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Understanding the Intuitive Foundations of Democratic Norms and Procedures

Objective

We live in a new age of democratic backsliding. Democracies are not falling to coup d’etat, nor are they subverted by blatant vote fraud. Democracies fall by the hands of democratically elected executives, who erode certain democratic norms, while preserving others and maintaining public approval. It is now crucial to understand why and to what extent certain norms and procedures of democracy are more understood, supported, and monitored than others. The vast literature on support for democracy has paid surprisingly little attention to variability in support across the diverse norms and procedures of democracy. Bridging insights from moral psychology and democratic theory, INFODEM develops an original framework to study democratic norms. This novel intuitive theory of democratic norms argues that several aspects of contemporary democracies appeal to fast and spontaneous moral intuitions that value coordination, conflict resolution, and exchange. The theory predicts that whenever moral intuitions and democratic principles align, people understand, support, and vigilantly monitor democratic norms and procedures. This ambitious theoretical framework will be subjected to extensive empirical testing combining innovative methods including experiments with adults and young children, as well as a large, 30-country comparative study. Based on these scientific insights, INFODEM develops an interactive online tool called a Democracy Advice Application, to educate citizens about democratic norms and procedures and the state of democracy. As a proof-of-concept, the application will be tested and disseminated in Hungary. The INFODEM project contributes to our understanding of human nature and the current challenges facing democratic systems. It also helps to identify the vulnerabilities of democratic regimes and aids pro-democracy stakeholders in designing interventions to strengthen democracy.

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.

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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)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

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.

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

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG

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Host institution

CEU GMBH
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.

€ 1 499 951,00
Address
QUELLENSTRASSE 51
1100 WIEN
Austria

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Region
Ostösterreich Wien Wien
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.

€ 1 499 951,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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