Project description
How political disinformation claims affect on democracy
In today’s era of misinformation, politicians are frequently accused of distorting the truth for their own benefit. These accusations can undermine citizens’ trust in representative democracy. However, our understanding of when these accusations take hold, how citizens perceive them, and their impact on democratic engagement is limited. The ERC-funded DEMO-LIES project aims to investigate accusations of political lying and their effects on democratic citizenship. The project will analyse historical trends, identify conditions under which accusations arise, study citizens’ perceptions, and examine the consequences for democratic engagement. Covering 20 European countries, the project will use various research methods to provide insights into political deception and its effects on democratic citizenship.
Objective
In today’s age of ‘misinformation’, politicians are frequently accused of bending the truth to their advantage. As citizens rely on accurate and accessible information to meaningfully engage with politics, political lying violates the contract between citizens and their elected representatives. Political lying accusations therefore have the potential to erode citizens’ trust in and commitment to representative democracy as a system of governance.
While political lying accusations may be as old as politics itself, we know little about when accusations of political lying take root, how accusations of political deception are perceived by citizens, and what their effects are on citizens’ democratic citizenship.
To shed light on the issue of political lying accusations and its implications for democratic citizenship this project: (1) describes the historical trends in political lying accusations; (2) identifies the conditions under which politicians accused one another of deception, and characterizes the attributes of both the accused and accusers of political lying; (3) studies citizens’ perceptions of accusations of political deception by exploring the individual and contextual factors that influence these perceptions; (4) investigates the consequences for democratic citizenship by examining how exposure to lying accusations affects citizens’ trust in democracy, their support for liberal democracy as a system of governance, as well as their active engagement with politics. The empirical analyses focus on 20 European countries and rely on an integrated multi-method approach including automated text analysis, qualitative interviews, observational and experimental surveys, and longitudinal survey evidence.
By addressing these critical knowledge gaps, this project will provide invaluable insights into the dynamics of political deception and its consequences for democratic citizenship.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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.
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.
- social sciences sociology governance
- social sciences political sciences government systems democracy
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
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.
-
HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
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
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
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
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
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.
2000 Antwerpen
Belgium
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.