Towards a new era of representative democracy - Activating European citizens’ trust in times of crises and polarization

Informazioni relative al progetto

ActEU

ID dell’accordo di sovvenzione: 101094190

DOI

10.3030/101094190

Progetto chiuso

Data della firma CE 6 Dicembre 2022

Data di avvio 1 Marzo 2023

Data di completamento 28 Febbraio 2026

Finanziato da

• Culture, creativity and inclusive society

Costo totale

€ 3 044 120,00

Contributo UE

€ 2 999 870,00

Coordinato da

UNIVERSITAET DUISBURG-ESSEN
Germany

CORDIS fornisce collegamenti ai risultati finali pubblici e alle pubblicazioni dei progetti ORIZZONTE.

I link ai risultati e alle pubblicazioni dei progetti del 7° PQ, così come i link ad alcuni tipi di risultati specifici come dataset e software, sono recuperati dinamicamente da .OpenAIRE .

Risultati finali

Documents, reports (18)

Report on focus group discussions

This report summarizes the coding manual and the outcome (e.g., transcripts) of focus groups.

Report (including policy recommendations) explaining for which groups in society, decreasing trust acts as a critical mediator for the changing pattern of citizens’ political participation in Europe

The report will investigate the role of political or activist affiliations in mediating the connection between trust and participation choices on the basis of the web-scraped data as detailed in WP 1. It will focus in particular on climate change and immigration policy issues. A content analysis of social media data will explore how political or activist affiliations linked to these issues interact with trust to affect participation choices.

Report (including policy recommendations) on the pirate innovations and the link between responsiveness and political trust and legitimacy of these party movements
Report (including policy recommendations) on variation across policy areas of climate change, migration and gender

Report (including policy recommendations) on on variation across policy areas of climate change, migration and gender

An integrated report on recommendations deriving from national ActEU Youth Democracy Labs
Report on voting behavior in Europe

The report maps whether the trends of the most prominent mode of political activity, namely voting, evolve uniformly across Europe, mapping trends in all types of elections of EU multi-level governance (parliamentary, presidential, European, local government).

Report of final conference
Report (including policy recommendations) on the consequences of deceitful behavior for political trust
Delivering the teaching script to the online methods workshop on collected data and all applied methods to measure the concept of political trust and legitimacy in Europe

The script includes all relevant information taught within a series of online methods workshops organized on a regularly basis (M25-35). The workshop should be addressed to all 4 doctoral and 7 postdoctoral researchers of the project (but is also open to researchers and stakeholders all over Europe).

Report on how trends in trust among specific social and political groups, including ethnic and territorial identities, territorial attachment and regime types at subnational level impact on varying levels of trust across European subnational units

Report (including policy recommendations) on on how trends in trust among specific social and political groups, including ethnic and territorial identities, territorial attachment and regime types at subnational level impact on varying levels of trust across European subnational units

Report studying Central European populism and new cleavages (using the web-scraped data)
Communication, dissemination and exploitation plan

Communication, dissemination and exploitation plan.

Report (including policy recommendations) on the patterns of objective and subjective representation across countries and across parties within countries

The report exploits the datasets produced in D4.1 and those listed in T4.2.

Report on the general dynamics of trust based on secondary data analysis
Report (including policy recommendations) on changing patterns of citizens’ political participation
Report of mid-term conference
Report (including policy recommendations) on the populist far right, representation and their role in view of the new transnational cleavage (migration, climate change, and gender equality)
Report (including policy recommendations) describing the relationships between trust and participation within the fields of immigration and climate change on the basis of web-scraped data and survey experiments

Demonstrators, pilots, prototypes (2)

Collection of educational political cartoons “Cartooning for democracy” (including recommendations for political journalists)
Collection of teaching materials for schoolteachers and other actors working in the field of citizenship education (including recommendations for teachers and other actors)

Collection of teaching materials for schoolteachers and other actors working in the field of citizenship education (including recommendations for teachers and other actors).

Data sets, microdata, etc (3)

An integrated open dataset with micro and macro-level indicators and determinants of trust to be shared through an open repository and Zenodo

The dataset will compile and harmonize existing data to offer a broad picture of trust dynamics in Europe using advanced statistical techniques such as multi-level regression modelling.

