The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) is "a non-profit organization, based in Washington DC, dedicated to studying Islamic and democratic political thought and merging them into a modern Islamic democratic discourse," its website states. "The organization was founded in March 1999 by a diverse group of academicians, professionals, and activists--both Muslim and non-Muslim--from around the USA who agree on the need for the study of and dissemination of reliable information on this complex topic."