INVOLVE will provide a dynamic perspective of the relationship between inequalities and democratic support and participation. We will address following questions: In which sections of the population has trust in political institutions declined the most? What are the trends in political participation? Can different patterns between countries in trust and participation be observed, and can they be explained by a difference in welfare regimes, differences in policy shifts or differences in societal level inequalities. We will also examine differences in political engagement taking into account individual level characteristics (age, gender, social class, level of education, migration status), and making cross-country and cross-region (urban-rural) comparisons.
INVOLVE will further take stock on how citizens interact with public and social services, and how this influences their trust and participation. We will examine the impact of housing, education, employment, health policies and we will introduce indicators of quality, adequacy, and access to these services. We will also examine how both individual subjective evaluations and objective data on the quality of public administration affect trust and participation.
At last we will organize an original online survey with the purpose of collecting rich information on the relationship between citizens’ evaluations of public services, their trust in public institutions, and their likelihood to engage in political participation in the eight participant countries citizens’ evaluations of public services, their trust in public institutions, and their likelihood to engage in political participation.