Two datasets on objective descriptive and substantive representation

Two datasets on objective descriptive and substantive representation with a particular focus on gender equality, climate change and migration

Codebook and data set of the experimental survey

Designing the experimental survey based on insights from focus group discussions and former research to explore the interrelationship between each of the components reflecting the concept of political trust and legitimacy, and contextual factors; and feeding the insights in WP 2, WP 3, and WP 4.

Data Management Plan (1)

ActEU Data Management Plan

ActEU Data Management Plan (1st version)

Other (2)

ActEU Management Handbook

ActEU Management Handbook including quality assurance, risk assessment and contingency plan

Collection of a joint series of policy briefs (including policy recommendations)

Pubblicazioni

Peer reviewed articles (13)

Determinants of political polarisation in the context of democratic renewal: a study of public attitudes in Poland

Autori: Katarzyna Kochlöffel, Pelin Ayan Musil, Jan Kovář, Petr Kratochvíl, Zdeněk Sychra
Pubblicato in: Third World Quarterly, 2026, ISSN 0143-6597
Editore: Informa UK Limited
DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2026.2625298

Politisches Vertrauen in Europa im Kontext von Mehrebenenstruktur und Polarisierung: Konzeptionelle Überlegungen

Autori: Daniela Braun, Michael Kaeding
Pubblicato in: integration, Numero 47, 2024, ISSN 0720-5120
Editore: Nomos Verlag
DOI: 10.5771/0720-5120-2024-2-154

What do we mean by “community”? Defining community for civically engaged research

Autori: Shelly Arsneault, Nhat-Dang Do, Curtis Kline, Matilde Ceron, Ashley Nickels
Pubblicato in: Politics, Groups, and Identities, 2025, ISSN 2156-5503
Editore: Informa UK Limited
DOI: 10.1080/21565503.2025.2457994

Still Second-Order in 2024? National, Nationalist & Personalised Issues in the Greek EP election.

Autori: Nezi, Roula; Lefkofridi, Zoe
Pubblicato in: Politique européenne, Numero 86, 2025, ISSN 1623-6297
Editore: Cairn
DOI: 10.3917/E.POEU.086.0122

Western European Politics

Autori: Hartland, A., Braun, D., Carteny, G., Navarrete, R. M., & Reinl, A. K.
Pubblicato in: West European Politics, Numero 49, 2025, ISSN 0140-2382
Editore: Frank Cass Publishers
DOI: 10.1080/01402382.2025.2498838

The role of key European issues in the 2024 election campaign

Autori: Alex Hartland, Daniela Braun, Giuseppe Carteny, Rosa M. Navarrete, Ann-Kathrin Reinl
Pubblicato in: West European Politics, Numero 49, 2025, ISSN 0140-2382
Editore: Informa UK Limited
DOI: 10.1080/01402382.2025.2498838

Third World Quarterly

Autori: Koxha, Koxha; Lefkofridi, Zoe; Zwiener-Collins, Nadine
Pubblicato in: Government and Opposition, 2026, ISSN 0143-6597
Editore: Carfax Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1017/GOV.2025.12

Gendered dynamics in representation: Examining candidates' policy congruence with parties and voters

Autori: Zoe Lefkofridi, Carsten Wegscheider, Nadine Zwiener-Collins
Pubblicato in: Party Politics, Numero 32, 2026, ISSN 1354-0688
Editore: SAGE Publications
DOI: 10.1177/13540688251332188

Party competition on European issues in the 2024 EP elections

Autori: Giuseppe Carteny, Daniela Braun, Alexander Hartland, Ann-Kathrin Reinl
Pubblicato in: Quaderni dell Osservatorio elettorale QOE - IJES, Numero 88, 2025, ISSN 2724-4679
Editore: Firenze University Press
DOI: 10.36253/QOE-17373

Gender, politics, and the market: evidence from Finland

Autori: Viktoria Jansesberger, Zoe Lefkofridi
Pubblicato in: European Journal of Politics and Gender, Numero 8, 2025, ISSN 2515-1088
Editore: Bristol University Press
DOI: 10.1332/25151088Y2024D000000069

