WP1 Providing an infrastructure to assess the decline of political trust and legitimacy
Work Package 1 (WP1) connects the overarching concept of ActEU to its scientific structure, enabling the development of a theoretical framework to assess key characteristics of trust and legitimacy. This framework is integrated with the three core methods of ActEU.
WP1 follows a multi-method approach and includes the design and execution of focus group discussions, a web-scraping initiative, and the creation and implementation of an experimental survey.
For the web-scraping task, we identified marginalized websites in eleven countries and collected relevant content on topics such as the environment, migration, and gender inequality. This process is carried out in collaboration with partners and involves continuously adapting keyword lists. The team identified the key political actors and sources on the topics of gender, climate change, and migration in ten countries. We reported on the web-scraping task in Deliverables D1.2.
Online focus group discussions were conceptualized and conducted. The work on the focus-group discussions resulted in a report summarizing the focus group discussions and the main finings D1.1.
Sixteen online focus groups were conducted between May and June 2023, and the results were used to develop a measurement of political trust.
In WP1 we designed and conducted an experimental survey. Experimental surveys are also being designed and conducted, with the corresponding data to be shared. We created a codebook and a dataset for the experimental survey on political trust, that resulted in D1.3. The survey, translated into nine languages, was implemented by Ipsos Germany.
Overall, data collection were completed as planned in the first half of the ActEU project. The data produced will be utilized by ActEU researchers in the coming months and years, and an online methodology workshop will be organized later to train researchers in the use of the collected web-scraped data.
WP2 Citizens attitudes: (Dis-)approval of representative institutions
Work Package 2 (WP2) investigates if trust in representative institutions varies depending on the policy area. The focus lies on the investigation of long-term developments concerning the decline in political trust, legitimacy and representation. A central element of the WP is the mapping of the development of trust, using the concept of multi-level governance to shed light on the interplay between the different levels of government.
A comparative approach is used to analyze trust in EU institutions and other levels of government (local, regional, national) using publicly available data sources (D2.1).
A dataset of micro and macro-level indicators will be created to facilitate future research, and a publicly accessible database was made available (D2.2).
Deliverable 2.3 will report on how trends in trust among specific social and political groups (including ethnic and territorial identities, territorial attachment and regime types) at subnational level impact on varying levels of trust across European subnational units.
In addition, we will report on the variation across policy areas of climate change, migration and gender (D2.4) and on the consequences of deceitful behavior for political trust (D2.5).
Policy recommendations are developed on the basis of the findings from WP2.
WP3 Citizens behavior: The changing patterns of citizens political participations
The aim of Work Package 3 (WP3) is to gain a deeper understanding of the perception of political participation opportunities and political trust among different population groups. We will map whether the trends of the most prominent mode of political activity, namely voting, evolve uniformly across Europe, mapping trends in all types of elections of EU multi-level governance (parliamentary, presidential, European, local government). (D3.1). A detailed analysis of the focus group discussions results will provide an understanding of the resulting patterns of participation and the reasons for the decline in trust in political institutions (D3.2).
The focus is also on strengthening the behavioral aspect of trust and legitimacy.
The impact of ethnic diversity and the politicization of immigration on political trust in democracy will also be analyzed based on web scraping data (D3.3).
In WP2 we will investigate the role of political or activist affiliations in mediating the connection between trust and participation choices on the basis of the web-scraped data as detailed in WP 1. It will focus in particular on climate change and immigration policy issues. A content analysis of social media data will explore how political or activist affiliations linked to these issues interact with trust to affect participation choices (D3.4).
WP4 Citizen representation: Challenges and opportunities in a polarized era
Work Package 4 (WP4) intention is to analyze the relationship between the representation of EU citizens and trust in the context of declining legitimacy of political institutions. Particular attention will be paid to challenges related to migration, climate change, age and gender as well as
which feelings and emotions compete with facts and can be reconciled. The effectiveness of innovative communication tools used by political parties will be examined in terms of their impact on subjective representation.
WP4 focuses on how medium- and long-term developments drive the decline of political trust, legitimacy and representation. Three different guiding questions are raised, and it is analyzed how new social movements and parties emerge in response to the lack of representation (D.4.2). We provide two datasets on objective descriptive and substantive representation with a particular focus on gender equality, climate
change and migration (D4.1).
In D4.3 we will report on the populist far right, representation and their role in view of the new transnational cleavage (migration, climate change, and gender equality). Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of European pirate parties to gain insights into their responsiveness through democratic innovation (D4.4).
Based on the web-scraped data, we will report studying Central European populism and new cleavages (D4.5)
In WP4, we are currently evaluating and expanding the existing data on the objective dimensions of representation and analyzing the relationship between descriptive, substantive and subjective representation and trust.
WP5 Toolbox of remedial actions
Work Package 5 (WP5) aims to strengthen trust in representative democracy by improving transparency, representativeness and inclusivity.
Through ActEU Youth Democracy Labs, our goal is to motivate young Europeans to participate in discussions about the future of Europe (D5.1). To support these objectives, two main toolkits will be developed: one for policy makers at different levels, providing context-sensitive policy recommendations to strengthen trust in democracy, and another for civil society and the education sector (D5.4).
The latter contains teaching materials and cartoons to promote civic education and strengthen young citizens‘ sense of representation (D5.3).
In addition, workshops, conferences and Youth Democracy Labs are organized to gather valuable input for the further development of the toolkits (D5.2).
The civil society network is currently operational and is supporting with the development of the toolkits. The Youth Democracy Labs have already been successfully launched and are making important contributions to the refinement of the project ideas.
WP6 Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation
The ActEU project purpose is to strengthen trust in democratic institutions and promote the political participation of citizens. A key aspect is to raise awareness of these issues among relevant interest groups.
To this end, a comprehensive communication, dissemination and exploitation strategy was developed, including both online and offline activities, such as podcasts and video explanations (D6.1).
A network of civil society organizations was established to promote citizen participation. In addition, the education sector will be addressed through online workshops and the dissemination of an educational toolkit to engage students and teachers.
The project aims to maximize social, political and scientific impact through various training activities, interdisciplinary stakeholder involvement and the organization of training courses and conferences. All these measures help to ensure the sustainability of ActEU’s results beyond the funding period.
WP7 Management and Coordination
Since the start of the project in March 2023, UDE has implemented customized management structures and a digital infrastructure to ensure effective and efficient project management.
As part of these measures in Work Package 7 (WP7), a comprehensive ActEU management handbook has been created, which contains important information on project management, schedules, budget management and quality assurance (D7.1).
Internal communication is strengthened through support and advice on administrative and financial issues, working closely with the legal and financial departments of the partners. The external scientific advisory board is actively involved in the project and provides regular feedback to maximize the quality of the scientific output.