Project description
Causes and solution of democratic regression
The number of authoritarian leaders and regimes around the world is growing. The EU-funded DEMED project will adopt an individual-level perspective to investigate the causes that lead to democratic regression. It will identify solutions to make democratic societies more resilient to authoritarian threats. The project intends to transform our knowledge about the processes of democratisation and democratic regression using pioneering methods. It will establish the causes of regression focusing on the role of indoctrination (creating the first-ever global dataset on strategies of indoctrination from 180 countries since 1900), describe its effects on democratic societies, identify proposals to prevent democratic regression using on-line education programmes and offer a new theoretical model for more stable democratic societies.
Objective
We are currently witnessing an unprecedented rise of authoritarian leaders, backed by popular support, who defy democracy. Challenging existing paradigms and an elite-focused literature, DEMED will take an individual-level perspective to study the causes of democratic backsliding and identify solutions to build more resilient democratic societies. Thereby, DEMED will have a transformative effect on the study of democracies and autocracies as well as the dynamics between the two. DEMED is a ground-breaking project that transforms our knowledge about the process of democratisation and backsliding. Work packages (WP) are divided along four objectives: 1) Establish causes of democratic backsliding, focusing on the role of indoctrination; 2) Demonstrate the effects of indoctrination on democratic political cultures and democratic survival; 3) Identify solutions to prevent democratic recessions through innovative online civic education programmes; and 4) provide a new theoretical and empirically validated paradigm to lead to more stable democracies. WP1 develops the first unifying theoretical framework of societal drivers predicting democratic (in)stability. Based on this theoretical and conceptual work, WP1 creates the first-ever global dataset on strategies of indoctrination by 180 countries from 1900 to today. WP2 uses cutting-edge methods to test for the first time how these educational drivers create democratic and authoritarian political cultures. This quantitative approach will be complemented with original qualitative data. Finally, WP3 uses pioneering online randomised experiments to test the impact of newly developed civic education interventions to promote democracy. This is an ambitious research agenda, with theoretical and methodological innovations. DEMED revolutionises our understanding of the causes, effects and solutions of democratic backsliding. It presents risks, but with the potential for ground-breaking scientific and societal impact.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantHost institution
G12 8QQ Glasgow
United Kingdom