I am interested in writing a proposal for a European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop grant on democracy and inequality. Below please find my proposal. I invite interested scholars who are within Member Organizations to contact me about this proposal.
European Democracy in an Age of Rising Inequality
Proposal Outline for European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop 2011
Joshua Kjerulf Dubrow
Polish Academy of Sciences
Cross-National Studies: Interdisciplinary Research and Training Program (CONSIRT)
72 Nowy Swiat
00-330 Warsaw, Poland
Introduction
The purpose of this workshop is to bring together established and young scholars in Europe on the theme of European democracy and inequality. Democracy and inequality have a reciprocal relationship. The main questions to be answered are, “How do inequalities impact democracy in Europe, and how does European democracy impact inequalities?”
The workshop is modeled on the American Political Science Association Task Force on Inequality in American Democracy. In their 2004 report, “American Democracy in an Age of Rising Inequality,” the APSA Task Force identified three foci around which political inequality revolves: citizen participation, government responsiveness, and patterns of public policy making. The upshot is that the disadvantaged are less involved in political participation, government officials are less inclined to be responsive to the preferences of the disadvantaged, and public policy fails to address the needs of the disadvantaged. Findings from the APSA Task Force were disseminated widely in both academic research and mass media.
As of today, there has been no similar report or coherent research agenda featuring the countries of Europe. Such an endeavor is needed to form a landmark statement on how European democracies function during a time of rising inequality exacerbated by the economic crisis, and to provide direction on a common research agenda that will produce high-quality scholarship and useful policy recommendations.
Defining Terms
Democracy consists of rights, participation and representation. In APSA Task Force terms, this is voice, government responsiveness, and public policy. Issues include voting, political participation, influence of special interests on government decisions, policy formation, and representation of social groups.
Inequality (stratification) is structured differences in access and acquisition of scarce and valued resources. Major inequalities within Europe include economic, political, ethnic and racial, gender, sexuality and class. Inequality is both cause and consequence of democratic functioning.
Why Europe?
Europe’s extremely complex, heterogeneous environment sets it apart from the United States. Europe’s mixture of national and European identities, its diversity of economic, social and political contexts – including mature, rapidly maturing, and developing democracies – and its unique history requires a different way of thinking about the relationship between democratic functioning and inequality. Parts of Europe are still vulnerable to political instability and violent ethnic conflict as a result of the axis of democracy and inequality. The uniquely complicated European Union directly impacts democratic governance and inequalities across Europe.
Improving on the APSA Task Force
While a landmark project, the APSA Task Force did not integrate several critical issues in sufficient detail, including digital divide and internet democracy, globalization, impact of the mass media, multiculturalism, and intersectional approaches to understanding inequality. In addition, gender, ethnicity and class were underemphasized; women’s underrepresentation in parliament, ethnic political parties, and the salience of class in political participation are key features of the nexus of democracy and inequality. The proposed report would properly integrate these features into a holistic, cross-national portrait of European democracy and inequality.
Workshop Outcomes
Outcomes include:
– Workshop statement, similar in form to that produced by the APSA Task Force, which describes and explains the current relationship between European democracy and inequality, and sets the agenda for research in this area;
– Establish international collaborative research teams, some disciplinary and others interdisciplinary, including a policy-focused team;
– Identify and pursue funding opportunities;
– Integrate internet and communication technology into the workshop and its outcomes – keeping in mind the digital divide between European nations – to create a website that contains the workshop statement and provides a communication and research dissemination platform for research teams and individual researchers.
Timeline
Workshops funded in 2011 often take place in 2012. The following is a timeline:
July 2010 – December 2010: Identify and connect with established and young scholars from across Europe focusing on adequate representation of mature, rapidly maturing and developing democracies.
October 2010 – January 2011: Build ESF Exploratory Workshop Proposal
February 2011 – April 2011: Finalize ESF Exploratory Workshop Proposal
April 2011: Submit ESF Exploratory Workshop Proposal
