Project description
Empowering citizens in democracies
Existing representative institutions rely mostly on elections and offer significant independence to elected representatives. However, they tend to be unequally responsive to people’s demands. Discussions on alternative models of political participation frequently lack empirical and historical context. The ERC-funded POPGOV project will broaden our understanding of democracy by exploring alternative ways to achieve the ideals of autonomy and equality, focusing on empowering ordinary citizens – what was once called ‘popular government’ during democratic revolutions. By combining historical, comparative and theoretical approaches, it will uncover the principles that connect and differentiate various models of popular government globally, identify challenges in implementing these principles and learn from past failures. The project will highlight alternative and marginalised democratic visions that emphasise inclusivity over elitism.
Objective
Representative government is characterized by the guarantee of basic political liberties, the centrality of elections, restricted avenues for citizen participation, and the relative independence enjoyed by representatives. It has become the dominant alternative to authoritarian government worldwide, to a point where it has eclipsed the diversity of ways to organize collective self-government. This is regrettable because representative government 1) relies on elitist premises that are increasingly being challenged; 2) obscures the diversity of forms that democratic representation can take and its compatibility with extensive citizen participation; and 3) suffers from unequal responsiveness to the political preferences of citizens contributing to social and political inequality. Considering this, POPGOV aims to expand our collective democratic imaginary by uncovering alternative ways of realizing the democratic ideals of autonomy and equality that empower ordinary citizens and not only elites (what we call “popular government”). Currently, theoretical discussions of alternative democratic models remain too often disconnected from empirical research, and empirical research from history. We seek to remedy this by combining in an unconventional and mutually supporting way historical, comparative and theoretical approaches to uncover the basic principles and institutions uniting and differentiating conceptions and practices of popular government across the world. We also seek to identify the main challenges that are likely to be faced in the realization of these principles and to learn from previous failures of their implementation. To compensate for the Western-centric bias of dominant research in these fields, we embrace a truly global approach. Doing so, we aim to break new ground in the scientific study of democracy by paying proper attention to alternative, defeated, less elitist and more globally decentered democratic visions that have hitherto been marginalized.
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.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- social sciences political sciences political transitions elections
- social sciences political sciences government systems democracy
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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)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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-SYG - HORIZON ERC Synergy 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-2025-SyG
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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.
1348 LOUVAIN LA NEUVE
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.