NORFACE announces the new transnational research programme "Democratic Governance in a Turbulent Age". The main focus of this research programme will be on understanding the precise nature of the recent turbulence in democratic politics and governance in Europe, how European states can negotiate it and how they can develop strategies to enhance the quality of democratic politics and governance. The call for proposals is expected to be published on 3 December 2018, with a deadline for submitting outline proposals on 19 February 2019. Please note that these dates may still be subject to changes.
Projects with duration of up to three years can be proposed. Applications to the NORFACE research programme will be processed in two stages. In the first stage, project outline proposals are invited. Applicants invited to the second stage will receive a notification by June 2019 inviting them to submit a full proposal by September 2019. The programme is funded by the NORFACE partners, including the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). EU support will also be available for this programme.
Programme topic
Democratic politics and governance in Europe are facing turbulent times. Party systems have crumbled or been substantially changed by new parties, including populist parties, and new social movements. Parties in power at the national and regional levels have called into question constitutional arrangements and guarantees once thought to underpin modern democracies. Such political changes have in part resulted from changes in the nature and form of citizen attachments to government, political parties and democratic procedures. The financial crisis of 2007-8 raised questions about the ability of European governments to provide a framework for economic security and the pursuit of redistributive policies. Government itself has changed significantly over the past quarter century, with a growing role for “arm’s length” agencies and regulatory bodies, international governance structures and private sector organisations.
In light of these developments, the NORFACE network will launch a transnational research programme on the topic of democratic governance. The programme is structured around five of the most important challenges to democratic governance and politics, described in detail in the programme text accompanying the call for proposals:
- inequality and redistribution
- evolving politics of threat
- democratisation of information
- shifting identities and representation
- changing authority of institutions
Who can apply
Researchers can submit a proposal on behalf of a project team comprised of at least three eligible research partners based in three or more different countries participating in this NORFACE call. These countries include: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. All partners in a project team must have the interest and competence to undertake social science research within the specified topic of the governance programme. For this call, specific national/regional eligibility rules apply, as specified in the call for proposals. This implies that eligibility may be defined at the individual or organisational level, depending on the country or funding agency.
For the DFG, eligibility rules and guidelines for the Research Grants Programme fully apply.
Further Information
The call for proposals will be published primarily via the NORFACE website.
The eligibility rules and guidelines for the Research Grants Programme (DFG form 50.01) can be found on the DFG website.
NORFACE Coordination Office please contact at: governance(at)nwo.nl.
Contact persons at the DFG:
- Claudia Wünsche
Phone: +49 228 885-2203
E-Mail: claudia.wuensche(at)dfg.de
- Dr. Stefan Koch
Phone: +49 228 885-2459
E-Mail: stefan.koch(at)dfg.de
