Carolina Plescia about Democracy

The meanings of voting

9. February 2022 by Magdalena Reichinger, Hanna Möller
Many countries all over the world are facing democratic backsliding. Social scientist Carolina Plescia is taking a closer look at this phenomenon by investigating the meanings of voting.
© Magdalena Reichinger

In her ERC Starting Grant project, Carolina Plescia is investigating what voting means to citizens. This issue is of particular importance in consideration of the growing distrust in the election procedure itself as well as in the democratic institutions in many countries of the world.

The psychology of voting

The social scientist develops a new typology of meanings and motivations for participating in elections. This way, she intends to introduce new concepts and indicators to election research to make the election procedure itself more understandable. Studying what voting means for citizens in a variety of countries promises to provide a ground-breaking understanding of citizens’ conceptualisations of representation. In addition, it allows us to understand the psychology of voting that can challenge conventional knowledge of participation and of voting. Moreover, it can result in practical implications for how elections are run and administered.

Outside of democratic systems

Plescia also investigates so-called autocracies in Europe and beyond (e.g. Hungary and Russia). This allows to additionally gain new insights into elections outside of democratic systems. The project results are, therefore, an important basis for (re-)assessing elections and electoral systems. Moreover, the results allow to scrutinise previous interpretations of elections by media and politicians.

The project is hosted by the Department of Government at the University of Vienna, "a vibrant political science department dedicated to excellence in research and teaching, a relaxed social atmosphere, and located in one of the world's best cities", says Plescia. (hm)

Carolina Plescia is Associate Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Vienna. She heads the ERC Starting Grant project DeVOTE, in which she is investigating what voting means for citizens. Together with Prof Sylvia Kritzinger, she is also involved in the H2020 project RECONNECT, studying citizens' perceptions of democracy and the rule of law in the EU as well as possible reform scenarios.

For her doctoral thesis, which she completed at Trinity College Dublin, she was awarded the ECPR Jean Blondel PhD Prize for the best doctoral thesis in political science in 2014. In 2021, she was elected a member of the Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW). Her diverse research interests range from the study of public opinion, voting behaviour and experimental social research to the role of digitalisation in democratic processes.