Political Science Review entitled "Measuring the Quality of Democracy" (2016). It goes without saying that Leonardo was always present as – if you want so – “honorary mentor”, supporter and member to our RC. And his contributions – be it at our conferences or in the Special Issue were highly meaningful. It was clear at all times that the topic and therefore the existence and work of our RC were close to his heart.

The greatest tribute we can pay to this esteemed colleague and enabler of RC “Quality of Democracy” is to continue this work in the same spirit that he instilled in us. Thank you, Leonardo Morlino!

Marianne Kneuer