Research project Dilemmas of democratic self-defense in European public broadcasting
This project examines how public broadcasting organizations in Europe have responded to the growing presence of broadly defined populist and extremist parties, political actors who tend to oppose the protection of minorities, equality between women and men, the rights of migrants and refugees and who have seen increased support in recent years.
Balancing the protection of pluralism in a democracy and with the protection of the equal value of human beings is a particularly difficult dilemma for public service organizations in the contemporary, highly polarized political environment.
The project focuses on specifically on the dilemma of how to protect pluralism, inclusive participation and open political debate on the one hand, and the equal value of all citizens on the other, especially when inclusion of some actors risk undermining the human dignity of others.
The project thus aims to answer two sets of questions 1) Empirically: how and why do public broadcasting services in Europe deal with the dilemma between democratic pluralism and respect for equal human dignity in response to the challengers of liberal democracy? 2) Normatively: how should this dilemma be understood and handled in a way that is in line with the democratic ideal?
Project members
Project managers
Ludvig Norman
Senior lecturer, Associate professor
Members
Ludvig Beckman
Professor
