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Institutional Changes for Democratic Dialogue

Project description

Rethinking constitutionalism for the 21st century

Democracies worldwide face a profound crisis marked by diminishing trust in constitutionalism and increased citizen dissatisfaction with democracy. This crisis stems from outdated constitutional structures designed for societies that no longer exist, coupled with obsolete elitist political philosophies. In this context, the ERC-funded ICDD project aims to make constitutionalism more responsive to democratic demands. It will gather data on contemporary constitutional reforms and the Citizen Assemblies movement, analyse this information with experts and activists, and evaluate it based on the regulatory ideal of democracy as a conversation among equals. The ultimate goal is to design institutions that uphold individual rights, while respecting decisions emerging from democratic dialogue.

Objective

"This project takes as its starting point the profound crisis that is affecting constitutional democracies all over the world. The crisis is manifested both through a growing lack of confidence in constitutionalism and a dramatic increase in citizen dissatisfaction towards democracy. The project is mainly motivated in that crisis and focuses on one of its causes: the constitutional structure itself. It is grounded on the acknowledgement that our constitutions were written in order to serve societies that no longer exist -an “obsolete political sociology”- and based on theoretical assumptions that we no longer share -an “elitist political philosophy”. This would explain the widespread feelings of civic disengagement that would be distinctive of our time -and of which (“populist”) politics frequently take advantage In the face of the present crises, numerous scholars have proposed weakening even further the democratic elements of our constitutional structure, as if there existed a zero-sum relationship between democracy and constitutional rights. Contrary to such views, this project wants to make constitutionalism more sensitive to the increasing democratic demands upon it. The project aims to offer concrete institutional alternatives devised to channel the demands of democracy, and engage with activists and members of civil society, in order to discuss and disseminate the projects’ outcomes. For that purpose, this project will first gather information on both contemporary constitutional reforms and the recent Citizen Assemblies’ movement; then compare and analyze that information with the help of experts and social activists; and finally evaluate that material from the ""regulatory ideal"" that guides the project, which is that of democracy as a ""conversation among equals."" The ultimate goal of the project is to design institutional proposals that are at the same time respectful of individual rights, and respectful of the decisions resulting from democratic dialogue."

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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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.

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2022-ADG

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Host institution

UNIVERSIDAD POMPEU FABRA
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 1 234 685,00
Address
PLACA DE LA MERCE, 10-12
08002 Barcelona
Spain

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Region
Este Cataluña Barcelona
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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.

€ 1 234 685,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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