A new post has been published on the blog Der (europäische) Föderalist to mark the conclusion of the Horizon Europe project ActEU (Activating European Citizens’ Trust in Times of Crisis and Polarisation).
The blog has followed the project over several years and used it as a starting point for discussions on the state of democracy in Europe.
In a series of posts, ActEU researchers presented their work on political trust and democratic legitimacy within the European multi-level system, focusing particularly on political attitudes, participation, and representation. Supported by a consortium of twelve European partner institutions, the project investigated the causes of declining trust and developed long-term approaches to strengthen it. The blog posts addressed various perspectives, such as economic deprivation, polarisation, the role of subnational levels and the 2024 European elections.
With the publication of a final volume entitled “Activating European Citizens’ Trust in Times of Crisis and Polarisation: Towards a New Era of Representative Democracy”, this discussion is now being consolidated and brought to a close.
To the blog post: Towards a new era of representative democracy: The ActEU legacy in one book