Periodic Reporting for period 4 - CUREORCURSE (Non-elected politics.Cure or Curse for the Crisis of Representative Democracy?)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-03-01 bis 2024-08-31
The project studies whether the introduction of two forms of non-elected politics, mini-publics composed of citizens selected by lot and technocratic governments - can help to restore public trust in representative actors and institutions, and trust in democracy in general. Would they be a cure for the crisis of representative democracy, or rather a curse? In order to answer this question, the project proposes to collect data across Europe on three elements: (1) a detailed study of the preferences of Europeans on how democracy should work and on institutional reforms towards non-elected politics, (2) a comprehensive inventory of all actual cases of empowerment of citizens and experts implemented across Europe since 2000, and (3) an analysis of the impact of exposure to non-elected politics on citizens’ attitudes towards representative democracy. An innovative combination of online survey experiments and of panel surveys will be used to answer this topical research question with far-reaching societal implication.
YEAR 1
- WP2: inventory of non-elected bodies (citizens and experts) across Europe (EU28, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland). Data collection was organized in relation with a network of national experts who were asked to collect information on bodies of citizens and of experts implemented in the country since 2000.
- WP1: preparation of surveys on citizens' attitudes towards non-elected bodies in representative democracies.
- Data Management Plan
YEAR 2
- WP2: inventory of mini-publics in Europe. Inventory published on project website + public data repository (Harvard Dataverse). Dataset report published in the journal European Political Science.
- WP1: comparative surveys on support for mini-publics. survey fielded as a model of the EPIS project (coordinated by D. Bol -King's College London and A. Blais - University of Montreal). Our module was integrated into a survey in 15 European countries, with representative samples of 1,000 citizens per country. D. Bol was in charge in the selection of a survey company of ethics approval from his King's College London.
YEAR 3
- WP1: Analysis of data collected within the EPIS survey on public support for mini-publics across 15 European countries. Online seminars at the universities of Canberra, Frankfurt, Louvain, Aba Akademy Turku. S
- WP2: Inventory of experts in power / technocratic ministers: with the assistance of national experts, we have collected data over 31 countries for the period 2000-2020. nventory published on project website + public data repository (Harvard Dataverse).
- WP2: Preparation of a cross-country study on public support for technocrats in government (questionnaire, sample definition, ethics approval, public tender). First wave in 6 countries (France, Germany, UK, Spain, Italy and Poland) over the summer of 2021. Second wave in 9 countries in November 2021
WP3: preparation and first wave of panel survey in Italy to analyse impact of . technocratic-led government of Mario Draghi.
YEAR 4
- WP1: analysis of the survey on support for technocracy across Europe. First publications in European Political Science Review and BJPIR.
- WP3: analysis of the first wave of panel survey in Italy.
- WP3: Second wave of that panel survey (fielded June 2022), by Demetra survey company.
- WP3: Panel survey in Luxembourg fielded by TNS-ILRES to study impact on citizens of 1st mini-public (climate change summit). 3 waves: Feb 2022, June 2022, October 2022.
YEAR 5
WP1: Data analysis and publications (British Journal of Political Science, European Journal of Political Research, Political Behaviour)
WP3: Data analysis and publications (Journal of Deliberative Democracy, Electoral Studies).
YEAR 6
- WP1 and WP3: finalization of the publications from the surveys fielded in previous years.
- WP3: FLast panel survey of a real-life case where elected institutions delegated some elements in policy-making to a non-elected body mixing citizens and experts - Consultation panel on nuclear waste management organized by the Belgian Federal Government in 2023 and 2024. 2-wave panel survey, using the citizens panels of UC Louvain and U Antwerp.
- WP1: Preparation of the last survey of WP1, which has 2 main goals: (1) studying democratic preferences looking jointly, at not separetely, at preferences for representative democracy, direct democracy, deliberative democracy and technocracy, and (2) to start examining whether our findings based on surveys of European citizens are also observed beyond the European context. Survey preparation: questionnaire preparation, country selection, sample definition, public tendering, ethics approval. The survey will be fielded in fall 2024.
