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EuroPolis: A deliberative polity-making project

Objective

EuroPolis explores the forms of democratic deficit that directly affecting EU citizens. We test the hypothesis that citizen involvement in inclusive, informed, and thoughtful deliberation about the EU increases access to politically relevant information, citizens’ political engagement in EU public affairs, perceptions of the legitimacy of EU institutions, a sense of belonging to the EU, and voter turnout in EU parliamentary elections. We draw our hypothesis from the theory of deliberative democracy that suggests that democratic legitimacy rests on open deliberation, and prescribes that citizens should become involved in politics. EuroPolis intends to assess the political outcomes of deliberative democratic practices by experimenting what would happen if EU citizens became substantially more informed about EU institutional arrangements, decision-making processes, and policy issues, as well as more aware of the policy preferences of other EU citizens. Would this make them evaluate EU policy alternatives differently from the way they would with limited information? Would their policy preferences change? Would their electoral choices be more aligned with their policy preferences and be more or less likely to vote in second-order elections? Would their electoral choices change? And if EU citizens had equal opportunity to engage in a thoughtful dialogue with citizens of other EU nationalities to discuss what they expect from their Union, would they identify the interests and problems they share with other EU citizens? Would they develop stronger bonds with fellow EU citizens and feel part of the Union they formally belong to? Would there be an increase in civic engagement? EuroPolis will seek to answer these questions through a carefully designed experiment that will assess how political and social attitudes toward EU issues change as a result of exposure to politically relevant information, and what difference this makes for political participation and voter turnout.

Call for proposal

FP7-SSH-2007-1
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Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI SIENA
Address
Via Banchi Di Sotto 55
53100 Siena
Italy

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Administrative Contact
Silvano Focardi (Prof.)
EU contribution
€ 765 646

Participants (9)

UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX
United Kingdom
EU contribution
€ 4 000
Address
Wivenhoe Park
CO4 3SQ Colchester

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Administrative Contact
Shereen Anderson (Ms.)
UNIVERSITAET MANNHEIM
Germany
EU contribution
€ 3 000
Address
Schloss
68161 Mannheim

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Administrative Contact
Kerstin Frenzel (Ms.)
FONDATION NATIONALE DES SCIENCES POLITIQUES
France
EU contribution
€ 6 000
Address
Rue Saint Guillaume 27
75341 Paris Cedex 07

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Administrative Contact
Gina Sandanassamy (Ms.)
UNIVERSITETET I OSLO
Norway
EU contribution
€ 11 000
Address
Problemveien 5-7
0313 Oslo

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Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Administrative Contact
Ragnar Lie (Mr.)
AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Spain
EU contribution
€ 6 000
Address
Calle Serrano 117
28006 Madrid

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Activity type
Research Organisations
Administrative Contact
Carlos Manuel Abad Ruiz (Mr.)
EUROPEAN POLICY CENTRE
Belgium
EU contribution
€ 27 465
Address
Rue Du Trone 14-16
1000 Bruxelles

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Activity type
Other
Administrative Contact
Hans Martens (Mr.)
AVVENTURA URBANA SRL
Italy
EU contribution
€ 75 000
Address
Via Baretti 9
10125 Torino

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Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Administrative Contact
Iolanda Romano (Ms.)
KANTAR BELGIUM
Belgium
EU contribution
€ 345 798
Address
Rue Du Marais 49-53/3
1000 Bruxelles

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Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Administrative Contact
Pascal Chelala (Mr.)
FUNDATIA MRC - MEDIAN RESEARCH CENTRE
Romania
EU contribution
€ 6 000
Address
Str Erou Ion Calin 3 Et 1 Sector 2
020531 Bucuresti

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Activity type
Other
Administrative Contact
Marina Popescu (Dr.)