Description du projet
Un regard plus attentif sur les informations relatives aux campagnes, à leur financement et à leur influence
Quelles sont les motivations des petites contributions aux campagnes politiques? La politique fiscale affecte‑t‑elle les dons politiques? Pourquoi les politiciens issus de la classe ouvrière sont‑ils si peu nombreux? Quelle est la capacité des médias à inciter les citoyens à prendre des décisions électorales qu’ils ne prendraient pas autrement si les informations étaient impartiales? Le projet PARTICIPATE, financé par l’UE, cherche à répondre à ces questions. Il utilisera de nouvelles données au niveau individuel pour étudier les informations sur les campagnes, leur financement et leur influence, en se concentrant sur les petits donateurs. Les résultats pourraient conduire à une réévaluation des théories influentes sur les groupes d’intérêts spéciaux et l’élaboration de politiques. En outre, PARTICIPATE examinera les décisions des citoyens de se présenter aux élections. Le rôle des médias dans le façonnement de la participation sera également étudié.
Objectif
The goal of PARTICIPATE is to develop a comprehensive approach to the study of campaign finance, information and influence, using new individual-level data and investigating recent changes in participation behaviors. What are the motives behind small campaign contributions? Does tax policy affect political giving? Why are so few politicians from the working class and can this change? What is the ability of the media to induce citizens to make electoral decisions they would not make if reporting were unbiased? While there is evidence at the macro level on the flow of money in elections, news consumption, or the extent of charitable giving, relatively little is known at the micro level, e.g. on individual-level behaviours such as the motivations of small donors, the tax-price elasticity of political donations, or the exposure to competing information flows. PARTICIPATE will help fill this gap. By providing groundbreaking evidence on new forms of participation, it will lead to the reassessment of influential theories of special interest groups and policy formation. One distinguishing feature of the proposal is to combine comprehensive individual-level datasets and the use of computer sciences tools (such as natural language processing techniques and machine learning). PARTICIPATE will advance the existing research in three steps. First, I will propose a unified analysis of political contributions. This will include a groundbreaking assessment of the importance of small campaign donations, and a combined study of charitable giving and political contributions investigating the impact of tax policy on donations. Fundraising success can lead to the emergence of new candidates. I will then consider citizens’ decision to run for elections, and investigate the role played by network in political selection. Finally, given the importance of media organizations in shaping participation, I will study the changing patterns of information propagation and political influence.
Champ scientifique
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Régime de financement
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitution d’accueil
75341 Paris
France