🤖 New OA paper: "Fake Plastic Voters": do AI-simulated focus groups work? And when political actors should and shouldn't use them? @claudionovelli.bsky.social A decision matrix for practitioners navigating a real democratic accountability gap. 👇 papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

🤖 What happens when AI runs for office? New paper out on ORE, we examine 10 AI-driven candidates & parties across 8 countries and ask what "synthetic political actors" mean for democracy, representation, and political linkage. @relink2.bsky.social 👇 open-research-europe.ec.europa.eu/articles/6-138

@ecas-europe.bsky.social

Giulia Sandri@giuliasandri.bsky.social · 6mo ago

EU leaders are in Cyprus for geopolitics. I'm also flying there, but to put citizens at the centre! 🗣️🇪🇺 Taking part in the 2nd @eu-ciembly.bsky.social pilot: a bilingual 🇬🇧🇨🇾 citizens' assembly on housing, in Nicosia. First session was yesterday. In-person: this Saturday. Stay tuned! #CitizensAssembly

EU leaders are in Cyprus for geopolitics. I'm also flying there, but to put citizens at the centre! 🗣️🇪🇺 Taking part in the 2nd @eu-ciembly.bsky.social pilot: a bilingual 🇬🇧🇨🇾 citizens' assembly on housing, in Nicosia. First session was yesterday. In-person: this Saturday. Stay tuned! #CitizensAssembly

Overall social media use is also declining. Between 2020 and 2024, more Americans — especially the youngest (18–24) and oldest (65+) — report using no social media at all. A small group of heavy users remains, but the middle is thinning out.

📉 Visiting and posting on X and Facebook has collapsed: nearly 50% drop! On X, it is mostly Democrats who have become inactive. Many still occasionally log on, but rarely and quietly.

In a nutshell, the ANES data shows: 📉 Social media use is shrinking; engagement collapsing 💥 Twitter/X posting has moved ~70 POINTS to the right 🧩 Platforms are splintering 🔊 Fewer people are talking — but those still talking are more politically extreme

Have a nice evening everyone!

Two productive days in Kaunas, Lithuania, on 19–20 March 2026 at the COST Action ReLink² WG2 meeting and joint workshop hosted by Vytautas Magnus University. Great discussions on research methods, the Ethics Guidebook, the Methodological Toolkit, and collaboration across Working Groups.

What a beautiful day and location to talk about #AI and #democracy. I will focus on efficacy and technology acceptance in my talk. #UV #Valencia @ramonv.bsky.social @giuliasandri.bsky.social @michalmaly.bsky.social

Sofia is calling 📍 Applications are open for the @relink2.bsky.eu Training School — 29 June to 3 July 2026 at New Bulgarian University, Sofia. Up to 15 funded spots for ECR working on digital democracy and civic engagement. 🔗 relink2.eu/news/call-for-applications-relink²-training-school-2026/

Call for Applications: Relink² Training School 2026 – RELINK2 – CA23114

Applications are now open for the Relink² Training School , which will take place from 29 June to 3 July 2026 at New Bulgarian University in Sofia, Bulgaria . O

relink2.eu

📢 @relink2.bsky.social WG2 Meeting & Joint WG Workshop 🗓 19–20 March 2026 📍 Kaunas (hybrid) Advancing the Methodological Toolkit on civic technology . 🔗 relink2.eu/news-events/ #DigitalDemocracy

🚀 Our Open Research Europe collection @relink2.bsky.social “RELINK for Democracy” is live! 3 peer-reviewed papers published & submissions open. ✅ No APCs for COST participants ✅ Open peer review 🔗 relink2.eu/news-events/ #OpenScience

A simpler life...

@ecas-europe.bsky.social

Giulia Sandri@giuliasandri.bsky.social · 8mo ago

I’m participating with @ecas to #CivSocWeek 2026 in Brussels this week 🇪🇺We’re organising panel discussions and hosting a booth to exchange on citizen engagement and democratic innovation. If you’re attending, come say hello and join the conversation!

I’m participating with @ecas to #CivSocWeek 2026 in Brussels this week 🇪🇺We’re organising panel discussions and hosting a booth to exchange on citizen engagement and democratic innovation. If you’re attending, come say hello and join the conversation!

