Editorial

• Pages: 2-2

Contents

3

Junk news aggregator aims to restore trust in media

and democracy

5

Bridging the gap between the EU and European youth

7

Civiciti: technology at the service of participative

democracy

9

An insight into young people’s democratic participation

across European cities

11

The Great Recession and political conflict in Europe

13

Politics, the art of the possible – but who chooses party

politics and who chooses protest, and why?

15

Young people are instigators of social change – so how

can they best be integrated into society?

17

The (failed?) promise of digital democracy

19

Why the answer to how to strengthen public trust in

elections is… SEEV

21

Civil society under growing state control?

23

Studies highlight latent conflict behind different

concepts of democratic equality

Editorial

Understanding turbulent political times

through innovative EU-funded research

The 2019 European elections will possibly be viewed by future

historians as a landmark election for the EU due to the extraordinary

political context in which they’re taking place and the challenges to

democracy this involves. This is why innovative social sciences

research is vital in helping us understand the shiing patterns of

democratic participation in the 21st century. As such, this Results

Pack features 11 EU-funded projects that have been working to

help us better understand our complex political world and how

citizens view their continually shiing place within it.

2019 is a busy year for democratic elections – in Europe alone, aside from the

European Parliament elections, various national elections (local, regional, parlia-

mentary or presidential) will be taking place in at least 15 EU Member States.

Further afield outside the EU, elections have already taken place or are still

scheduled in Argentina, Australia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Israel, South Africa,

Switzerland and Ukraine to name but a few. The United States will be, by the end of

2019, already gearing itself up for its 2020 showdown election between President

Donald Trump and his Democratic opponent. So, measured in terms of electoral

processes, democracy appears pretty robust and better than any alternative.

The challenges of the age

At the same time, especially since 2016 several elections and referenda have

been characterised by relatively unprecedented misrepresentation and ‘fake

news’ campaigns that undermine the notion of informed participation. More

generally, democratic politics has witnessed a surge of protest and so-called

‘populist’ politics that have redefined the political space in many democratic

countries and what it means to participate politically as a citizen. Some of the

roots of these political trends can be traced back to the late 2000s’ financial

and economic crisis which exacerbated inequality levels, drove many govern-

ments to pursue austerity policies, led to stagnant living standards and resulted

in a strong distrust by many citizens of the supposed ‘political elites’.

The role of new technologies in reshaping democratic participation in the

modern world is worth special attention. Social media has connected billions

of people in ways that were unimaginable a few years ago, allowing news

(including ‘fake’ stories), opinions and messages to spread worldwide in a

matter of minutes. Technology is even changing the mechanics of demo-

cratic participation, such as the introduction in many countries over recent

years of e-voting machines that have replaced the traditional pencil ballot,

the increasing popularity of ‘direct’ forms of democracy that could be facili-

tated through digital advances and engagement with social media platforms

concerning stronger checks on deceptive bots and the spread of fake news.

Innovative research for better understanding, outcomes

and policy

In such a turbulent political environment, it is essential that innovative social

sciences research can provide facts-based neutral analysis, devise innovative

solutions to improve democratic systems for the better, and assist in the formu-

lation of evidence-based policy. The EU’s Horizon 2020 programme, including

through the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Curie fellowships, is

thus fully supportive of nurturing Europe’s most gifted social scientists.

In this Results Packs dedicated to Elections and Democratic Participation, we

showcase 11 EU-funded projects that are contributing to a better understand-

ing of the factors and forces that are right now shaping the scope and future

direction of democratic participation.