For trustful, participatory and inclusive public policies

Projektinformationen

INVOLVE

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 101094560

DOI

10.3030/101094560

EK-Unterschriftsdatum 13 Dezember 2022

Startdatum 1 Januar 2023

Enddatum 31 Dezember 2026

Finanziert unter

• Culture, creativity and inclusive society

Gesamtkosten

€ 3 192 368,94

EU-Beitrag

€ 3 191 917,00

Koordiniert durch

BEWEGING
Belgium

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INVOLVE (For trustful, participatory and inclusive public policies)

Berichtszeitraum: 2024-01-01 bis 2025-06-30

Zusammenfassung vom Kontext und den Gesamtzielen des Projekts

For trustful, participatory and inclusive public policies 

Across Europe there is evidence of the existing distrust in political institutions and the increased stratification of political involvement across Europe, with more vulnerable citizens having less access and influence in the decision-making process. The COVID 19 pandemic has exposed and reinforced these trends. These shifts pose a great challenge to the democratic welfare state. And this is where INVOLVE comes in. Social and public services are essential to reduce inequality, to give people a perspective of a better life, to create solidarity. So inclusive services are necessary. But not only to create a more equal society, but also for a more supported society. A supported society for which everyone wants to care. Inclusive services are the outposts of a democratic society: they show in their participatory way of working, in their generous support, in their way of forming community that everyone matters, matters and is necessary to help shape society.
INVOLVE starts from three research questions: 1. What is the nature of the relationship between the welfare state, public and social services, and policies aimed at tackling inequalities, on the one hand, and trust and participation of individuals in their democracy, on the other? Conceived broadly, thus not limited to electoral turn-out, but including all forms of voluntary activities by citizens that are aimed at bringing about political change. 2. How do different kinds of inequalities influence political participation, democratic legitimacy, and the structure of democratic representation? 3. How can more inclusive public and social services strengthen trust and democratic engagement of vulnerable citizens?

Arbeit, die ab Beginn des Projekts bis zum Ende des durch den Bericht erfassten Berichtszeitraums geleistet wurde, und die wichtigsten bis dahin erzielten Ergebnisse

Cutting-edge quantitative analyses
INVOLVE will provide a dynamic perspective of the relationship between inequalities and democratic support and participation. We will address following questions: In which sections of the population has trust in political institutions declined the most? What are the trends in political participation? Can different patterns between countries in trust and participation be observed, and can they be explained by a difference in welfare regimes, differences in policy shifts or differences in societal level inequalities. We will also examine differences in political engagement taking into account individual level characteristics (age, gender, social class, level of education, migration status), and making cross-country and cross-region (urban-rural) comparisons.
INVOLVE will further take stock on how citizens interact with public and social services, and how this influences their trust and participation. We will examine the impact of housing, education, employment, health policies and we will introduce indicators of quality, adequacy, and access to these services. We will also examine how both individual subjective evaluations and objective data on the quality of public administration affect trust and participation.
At last we will organize an original online survey with the purpose of collecting rich information on the relationship between citizens’ evaluations of public services, their trust in public institutions, and their likelihood to engage in political participation in the eight participant countries citizens’ evaluations of public services, their trust in public institutions, and their likelihood to engage in political participation.

Fortschritte, die über den aktuellen Stand der Technik hinausgehen und voraussichtliche potenzielle Auswirkungen (einschließlich der bis dato erzielten sozioökonomischen Auswirkungen und weiter gefassten gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen des Projekts)

Receiver, Doer and Judge
INVOLVE goes beyond the existing approaches to theorizing the impact of inequalities on trust and participation that focus on specific elements, such as citizens’ economic resources, time or networks, thus offering only a limited view at the various components of this complex relationship.
INVOLVE uses a multidimensional encompassing theory of human action based on the three dimensions of ‘Receiver’, ‘Doer’, and ‘Judge’, allowing a more holistic understanding of the complex relationship.
The ‘receiver’ dimension emphasizes that all human beings are vulnerable and in need of social, economic or relational support, which can be provided via (social) services. INVOLVE’s focus lies on overlapping vulnerabilities stemming from age, gender, social class, income, social mobility, (mental) health, migration status, rural-urban and digital divides. These inequalities prevent individuals from feeling fully included in a democratic society. Thus, properly addressing the ‘receiver’ dimension is an essential precondition for tackling political inequalities.
The ‘doer’ dimension insists that human beings are also agents, individuals capable of acting on their own and to usefully contributing to society and the economy. The ‘doer’ dimension is strongly reflected in participation. The effective exercise of the ‘doer’ dimension in different areas of life has a direct relation to political participation. From this perspective, a public service that supports, allows and empowers people’s inclusion can promote trust and participation.
The final, ‘judge’ dimension includes two components. First, individuals can form their own preferences and aspirations about how to live their lives, rather than adapt to dominant norms or expectations about how they should behave. Second, they should be allowed to voice these preferences and aspirations and to make them count during collective decision-making processes; in other words, they should be allowed to take part in the construction of society, for example by having a say in the content of public policies or in the definition of the most appropriate ways to implement them. Thus, enhancing experienced voice and procedural fairness in welfare services boosts citizens’ political participation and trust.
With this holistic understanding, INVOLVE analyzes inequalities and trust and participation in the context of public and social services and realizes a framework to enhance welfare services and participation.