Multidimensional Representation in the EU Multilevel Polity: The Role of Congruence in Vote‐Switching

Autori: Roula Nezi, Zoe Lefkofridi
Pubblicato in: Politics and Governance, Numero 14, 2026, ISSN 2183-2463
Editore: Cogitatio
DOI: 10.17645/PAG.11098

“Citizen’s trust and societal polarization in times of transformation”

Autori: Djamila Jabra, Katja Stempel, Alexander Hartland, Martin Ulrich, Phillip König, Rosa Maria Navarrete, Giuseppe Carteny
Pubblicato in: Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft, Numero 19, 2025, ISSN 1865-2654
Editore: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
DOI: 10.1007/S12286-025-00643-0

Government and Opposition

Autori: Koxha, Koxha; Lefkofridi, Zoe; Zwiener-Collins, Nadine
Pubblicato in: Government and Opposition, 2025, ISSN 0017-257X
Editore: Blackwell Publishing Inc.
DOI: 10.1017/GOV.2025.12

Other (37)

Von Sitzen zu Stimmungen: Was uns Österreich über Vertrauen und Repräsentation in einem Mehr-Ebenen-Europa lehren kann

Autori: Gianna, Ermela; Ceron, Matilde; Lefkofridi, Zoe
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

ActEU Management Handbook including quality assurance, risk assessment and contingency plan (D7.1, V3)

Autori: Kaeding, Michael
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17513570

Deliverable D4.4 - Report (including policy recommendations) on the Pirate innovations and the link between responsiveness and political trust and legitimacy of these party movements

Autori: Kovar, J. Kratochvíl, P. Morales, L. et al.
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.18760980

What’s trust got to do with it? Political trust, polarized opinions and climate protest in Europe

Autori: Parks, Louisa
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

ActEU Youth Democracy Labs: A young perspective on politics and political education in the EU

Autori: Hoppe, Alexander
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

Multi-level democracy and political trust in Europe: The role of the subnational level.

Autori: von Nostitz, Felix-Christopher
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Der (europäische) Förderlist

Central European Populism: Is there a convergence around climate change, gender- and immigration-related policies?

Autori: Kochlöffel, Katarzyna; Kratochvíl, Petr; Kovář, Jan; Ayan Musil, Pelin; Sychra, Zdeněk
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.15168434

ActEU Data Management Plan

Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.13834203

From seats to sentiments: What Austria teaches us about trust and representation in a multi-level Europe

Autori: Gianna, Ermela; Ceron, Matilde; Lefkofridi, Zoe
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

Mehrebenen-Demokratie und Vertrauen in Europa: die Rolle der subnationalen Ebene

Autori: von Nostitz, Felix-Christopher
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

Report on ActEU D5.2 Policy Briefs.

Autori: König, P., Henrich, A., Braun, D., Hartland, A., Carteny, G., Reinl, A.-K., Navarrete, R., Grobe, J., Ribera, E., Evans, H., Vanotti, B., von Nostitz, F., Christensen, H., Huttunen, J., Hoppe, A., Gianna, E., Ceron, M., Lefkofridi, Z., Parks, L. ...
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17722056

Report on the general dynamics of trust based on secondary data analysis

Autori: Christensen, Henrik Serup; Huttunen, Janette; Hubert, Wit; Cześnik, Mikołaj; Gkotinakos, Alexandros-Christos; Teperoglou, Eftichia; Carstens, Jens; Morales, Laura; Pamies, Carles; Li, Chiao
Pubblicato in: 2024
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.13836872

Reporting on Deliverable D5.1 – An integrated report on recommendations deriving from national ActEU Youth Democracy Labs

Autori: Hoppe, A., & Siegel, S. J.
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17152189

Report explaining for which groups in society decreasing trust acts as a critical mediator for the changing patterns of citizens' political participation in Europe

Autori: von Nostitz, F.-C., Robert, M.-V., Lefkofridi, Z., Ceron, M., Weissenbach, K., Berkowitz, R., & Parks, L.
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17553187

The Populist Far Right In the EU: A convergence in immigration, climate change, and gender-related policies?

