The WP examines the current deficits of Finnish democracy, especially related to insufficient inclusion, to get a clear understanding of the needs of development. WP2 lays the foundation for work in WPs 3-4 by delivering knowledge on the main shortcomings of inclusion and documenting the existing attitudes towards the epistemic basis (knowledge and beliefs) of democratic decision-making. WP2 is a collaboration between political and administrative scientists. The Work Package is divided into two parts: examining the challenges of participation and understanding the epistemic infrastructure of democracy.
Examining the challenges of participation
Social inequality and marginalization of certain groups should not be ignored when developing citizen engagement models. We therefore scrutinize which societal groups are currently underrepresented, and whether there are differences in policy sectors and levels of government regarding the groups whose voice is not heard. We also delineate the tendencies of polarization and fragmentation to diagnose the threats they pose to inclusion.
Understanding the epistemic infrastructure of democracy
Democracies are said to require what are called ‘epistemic infrastructures’: systems through which accurate information is transmitted to decision-makers. Through interviews with public officials and politicians, and focus group analyses involving politicians, public officials and citizens, we investigate how these groups perceive the role of expert and citizen knowledge in democratic decision-making, and whether this role varies depending on the level of governance and policy sectors.
