Project description
Political engagement in the digital age
Democracies around the world have been challenged by increasingly fragmented public debates and opinions. This has resulted in citizens becoming increasingly polarised. There is also a spiral of political apathy and cynicism. The digital age of algorithmically steered data delivered to citizens and misinformation published on many social media networks have increased this phenomenon. The ERC project PREPARE will offer new insight. It aims to shed light on the impact of digitalised society on citizens’ emotions in today’s democracies. It will also study what they need to move from passive observers to active and informed members of modern democracies.
Objective
"In the last decade, societies across the world have been challenged by fragmenting public debate, fueled by algorithmically steered social media and new threats of propaganda and misinformation. The dual tendency of political apathy and polarization pose grave problems for a well-functioning democracy. As the social sciences appear unable to mitigate the challenges with a seemingly ignorant and passive citizenry, PREPARE proposes a radically new approach. PREPARE fills a research gap on the impact of algorithmic media and datafied everyday life on citizens? potential for political engagement. Current research on people's connection to the public is predominately interested in measuring the political knowledge of so-called ""informed citizens"", or studying the everyday micro-aspects of news media use. The leap proposed by PREPARE changes the focus from each citizen's ""informedness"" to develop and test a groundbreaking theory of distributed preparedness, building a cohesive theory for a fragmented field. PREPARE will stake out a new path for research on citizens? role in democracies. The project will develop a feasible, normative theory of citizens? orientations to the sphere of politics in datafied societies: their networks for public connection. PREPARE's research questions concern 1) how people stay prepared to engage with public issues, and 2) what resources they need to move from stand-by to engage. PREPARE substantiates the new theory through thickening of big data, with three ethnographies integrated with digital methods, of so-called disconnected citizens. The three groups are young urban immigrants, rural manual workers, and women outside the labour market. The path cleared by PREPARE allows research to constructively engage with improving democratic societies and civic awareness."
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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) ERC-2021-COG
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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.
5020 Bergen
Norway
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.