No ivory towers – DEMOS researchers team up with citizens

Research in social sciences should eventually contribute to societal progress. In the DEMOS (Democratic Efficacy and the Varieties of Populism in Europe) Horizon 2020 EU funded project we want to ensure that researchers do not find themselves in ‘ivory towers’, but rather on marketplace of ideas in order to establish a link between academic findings and citizens’ lives. 

DEMOS Crowdsourcing

DEMOS is investigating populism today and its consequences on democracy in Europe. We believe that an impact of this research beyond academia is crucial – especially when it’s about exposing certain research outcomes to citizens’ direct experience and opinions. This is why we launched a multilingual crowdsourcing platform in 7 languages (in EN, FR, IT, DE, TK, PL & HU) to provide the possibility for every citizen to engage with the research findings and help to develop them further.

Both citizens and researchers will benefit from the platform. On the one hand, citizens can contribute with their ideas to reach better research outcomes. On the other hand, academics will receive direct feedback on their proposals to address populist movements.

The goal is to work together not only to understand populist movements better, but also to come up with concrete policy proposals for decision-makers that can be used to tackle populist movements across Europe.

The crowdsourcing activity will collect the opinion and recommendations of citizens on three main topics related to populism: (1) participation and democracy, (2) minorities and (3) media.

1. Participation: Populist politicians often criticise governments for not representing the true interest of the people. New ways of participation, such as participatory budgeting, could strengthen ties between citizens and decision-makers. We want to learn more about people’s knowledge in the field: are they ready to explore these new ways of political participation?
2. Minorities: Many populists use hostile language towards minority groups. We want to understand what people think about those narratives: what solutions could work best to tackle them?
3. Media: In the last few years, the relationship between politics, journalism and citizens is constantly adapting to technological innovation. This has led to an increasing number of news channels for information, fragmentation and rising distrust in journalists. We want to understand people’s view on these developments. How could we increase trust in the media throughout Europe?

The crowdsourcing platform is open till 31 January 2022. We invite you to support our research by providing your input. There are 3 easy steps to get involved:

Take Our Survey For Your Chance To Win €50 in Amazon Voucher

We invite you to provide your input by filling in our online survey (10-15 minutes) about populism and to support us by sharing this survey far and wide. 

To thank you for your time and efforts, each person who submits this survey completely will be entered into a prize draw with a chance to win a €50 Amazon gift card, which will be awarded after a randomized raffle after every 50 completion, until we reach the goal of 500 survey completions.

If you want to increase your chances, share the survey among your friends.

Terms and conditions:

• All elements of the prize are subject to availability, non-transferable and there are no cash alternatives. 
• The winner’s name might appear in our communications such as, but not limited to, social media coverage.
• The organiser of this competition is the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS)
• The competition starts at 12:00pm on 16 November 2021 and ends at 23:59pm on 31 January 2022
• Entry into the prize draw will be deemed as acceptance of these rules
• In order to enter the competition, entrants must successfully complete the survey
• Submissions are limited to one person
• One participant can only win 1 voucher
• After filling in the survey, participants will automatically participate in all the upcoming raffles (except those who have already won a gift card). 
• One winner will be chosen after every 50 survey completions from all valid entries submitted within the competition opening and closing date and time (except if those who have already won a gift card)
• The winner will be contacted by the email address provided when entering, within ten working days after each raffle
• The winner will have ten working days to confirm their identity and acceptance, which will begin after first contact from ECAS has been initiated. Failure to respond within this time will result in the prize being forfeited.
• The prize winner will be responsible for ensuring that they have read, understood and accepted the terms and conditions

What happens to my data?

Once you have submitted your data, we will only require your name and email address to inform you if you’ve won the voucher. We will not share this information. After the competition, your details will be deleted, leaving only your answers to the questions.

 How do I fill it out?

You can fill out our survey by clicking here: https://crowdsourcing.ecas.org/en/demos-crowdsourcing

When is the deadline?

The deadline for responses to this competition is 31 January 2022