Autori: Kratochvíl, Petr; Kochlöffel, Katarzyna; Kovář, Jan; Morales, Laura; Musil, Pelin; Ramiro, Luis; Sychra, Zdeněk
Pubblicato in: 2024
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.14039196

Report on ActEU Deliverable 1.4: Teaching script to the online methods workshop

Autori: Braun, Daniela; Gayo-Avello, Daniel; Hartland, Alexander; Reinl, Ann-Kathrin; Weissenbach, Kristina
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17584478

ActEU Youth Democracy Labs: Eine junge Perspektive auf Politik und politische Bildung in der EU

Autori: Hoppe, Alexander
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

Was hat Vertrauen damit zu tun? Politisches Vertrauen, polarisierte Meinungen und Klimaproteste in Europa

Autori: Parks, Louisa
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

Deliverable 3.2 – Report on changing patterns of citizens' political participation

Autori: Pamies, Carles; Morales, Laura; Li, Chiao; Gkotinakos, Alexandros-Christos; Teperoglou, Eftichia; Hubert, Wit; Cześnik, Mikołaj
Pubblicato in: 2024
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.14529990

"Reporting on Deliverable D5.3 – Collection of educational political cartoons ""Cartooning for democracy"" (including recommendations for political journalists)"

Autori: König, P., Henrich, A., Hartland, A., Braun, D., Isasti, L., Neuray, N., Sampaio, C., Vadot, N., Kaeding, M., Carteny, G., Reinl, A.-K., Navarrete, R. M., Grobe, J., Ribera, E., Evans, H., Vanotti, B., von Nostitz, F., Christensen, H., Huttunen, J....
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.18390362

Out of step? The EU’s difficult election dance

Autori: Hartland, Alexander; Braun, Daniela; Carteny, Giuseppe; Navarrete, Rosa M.; Reinl, Ann-Kathrin
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

Aus dem Takt? Der schwierige Wahltanz der EU

Autori: Hartland, Alexander; Braun, Daniela; Carteny, Giuseppe; Navarrete, Rosa M.; Reinl, Ann-Kathrin
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

Report on variation in political trust across policy areas of climate change, migration and gender. Zenodo

Autori: Parks, Louisa, Morales, L., Pamies, C., Robert, M.-V., Ceron, M., Lefkofridi, Z., & Nezi, R
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17553039

Deliverable 3.1 Report on voting behavior in Europe

Autori: Pamies, Carles; Morales, Laura; Ramiro, Luis; Gotinakos, Alexandros-Christos; Teperoglou, Eftichia; Hubert, Wit; Czesnik, Mikolaj
Pubblicato in: 2024
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.14230138

Report (including policy recommendations) on the consequences of deceitful behaviour for political trust

Autori: Christensen, H. S., Huttunen, J., & Morales, L.
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17647646

Reporting on Deliverable D1.1 – Report on Focus Group Discussions

Autori: Weissenbach, Kristina; Berkowitz, Ruth
Pubblicato in: 2023
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.15057865

ActEU Management Handbook including quality assurance, risk assessment and contingency plan (D7.1, V3)

Autori: Kaeding, Michael
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17513570

ActEU Data Management Plan v1.0

Autori: Hartland, A.
Pubblicato in: 2024
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.13834203

Economic deprivation reduces political trust

Autori: Christensen; Henrik Serup; Huttunen, Janette
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

Report on how trends in trust among specific social and political groups, including ethnic and territorial identities, territorial attachment and regime types at subnational level impact on varying levels of trust across European subnational units

Autori: Christensen, Henrik Serup; Huttunen, Janette; Pamies, Carles; Morales, Laura; Robert, Max-Valentin; Sandri, Giulia; von Nostitz, Felix-Christopher
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.15095904

Reporting on Deliverable D1.3 – Codebook and data set of the experimental survey

Autori: Braun, D., Hartland, A., & Reinl, A.-K.
Pubblicato in: 2024
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.15039972

Codebook and data set of the experimental survey

Attitudes Towards Immigration: Proposal for the Questions to Include in the ActEU Survey

