Project description
Political marginalisation among young people
The underrepresentation of certain social groups in political office, known as political marginalisation, undermines equal voice, distorts decision-making, and threatens democratic legitimacy. This issue persists due to a limited understanding of the underlying societal norms regarding political power. Currently, there is no comprehensive theory to explain why underrepresented groups are less likely to seek political power than others. The ERC-funded YOPOW project will study political marginalisation by examining how societal norms contribute to biased beliefs about who is fit for power among young people. The project will use machine-learning and in-depth interpretation to analyse messages about political power directed at young people, their beliefs about power, and their early experiences with political power in youth organisations.
Objective
Political marginalisation, understood as the systematic underrepresentation of social groups in political office, constitutes a major democratic problem. By betraying the ideal of equal voice, it biases political decision making, challenges democratic legitimacy, and ultimately risks creating political alienation and discontent. Yet, we fail to understand the persistence of the problem because extant research has not probed the underlying norms that exist in a society about what political power is, who can hold it, and how it can be exercised. Thus, while we know that members of underrepresented groups do not reach out for power to the same extent as others, we do not have a theory that can explain why the voices missing from politics seem to exclude themselves, while those already represented speak with great fervour.
YOPOW breaks new ground in the study of political marginalisation by locating its roots in societal norms about political power that make a lasting imprint already early in life. The theoretical framework explains how societal norms affect young people through the messages they receive and internalise and the unequal experiences they have with political power. Methodologically pioneering, the project combines machine-learning techniques and in-depth interpretations to detect how societal norms pattern the meaning of political power across societies and social groups.
Empirically, YOPOW generates the first-of-its-kind database of messages about political power directed at young people; insights into their beliefs about power expressed in their own words; and novel data on youths’ early experiences with political power in political youth organisations.
This project will significantly improve our understanding of one of the most serious and persistent challenges for democracies of today and the future by exposing the societal norms that give rise to biased beliefs and eventually shape who is seen as fit for power among society’s youngest members.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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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.
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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)
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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-2024-STG
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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.
8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
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.