Citizenship empowerment
The intention of an international team of experts from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary is to map the potential of active citizenship and to examine the motivation of individuals to participate in the democratic process. The concept is based on the assumption that active citizenship is closely related to shared values, social capital, or how people assess their position within a society in terms of their individual rights and needs, interacting with fellow citizens, the public sphere and its institutions, civic society, etc.
The activities of the program focus on active citizenship in V4 countries on three levels:
- On political attitudes and behaviour of citizens (political participation, participation in the political process, membership in political parties, engagement in protest actions or others, satisfaction of the population with political representation, etc).
- On civil society and community activities (membership in associations who are active at local, regional, national, European or global level).
- On values (such as freedom, democracy, human and minority rights, cultural diversity, religious tolerance and dialogue, civic coexistence).
The research is focused on social cohesion as factor influencing active citizenship, including civic participation.
Political Capital introduced the project's preliminary findings at a public discussion on July 20, 2017, 'Do I have a say? – a roundtable about different perspectives on active citizenship and civic participation in Hungary'. The summary of the event can be found here.
Political Capital introduced the survey’s findings at a public discussion on October 19, 2017, ’Is there a hope for active citizenship? – a roundtable on democratic civic participation in the V4'. The summary of the event can be found here.
Co-operating institutions:
- STEM Institute, Prague
- Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw
- Institute for Public Affairs, Bratislava
- Political Capital, Budapest
The project is sponsored by the International Visegrad Fund.
