Non-elected politics. Cure or Curse for the Crisis of Representative Democracy?

Projektinformationen

CUREORCURSE

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 772695

DOI 10.3030/772695

EK-Unterschriftsdatum 12 April 2018

Startdatum 1 September 2018

Enddatum 28 Februar 2025

Finanziert unter

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Gesamtkosten € 1 981 589,00

EU-Beitrag € 1 981 589,00

Koordiniert durch

UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES
Belgium

Ziel

Evidence of a growing disengagement of citizens from politics is multiplying. Electoral turnout reaches historically low levels. Anti-establishment and populist parties are on the rise. Fewer and fewer Europeans trust their representative institutions. In response, we have observed a multiplication of institutional reforms aimed at revitalizing representative democracy. Two in particular stand out: the delegation of some political decision-making powers to (1) selected citizens and to (2) selected experts. But there is a paradox in attempting to cure the crisis of representative democracy by introducing such reforms. In representative democracy, control over political decision-making is vested in elected representatives. Delegating political decision-making to selected experts/citizens is at odds with this definition. It empowers the non-elected. If these reforms show that politics could work without elected officials, could we really expect that citizens’ support for representative democracy would be boosted and that citizens would re-engage with representative politics? In that sense, would it be a cure for the crisis of representative democracy, or rather a curse? Our central hypothesis is that there is no universal and univocal healing (or harming) effect of non-elected politics on support for representative democracy. In order to verify it, I propose 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.

Wissenschaftliches Gebiet

• social sciences › political sciences › government systems › democracy

Programm/Programme

• H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme

Thema/Themen

• ERC-2017-COG - ERC Consolidator Grant

Aufforderung zur Vorschlagseinreichung

ERC-2017-COG

Finanzierungsplan

ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant

Gastgebende Einrichtung

UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES

• Netto-EU-Beitrag: € 1 981 589,00
• Adresse: AVENUE FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT 50 ; 1050 Bruxelles / Brussel ; Belgien
• Region: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest › Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/ Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest › Arr. de Bruxelles-Capitale/Arr. Brussel-Hoofdstad
• Aktivitätstyp: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Gesamtkosten: € 1 981 589,00

Begünstigte (1)

UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES

Belgien

• Netto-EU-Beitrag: € 1 981 589,00
• Adresse: AVENUE FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT 50 ; 1050 Bruxelles / Brussel
• Region: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest › Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/ Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest › Arr. de Bruxelles-Capitale/Arr. Brussel-Hoofdstad
• Aktivitätstyp: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Gesamtkosten: € 1 981 589,00