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Thinking and living tomorrow's democracies: the DemoCIS program

The DemoCIS program mobilizes a broad interdisciplinary consortium, led by the University of Lille and comprising 51 research units, to analyze and strengthen contemporary democracies around four major challenges.

 

Photo credit: Paris, Gilets Jaunes - Act IX - Place de l'Étoile, 12/01/2019 - Olivier Ortelpa (CC BY 2.0 FR)

At a glance

Date

June 16, 2025

Challenge 1 "Responding to the institutional crisis through democratic innovation" explores responses to the crisis of representative democracy in three areas: deliberation in a context of crisis, ethics in public life and citizen trust, and institutional reforms to bring representatives and represented closer together. Camille Morio and Vincent Caby will represent Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA in this Challenge.
 

challenge 1

 

 

 

Co-led by Frédéric Gonthier, Challenge 2 "Rethinking the places and forms of expression of citizenship" takes a more bottom-up perspective, focusing on ordinary citizen practices. It is based on five actions aimed at recognizing and strengthening the least institutionalized forms of political engagement. Among these actions, the barometer of ordinary conceptions of democracy will be piloted by Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA and Pacte (Stéphanie Abrial). A concerted "Croisement des savoirs" initiative on democratic inclusion, and an analysis of participatory artistic practices will also be carried out, involving Hélène Caune and Lisa Marx respectively.
 

challenge 2

 

 

 

Faced with misinformation, disinformation and malinformation, Challenge 3 "Information disorder and polarization" aims to map information ecosystem dynamics, develop systemic risk indicators, and assess existing countermeasures (legal, technological, educational). Gilles Bastin will contribute his expertise on massive data and media to this Challenge.  

 

challenge 3

 

 

 

Challenge 4 "Threatened democracies and the rule of law" aims to analyze attacks on democracies in terms of external threats (terrorism, political violence, cyber-attacks, hybrid threats) and internal erosion (illiberalism, restriction of civil liberties), including mapping attacks on the rule of law and action research with civil society. Fabien Terpan is actively involved in this Challenge for Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA.

 

challenge 4

 

 

 

DemoCIS's cross-disciplinary, transformative approach includes the deployment of a series of citizen conventions, educational initiatives aimed at student communities and the general public, and training courses designed to equip public policies and empower citizens. To this end, it will draw on a vast network of partner organizations and institutions at both national and international levels.
The first circle of Sciences Po Grenoble-UGA teachers and researchers involved in the project is set to expand over the course of the DemoCIS project (2025-2032).