In this policy brief we outline the development of a policy analysis conceptual guide or frameworkused to analyze European, national and local government policies as part of the project. The ‘Capability Approach’ is focused on measuring what individuals are able to do and be. (Sen, 1999) Building on this, the Receiver Doer Judge (RDJ) framework defines citizens as receivers (i.e. in need of support), doers (i.e. actors able to contribute to society) and judges (i.e. political beings with aspirations, values and desires). (Bovin and Laruffa, 2018).The RDJ framework conceptualizes people as democratic citizens and political actors who should have a voice in policymaking. (Laruffa & Hearne, 2023)
Using this framework as the basis for our analysis, we examine the European Democracy Action Plan (EDAP) published in December 2020 and the European Defense of Democracy Package (DDP) published in December 2023. The EDAP focuses on performative democracy such as impartial information, fair elections and voting. We incorporate the broader Defense of Democracy Package (DDP) which includes recommendations for EU Member States on encouraging inclusive democracy. Overall, we argue that the both the EDAP and DDP did not include adequate participation of disadvantaged groups in the development of the policies and that efforts to ensure public participation in policy development should be improved. We argue that countering socio-economic barriers of disadvantaged groups should be central to the development of any democratic participatory policies