Regaining linkage? Digital technologies improving civic engagement, political organisations and democracy (RELINK²)

Abstract

The RELINK2 Action will intensify existing networking efforts of scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds and countries in the EU and beyond, to address two problems:

<p>(1) How can democracies regain legitimacy and rebuild the link between representative institutions and citizens using the benefits of digital technologies?

<p>(2) How can political organisations connect with digitally marginalised but politically active groups (the elderly) and with digitally active but politically marginalised ones (young citizens)?

<p>In this regard, RELINK2 aims to find answers to three research gaps: a) the main organisational consequences of the digital transformation and their impact on re-linkage strategies, b) effectiveness of digital transformations in re-connecting intermediary structures with society, c) implementation of political organisations’ re-linking strategies to marginalised groups based on responsible use of digital tools. This requires an interdisciplinary and coordinated analytical framework.