DEMOS is built on the assumption that populism is symptomatic of disconnect between how democratic polities operate and how citizens perceive their own aspirations, needs and identities within the political system. As such, DEMOS explores the practical value of ’democratic efficacy’ as the condition of political engagement needed to address the challenge of populism.
DEMOS combines in-depth research on populism and democratic efficacy with action research and pilot projects in order to develop lasting tools and timely policy recommendations; project methods include experiments, deliberative polling, text mining, surveys, and legal analysis.
DEMOS focuses not only on the polity, but equally on citizens’ perspectives: how they are affected by, and how they react to, populism. Politically underrepresented groups and those targeted by populist politics are a particular focus, e.g. youth, women, and migrants. Based on developed indicators and predictors of populism, DEMOS elaborates scenarios on the interactions of populism with social actors and institutions both at the national and the EU levels.
Project funding:
The EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation “Horizon 2020”
Period of project implementation: 2018-12-01 - 2022-05-31
Project coordinator: Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Project partners: Kaunas University of Technology, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, University of Hamburg, Charles University in Prague, University of Amsterdam, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, The School of Communication and Media, n.o. (SKAMBA), University for Business Engineering and Management (Bosnia and Hercegovina), European Citizen Action Service, University of Turin, The Glasgow Caledonian University, University of Copenhagen, University of Barcelona (UB), Paris Pantheon-Sorbonne University