Autori: López-Yagüe, Alberto; Morales, Laura
Pubblicato in: 2023
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.14936931

Report on ActEU Deliverable D4.2 – Report (including policy recommendations) on the patterns of objective and subjective representation across countries and across parties within countries

Autori: Ceron, M., Lefkofridi, Z., Escribano, N., & Morales, L.
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.19480779

Report describing the relationships between trust and participation within the fields of immigration and climate change on the basis of web-scraped data and survey experiments

Autori: Parks, L., Sandri, G., Morales, L., Pamies, C., Weissenbach, K., & von Nostitz, F.-C.
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.17553140

Wirtschaftliche Not mindert politisches Vertrauen

Autori: Christensen; Henrik Serup; Huttunen, Janette
Pubblicato in: 2025
Editore: Der (europäische) Föderalist

ActEU Deliverable 5.4: A collection of teaching materials for educational actors

Autori: Hoppe, A., & Siegel, S.
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Zenodo
DOI: 10.5281/ZENODO.18551089

Book chapters (9)

France as a Lens for Understanding Democratic Challenges

Autori: Nonna Mayer, Frédéric Gonthier, Élodie Druez, Felix-Christopher von Nostitz, Camille Kelbel
Pubblicato in: French Politics, Society and Culture, French Democracy in Distress, 2025
Editore: Springer Nature Switzerland
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-92213-8_1

Much Ado About Nothing? Assessing the Impact of the Spitzenkandidaten Process on EU Policy-Making

Autori: Edoardo Bressanelli, Matilde Ceron, Thomas Christiansen
Pubblicato in: European Administrative Governance, The Politicisation of the European Commission’s Presidency, 2024
Editore: Springer Nature Switzerland
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-48173-4_13

The Changing Information Landscape and the Rise of Digital Technology: Friend or Foe of Representative Democracy?

Autori: Felix-Christopher von Nostitz, Giulia Sandri, Marie Neihouser
Pubblicato in: French Politics, Society and Culture, French Democracy in Distress, 2025
Editore: Springer Nature Switzerland
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-92213-8_7

Benchmarking French Democracy

Autori: Max-Valentin Robert, Felix-Christopher von Nostitz
Pubblicato in: French Politics, Society and Culture, French Democracy in Distress, 2025
Editore: Springer Nature Switzerland
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-92213-8_3

A Realistic Call for Democratic Reform in France

Autori: Frédéric Gonthier, Nonna Mayer, Élodie Druez, Felix-Christopher von Nostitz, Camille Kelbel
Pubblicato in: French Politics, Society and Culture, French Democracy in Distress, 2025
Editore: Springer Nature Switzerland
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-92213-8_17

Unequal Political Participation in Austria: Do Gender Roles Matter?

Autori: Nadine Zwiener-Collins, Zoe Lefkofridi
Pubblicato in: 20 Jahre Österreich im European Social Survey, 2023
Editore: Böhlau Verlag
DOI: 10.7767/9783205217183.95

Gendered policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

Autori: Matilde Ceron
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Edward Elgar Publishing

Gender mainstreaming in the EU

Autori: Matilde Ceron
Pubblicato in: 2026
Editore: Edward Elgar Publishing

Gendered Shades of Right? Gender+ Equality Issues in the Economic Right EP2024 Political Agenda

Autori: Vera Beloshitzkaya, Matilde Ceron, Zoe Lefkofridi
Pubblicato in: The Future of Europe, The 2024 European Parliament Elections, 2025
Editore: Springer Nature Switzerland
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-89455-8_20

Monographic books (2)

Activating European Citizens’ Trust in Times of Crisis and Polarization Towards a New Era of Representative Democracy

Autori: Daniela Braun, Alexander Hartland, Michael Kaeding, Zoe Lefkofridi, Kristina Weissenbach
Pubblicato in: 2026, ISSN 2731-3379
Editore: Springer Nature

Elgar Encyclopedia of Gender and Politics.

Autori: Lefkofridi, Zoe
Pubblicato in: 2026, ISBN 9781035322602
Editore: Edward Elgar Publishing