Aims and objectives

The ECPR Standing Group on Democratic Innovations aims to build a global community of scholars interested in reforming democracy through practices that place citizens at the centre of politics and governance. The Standing Group (SG) is an inclusive community, welcoming academics from various theoretical, methodological, and empirical traditions.

Among the SG’s flagship programs include the ECPR Annual General Conference’s Democratic Innovations Section, ECPR Joint Sessions, and Summer Schools.

The SG welcomes proposals for events that develop collaborations across disciplines, topic areas and methodological expertise. We are particularly keen to support activities that promote mentorship between senior and junior scholars.

Formed in 2010 under the leadership of Professors Kimmo Grönlund (Åbo Akademi) and Brigitte Geißel (Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main), Democratic Innovations is one of the biggest and most vibrant SGs in the European Consortium for Political Research today.

Steering Committee

The steering committee is responsible for approving the standing group’s activities and communicating updates to its members. The committee is elected every three years. Co-chairs are selected by the steering committee. Learn more about the SG’s governance structure here.

Current Steering Committee

Marina Lindell, Chair

Marina Lindell is an Academy Researcher and Associate Professor at the Social Science Research Institute at Åbo Akademi University. She is the head of the Barometern online citizens’ panel and leads several projects in conjunction to this, including a project on societal polarisation. She has vast experience on conducting survey based panel research, experimental research and has published on the role of personality for participation, deliberative processes and the determinants of polarization. She is an Assistant Editor of the Journal of Deliberative Democracy. She was the Digital Communications Manager for the SG between 2011−2018.

Hannah Werner, Co-Chair

Hannah Werner is a Postdoctoral researcher within the ERC project “NEW DEMOCRACY” at the KU Leuven. She obtained her PhD as a joint degree in 2020 from the University of Amsterdam and the KU Leuven. Hannah’s research interests lie in the areas of political psychology, political behavior and democratic theory. Currently, she studies perceived democratic legitimacy, participatory processes, procedural fairness and citizens’ perspectives on climate governance.

Azucena Morán, Member

Azucena Morán is a Research Associate at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, a Research Fellow at Public Agenda, and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Potsdam. Her interdisciplinary research and practice is rooted in literatures and theories of participatory and deliberative democracy, colonial histories, and the environmental crisis. Before joining the IASS, she conducted research at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. 

Jamie Pow, Member

Jamie Pow is a Lecturer in Political Science at Queen’s University Belfast. His research explores public opinion towards different forms of democratic decision-making, with a focus on deliberative and participatory processes. His work on democratic innovations has been published in Government & OppositionRepresentation and the Journal of Deliberative Democracy. Prior to joining Queen’s Jamie was a postdoctoral researcher in the Democratic Innovations and Legitimacy Research Group at KU Leuven, with which he remains affiliated.

 Michael E. Morrell, Member

Michael E. Morrell is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Connecticut and author of Empathy and Democracy: Feeling Thinking and Deliberation (2010, Penn State University Press). He has published on several aspects of democratic theory, deliberation, and emotions in places such Political Research Quarterly, Political Behavior, Public Opinion Quarterly, Public Affairs Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Deliberative Democracy, Deliberative Mini-Publics: Involving Citizens in the Democratic Process (2014, ECPR Press), and the Oxford Handbook of Deliberative Democracy.

Steering Comittee 2022-2024

Chair
Marina Lindell, Åbo Akademi University

Co-Chair
Hannah Werner, University of Leuven

Members
Azucena Morán, Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies
Jamie Pow, Queen’s University Belfast
Michael E. Morrell, University of Connecticut

Digital Communication
Jenny Backström, Åbo Akademi University (2022)

Steering Comittee 2019-2021

Co-Chairs
Sofie Marien, University of Leuven
Nicole Curato, University of Canberra

Members
André Bächtiger, University of Stuttgart
Kimmo Grönlund, Åbo Akademi University
Jane Suiter, Dublin City University

Digital Communication
Lisa van Dijk, University of Leuven (2021)
Nardine Alnemr, University of Canberra (2020-2021)
Lala Muradova, University of Leuven (2018-2020)

Steering Comittee 2015-2018

Co-Chairs
André Bächtiger, University of Stuttgart
Kimmo Grönlund, Åbo Akademi University

Members
Joan Font, Instituto de Estudios Sociales Avanzados
Brigitte Geißel, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main
Graham Smith, University of Westminster

Secretariat
Marina Lindell, Åbo Akademi University