- WP2: inventory of non-elected bodies (citizens and experts) across Europe (EU28, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland). Data collection was organized in relation with a network of national experts who were asked to collect information on bodies of citizens and of experts implemented in the country since 2000.
- WP1: preparation of surveys on citizens' attitudes towards non-elected bodies in representative democracies.
- Data Management Plan
YEAR 2
- WP2: inventory of mini-publics in Europe. Inventory published on project website + public data repository (Harvard Dataverse). Dataset report published in the journal European Political Science.
- WP1: comparative surveys on support for mini-publics. survey fielded as a model of the EPIS project (coordinated by D. Bol -King's College London and A. Blais - University of Montreal). Our module was integrated into a survey in 15 European countries, with representative samples of 1,000 citizens per country. D. Bol was in charge in the selection of a survey company of ethics approval from his King's College London.
YEAR 3
- WP1: Analysis of data collected within the EPIS survey on public support for mini-publics across 15 European countries. Online seminars at the universities of Canberra, Frankfurt, Louvain, Aba Akademy Turku. S
- WP2: Inventory of experts in power / technocratic ministers: with the assistance of national experts, we have collected data over 31 countries for the period 2000-2020. nventory published on project website + public data repository (Harvard Dataverse).
- WP2: Preparation of a cross-country study on public support for technocrats in government (questionnaire, sample definition, ethics approval, public tender). First wave in 6 countries (France, Germany, UK, Spain, Italy and Poland) over the summer of 2021. Second wave in 9 countries in November 2021
WP3: preparation and first wave of panel survey in Italy to analyse impact of . technocratic-led government of Mario Draghi.
YEAR 4
- WP1: analysis of the survey on support for technocracy across Europe. First publications in European Political Science Review and BJPIR.
- WP3: analysis of the first wave of panel survey in Italy.
- WP3: Second wave of that panel survey (fielded June 2022), by Demetra survey company.
- WP3: Panel survey in Luxembourg fielded by TNS-ILRES to study impact on citizens of 1st mini-public (climate change summit). 3 waves: Feb 2022, June 2022, October 2022.
YEAR 5
WP1: Data analysis and publications (British Journal of Political Science, European Journal of Political Research, Political Behaviour)
WP3: Data analysis and publications (Journal of Deliberative Democracy, Electoral Studies).
YEAR 6
- WP1 and WP3: finalization of the publications from the surveys fielded in previous years.
- WP3: FLast panel survey of a real-life case where elected institutions delegated some elements in policy-making to a non-elected body mixing citizens and experts - Consultation panel on nuclear waste management organized by the Belgian Federal Government in 2023 and 2024. 2-wave panel survey, using the citizens panels of UC Louvain and U Antwerp.
- WP1: Preparation of the last survey of WP1, which has 2 main goals: (1) studying democratic preferences looking jointly, at not separetely, at preferences for representative democracy, direct democracy, deliberative democracy and technocracy, and (2) to start examining whether our findings based on surveys of European citizens are also observed beyond the European context. Survey preparation: questionnaire preparation, country selection, sample definition, public tendering, ethics approval. The survey will be fielded in fall 2024.
The project has already advanced research to a considerable extent in our understanding of the prevalence of non-elected politics across Europe, as well as regarding public support for non-elected politics.
In particular, we have made major contribution on the prevalence of non-elected bodies in European democracies (WP2), on support for non-elected politics, and more broadly on citizens' democratic preferences (WP1), and on the impact of non-elected politics (deliberative mini-publics and technocracy) on citizens' attitudes towards policy decisions and democracy.
In particular, we have made major contribution on the prevalence of non-elected bodies in European democracies (WP2), on support for non-elected politics, and more broadly on citizens' democratic preferences (WP1), and on the impact of non-elected politics (deliberative mini-publics and technocracy) on citizens' attitudes towards policy decisions and democracy.