Declining Citizen Engagement
Governments around the world face extraordinary challenges: just over 50 years ago, any democratic nation in the world holding a legislative or presidential election could expect almost 80% of citizens to turn up to vote; nowadays, this number has fallen to just over 65%.
Declining voter turnout signals deep problems democracies are facing today. Lower turnout suggests that fewer citizens consider elections the main instrument for legitimising political parties’ control over political decision-making, which puts severe pressure on the way traditional political parties function.
In order to meet their citizens’ expectations and increase turnout, governments must innovate and adopt new solutions. While existing propositions may have been successful to a certain extent in increasing the turnout, they have not addressed the citizens’ main complaint that elections do not give them a sense of control and empowerment over political decisions.
CODES: Collaborative Democracy Solutions
Supported by LSE Innovation, CODES is an initiative co-founded by Professor Michael Bruter and Dr Sarah Harrison, who lead the Electoral Psychology Observatory at LSE. Drawing upon 40 years of combined experience in directing cutting-edge research in electoral psychology and political behaviour, they have been eager to better understand the minds of voters and how to optimise the electoral and consultative processes.
CODES develops technological solutions that optimise the experience for all citizens as well as increase their satisfaction and engagement. It seeks to enable public and private actors to design powerful, accurate, and transparent electoral and consultative services.
“CODES is a true revolution in decision making, because it unprecedentedly empowers citizens to tell us what they want and care about in their own words, without limit, and transform those precious insights into collective decisions.”
– Professor Michael Bruter
The Future of Our Democracy
With LSE Innovation’s support, CODES has received a £150K Proof of Concept award from ERC and made successful pre-contract engagements with three democratic nation states. It also received a number of other awards, such as the Market Research Society award for Best International Research, and the Stein Rokkan Honorable mention for best book in international research, which have led to collaborations with multiple Electoral Commissions, Parliaments, European and International Organisations, local governments, and NGOs globally.
LSE Innovation’s support for CODES is ongoing. The team has supported CODES in market assessment and is looking to support it in market engagement and validation, as well as assist with the creation of a product development plan, engagement with external contractors, and support with grant applications to ERC and Innovate UK.
If you are interested in this service or exploring how LSE Innovation can support you in commercialising your idea, please get in touch with us via innovation@lse.ac.uk.