University of Siena

The University of Siena (UNISI) is one of the oldest universities in Europe with a well-established tradition of teaching and research at all levels (BAs, MAs, Ph.D). With over 19,000 students, in 2019 the University of Siena (UNISI) was ranked second in Italy among medium-sized universities, first for its study grants and third for its structures, quality of services, internet access, and internationalization (Censis), ranking in the range 501-600 of the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

The Department of Social, Political and Cognitive Sciences (DISPOC) at the University of Siena is an interdisciplinary department involved in research projects at different levels. Moreover, it is one of the leading political science departments in Italy and one of the six social sciences departments that have been granted a 5-year excellence grant from the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR). Some of the areas of particular strength are in the study of European integration, with particular reference to the dynamics and interplay between political elites, public opinion and parties, theories and practices of deliberation, and the study of public diplomacy and cultural relations. The research team includes scholars with a multidisciplinary background, ranging from political science and sociology to psychology and economics, and expertise in study of citizens, elites, representation and deliberative democracy. The Department hosts a number of research centres, including the Centre for the Study of Political Change (CIRCaP) and a survey research centre (LAPS).

UNISI has a long and consolidated experience in coordinating and managing both large-scale EU projects, such as INTUNE (6th Framework Programme, in which two city-level deliberative polls were carried out in Turin, Italy and Kapocvars, Hungary respectively in 2005 and 2006); EUROPOLIS (7th Framework Programme, in which a Europewide deliberative poll was carried out in May 2009), EUENGAGE (H2020, in which an online deliberative community was carried out in 2016), and local participatory processes in Italy. Pierangelo Isernia has been PI for the stakeholders Engagement Project of the Monte dei Paschi Foundation in 2017-18 and member of the scientific advisory board of the Authority for Participation of the Tuscany Region. UNISI has also contributed as a partner in several EU consortia, such as TRANSWORLD (7th Framework Programme), EUINDEPTH (7th Framework Programme), IMAJINE (H2020) and ENTRUST (H2020). The research team, in partnership with other European cultural institutions coordinated by the Goethe Institut, has been recently awarded the set up and management of the Cultural Relations Platform by the European Commission.

In the EuComMeet project, UNISI will coordinate the consortium and will lead four Work Packages (WP2, WP3, WP4 and WP10). The contribution of UNISI’s to this project is underpinned by the expertise of team members in theories and practices of deliberation, survey research, qualitative interviewing, focus groups, and by the expertise in the field of political representation and European integration.

Relevant previous projects and initiatives

EUROPOLIS (Europolis: a deliberative polity-making project) contract n. 225314 funded under the 7thFramework Programme. EuroPolis was a consortium of 10 academic Institutions, SMEs and think-tanks from the EU, coordinated by the University of Siena, which explored the forms of democratic deficit that are directly affecting EU citizens. It tested the hypothesis that citizens’ involvement in inclusive, informed, and thoughtful deliberation about the EU increases access to politically relevant information, citizens’ political engagement in EU public affairs, perceptions of the legitimacy of EU institutions, a sense of belonging to the EU, and voter turnout in EU parliamentary elections. The research team drew its hypotheses from the theory of deliberative democracy that suggests that democratic legitimacy rests on open deliberation and prescribes that citizens should become involved in politics. EuroPolis assessed the political outcomes of deliberative democratic practices by experimenting what would happen if EU citizens became substantially more informed about EU institutional arrangements, decision-making processes, and policy issues, as well as more aware of the policy preferences of other EU citizens. Moreover, it showed coherent connections between policy attitudes and electoral choices. In particular, the experiment designed in EUROPOLIS culminated in the deliberative event, which took place on May 29-31, 2009, when about 400 European citizens from the 27 member states joined in Brussels to debate immigration, climate change, and the EU policymaking process – a unique experiment in informed decision-making. Participants spent three days discussing these issues in small working groups, and then in plenary sessions with a battery of experts and election candidates.
ENTRUST (Enlightened trust: An examination of trust and distrust in governance – conditions, effects and remedies) Contract n. 870572 – funded under the Horizon 2020 Programme. The EnTrust project intends to offer a new understanding of trust and distrust in governance, aiming at sustainable democratic societies in Europe. It will create a theoretical base to understand the dynamic connection between trust and distrust. It will develop an empirical data set aiming to calculate how trust and distrust are growing concerning governance at local, national and European levels. The project will also map trust and distrust levels in European societies, systematically comparing levels of interaction. In-depth interviews with citizens and governance actors will be conducted by the University of Siena research team, which is one of the seven partners involved in this task.
IMAJINE (Integrative Mechanisms for Addressing Spatial Justice and Territorial Inequalities in Europe) contract n. 726950 – funded under the Horizon 2020 Programme. IMAJINE aims to formulate new integrative policy mechanisms to enable European, national and regional government agencies to more effectively address territorial inequalities within the European Union. IMAJINE uniquely proposes to address the problem of territorial inequalities through an inter-disciplinary and multi-scalar approach that integrates perspectives from economics, human geography, political science and sociology and combines macro-scale econometric analysis and the generation and analysis of new quantitative survey data with regionally-focused qualitative empirical case study research in 11 EU member states, delivered by a multi-disciplinary and multinational consortium composed of sixteen institutions.
EUENGAGE (Bridging the Gap Between Public Opinion and European Leadership: Engaging a Dialogue on the Future Path of Europe) contract n. 649281 funded under the Horizon 2020 Programme. EUENGAGE was a consortium of 7 academic institution from the EU, led by the University of Siena, which had a twofold goal: first, to inquire into the current tensions between supranational EU governance and popular mobilisation at the national level, critically questioning EU-driven policies and EU legitimacy; and second, to propose remedial actions based on sound empirical research on the relationship between public opinion, national and supranational political elites. The project set up an interactive, dynamic, multilevel and replicable quasi-experimental research design. Using a variety of instruments and techniques, this design allowed not only to study the process of representation in vivo, but also to test experimentally how innovative and efficient interactions between citizens and politicians increased citizens’ awareness of the common problems of the Union, and the ability of the European leadership to respond innovatively to the discontent of public opinion. As part of the EUENGAGE project, an online deliberation, named e-Voice, was organised with 350 citizens in 10 European countries.
INTUNE (Integrated and United – A Quest for Citizenship in an “Ever Closer Europe”) Project ID: 513421 funded under the 6th Framework programme. INTUNE project studied the changes in the scope, nature and characteristics of citizenship and the likely effect of the process of deepening and enlargement of the European Union. It focused on how integration and decentralisation processes, at both the national and European level, affect three major dimensions of citizenship: identity, representation, and practice of good governance. In this project two deliberative polls were conducted at city level in Italy (Turin) in 2005 and Hungary (Kapocvars) in 2006.