🌀 🌀 🌀 This month, we’re spreading the love with @ecprtheloop.bsky.social by highlighting blog posts that speak directly to EJPR research. Watch for our 🌀 posts all through March—and don’t forget to explore our archive as well! buff.ly/FcakDWM

EJPR Archives

theloop.ecpr.eu

On Saturday I facilitated a workshop at the @eu-ciembly.bsky.social #ColchesterCitizensAssembly together with my @ecas-europe.bsky.social colleague Claire Morot-Sir. Using empathy mapping, participants explored lived experiences of housing and translated them into concrete policy ideas.More to come!

We’re diving deep into solutions at the #ColchesterCitizensAssembly! 🛠️ Today’s workshops focus on Empathy Mapping, stepping directly into the shoes of our community to truly understand their lived experiences and tackle the real issues head-on.

The first-ever Colchester Citizens' Assembly has officially begun! 🎉 We are excited to get these vital conversations underway today. Keep an eye on this feed and make sure to check out our other EU Ciembly social accounts for updates! #ColchesterCitizensAssembly #EUCiembly

Happy to be @Univ. of Essex to facilitate the local citizen assembly pilot on housing issues within the framework of our @eu-ciembly.bsky.social Horizon Europe project.The pilot will implement our intersectional design for citizens’ participation in public decision-making @ecas-europe.bsky.social

Nice video on the ACTEU (Towards a new era of representative democracy- Activating European Citizens' Trust in Times of Crises and Polarization) Horizon Europe project results !

Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA)@tepsa.bsky.social · 8mo ago

🔬 After three years of research and as the #ActEU project draws to an end, the project researchers look back on some key successes, but also on what made them possible: the methodology, the organisation of the consortium, and the innovations introduced ⤵️ youtu.be/mLYW9TfuDQM

🔬 After three years of research and as the #ActEU project draws to an end, the project researchers look back on some key successes, but also on what made them possible: the methodology, the organisation of the consortium, and the innovations introduced ⤵️ youtu.be/mLYW9TfuDQM

Reflecting on ActEU - Key takeways from the project

YouTube video by Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA)

youtu.be

And there are many other sources that surface and discuss different uses and experiences with AI (see @katieharbath.bsky.social, @msifry.bsky.social, aiandelections.substack.com, Higher Ground Labs). 12/

AI & Elections Clinic | TJ Pyche | Substack

The AI & Elections Clinic is designed to be the place that tracks, nudges, slows, and shows how artificial intelligence and elections interact in the years ahead. Click to read AI & Elections Clinic, ...

aiandelections.substack.com

Deceptive AI uses (e.g., deepfakes, impersonation, interactive astroturfing) are consistently seen as violating norms of legitimate political competition, while operational and outreach uses are evaluated more ambivalently. 4/

Our first contribution is conceptual: we identify three analytically distinct types of AI use in election campaigns - Campaign operations - Voter outreach - Deception This set accounts for the wide variety of AI use in campaigning and moves the debate beyond its myopic focus on deepfakes. 2/

Political campaigns worldwide experiment with AI. But how do people see different electoral uses of AI and with what consequences? In a new study in @polcommjournal.bsky.social with @adrauc.bsky.social and @kunkakom.bsky.social, we address these questions. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... 1/

We are starting to see strong work identifying how and to what effect AI is used in campaigns. See work by @florianfoos.bsky.social , @giuliasandri.bsky.social, @meinungsfuehrer.bsky.social, @pjost.bsky.social, and @profkatedommett.bsky.social. 11/

And @sarahledoux.bsky.social's main story in this month's newsletter 🗞️ is on regulating copyrighted data for AI training and how India 🇮🇳 is taking on this task, with a comparison to limited efforts in the EU 🇪🇺 and US 🇺🇸 Link to the newsletter again: technologypolicy.substack.com/p/the-tip-ne...

The TIP Newsletter: the Cloud in the age of AI, Regulation trends beyond the West, & more!

Hello TIPers,

technologypolicy.substack.com

As usual, we love to share our members' achievements 🏆 In this newsletter we give shoutouts to @niamhcashell.bsky.social, Khadiza Laskor, @sharonhalevaamir.bsky.social and @ingaulnicane.bsky.social!