Under the title “Reclaiming Liberal Democracy in Europe” (RECLAIM), this Horizon Europe research project addresses the implications of the challenge of post-truth politics for the future of liberal democracy in Europe. The project aims to produce a theoretically and empirically robust visions for the future of liberal democratic institutions, reflecting on the meaning of liberal democracy in the 21st century in Europe and, in particular, developing recommendations, toolkits, narratives and methodologies to reinstate the legitimacy and effectiveness of liberal democracies.
Drawing on a multi-disciplinary approach, the project will:
a) reflect on the significance of the various phenomena subsumed under the caption of post-truth politics for liberal democracy in the 21st century in Europe and spell out the ways in which they constitute an existential threat to liberal democracy;
b) generate a conceptual definition as well as an operationalization and empirical indicators for the analysis of post-truth politics;
c) analyze the state of play as regards various dimensions of post-truth politics in a large and geographically diverse number of European states, including member and non-member states of the European Union (EU);
d) consider innovative teaching tools (starting from active and pervasive learning) for citizenship education along four key dimensions (i.e. a. European identity in students; b. digital literacy; c. learning to learn by experience and practice; d. social cohesion) to elaborate new models in teaching and learning, and to improve students’ skills in the face of changing democratic societies, and most importantly,
e) use its own empirical findings regarding the state of play of post-truth politics in Europe in order to develop policy recommendations as to how best to respond to and mitigate the various expressions of the phenomenon, as well as recommendations as to how to address the challenge of disinformation in terms of citizenship education and media literacy.
Although post-truth politics constitutes a potentially existential threat, it need not by any means mark the beginning of the end of liberal democracy. Indeed, there are considerable prospects for mitigating the effects of the phenomenon, and it is the explicit ambition of this research project to contribute to this mitigation not only by reflecting on the significance of post-truth politics for the future of liberal democracy, but also by generating evidence-based policy recommendations as well as the type of narratives, toolkits and methods/methodologies requested in the call for proposals. The project is nonetheless firmly grounded in the conviction that post-truth politics is part and parcel of broader developments that undermine democratic rights and standards, and that action is needed not merely to moderate the effect of the phenomenon, but indeed to reclaim liberal democracy.
The RECLAIM project has developed an elaborate plan to maximise the project’s impact, throughout its lifetime. The expected impact is divided into scientific, policy and societal impact. The project will contribute to reinvigorating democratic governance, safeguarding fundamental rights and shielding democracy from multidimensional threats by offering a scientifically solid and comprehensive knowledge base for sound and informed policy choices. The project will also contribute to improving citizens’ trust in democratic institutions, to empowering active and inclusive citizenship, and to expanding political participation, social dialogue and social inclusion, civic engagement and gender equality. This will be achieved by raising citizens’ awareness of the challenges posed by post-truth politics to liberal democracy, by providing citizens (with an emphasis on young generations) with platforms to express their views on what liberal democracy means in the 21st century and how it can equip itself to respond to the post-truth challenge, and by generating awareness on citizens’ demands for quality journalism.
