As of 19 December 2025, I have joined the activities within the scope of the COST Action CA23114, titled “Regaining linkage? Digital technologies improving civic engagement, political organisations and democracy” (RELINK²), which is implemented by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) and funded by the European Union.
Within the framework of this four-year Action, the digitalisation processes of political organisations, including political parties and civil society organisations, and their impact on the linkage established with citizens are scrutinised. Addressing current issues of increasing political distrust, disaffection, and declining turnout, the project investigates how digital technologies can be employed to regain legitimacy and how the “linkage” between representative institutions and citizens can be rebuilt. The main objective of the study is to develop evidence-based recommendations on how the digital transformation can be configured not merely as a technical process, but as a secure, transparent, and inclusive means of democratic engagement that encompasses digitally and politically marginalised groups, specifically young and elderly citizens.
In this international network, I will contribute to the following two working groups, focusing on the specified areas:
- Theoretical Challenges (WG1): In this group, which establishes the conceptual framework of the Action, the aim is to coordinate the development of a common theoretical framework to map the digitalisation of political organisations. Discussions here will focus on structural transformations ranging from internal democracy to decision-making processes, as well as the impacts of new technologies, such as gamification, the use of metaverses, big data, and AI, on political communication and organisational structures.
- Empirical Analysis (WG3): In this area, where theoretical approaches are tested with field data, the effectiveness of digitalisation practices will be assessed. Moving beyond individual case studies to create comprehensive and comparative datasets, this group will examine the communication strategies of political organisations, patterns of digital tool usage, and their tangible effects on civic engagement using mixed methods, such as surveys and social media trace data analysis.
To access the details of the Action, please click on the image below.
