Objective
The project investigates the recent rise of networked forms of political participation in Europe. It does so by analyzing a set of political parties—namely, Podemos in Spain, the Five Star Movement in Italy, and the Pirate Parties in Sweden and Germany—that encourage the participation of all citizens in political deliberation through the use of networked media. More specifically, the research focuses on the technical affordances and uses of the decision-making software adopted by these parties to advance a new idea of democracy, which mixes elements of representative democracy and direct democracy.
Software such as LiquidFeedback, Agora Voting, Appgree, Loomio, AdHocracy, and DemocracyOS allow users not only to select party delegates and representatives but also to submit, discuss, and vote their own policy proposals. On the one hand, these emerging practices can be seen as an extension to the electronic realm of participatory decision-making processes associated with recent social movements for “real democracy.” On the other hand, the existence of party delegates, the adoption of majority voting, and the choice of participating in the elections signal that these parties acccept representative democracy, even as they vow to transform it from within.
By bringing together different theoretical perspectives in media studies, political theory, and social movement studies, the research maps how these different conceptions of democracy are reflected in the design of decision-making software. A first set of semi-structured interviews asks software developers to discuss the political values embedded in the software—e.g. whether the software privileges consensus or majority rule, temporary delegation or representation, public or anonymous voting. A second set of interviews asks users whether they are aware of the values embedded in the software, have considered their limitations, have suggestions on how to improve them, or see online deliberation as inherently flawed.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- social sciences political sciences government systems democracy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2015
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
56126 PISA
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.