Prevention of anti-democratic extremism through democratic innovations: The perspective of prevention workers

Democratic innovations promise to improve various indicators of the quality of democracy, in particular political equality (Della Porta 2020; Geißel/Joas 2013; Elstub/Escobar 2019). However, they are also increasingly being used as a measure to prevent anti-democratic extremism (Jordan/Jordan 2020; Meringolo 2020; Somer et al. 2021; Lührmann/Merkel 2023; Pausch 2020). The empirically verifiable argument is that those who experience democracy, feel self-efficacious and develop democratic competences are less vulnerable to extremist recruiters and anti-democratic ideologies. Under this premise, democratic innovations are being developed and tested in a large number of projects at national and, above all, European level, which are primarily aimed at young people and vulnerable groups (Berner/Pausch 2019). Three approaches are being pursued, which can also be described as democratic innovations. 1. the involvement of citizens and residents without citizenship in democratic decisions in their living environment (at local level, in the school context or in youth/social work), 2. the strengthening of people's democratic competences through citizenship education and 3. the development of deliberative formats at local level. With all three approaches, questions arise that are relevant to the theory and practice of democratic innovation. We are focussing on: * How can different groups be reached at all; * How is power distributed in these processes (initiation, agenda-setting, moderation, output), * What are the difficulties in sustainable project implementation? Interviews with prevention workers from four EU projects form the empirical basis. In ten guided expert interviews, officials, representatives of city administrations, and practitioners give their perceptions and experiences about these and other questions. The method used is based on Mayring’s qualitative content analysis (Mayring 2014). References: Geißel, B., & Joas, M. (Eds.). (2013). Participatory democratic innovations in Europe: Improving the quality of democracy?. Verlag Barbara Budrich. Elstub, S., & Escobar, O. (2019). Defining and typologising democratic innovations. Handbook of democratic innovation and governance, 11-31. Della Porta, D. (2020). How social movements can save democracy: Democratic innovations from below. John Wiley & Sons. Meringolo, P. (2020). Theoretical background of violent radicalisation. Research and interventions from different perspectives. Preventing Violent Radicalisation in Europe: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 3-20. Jordan, B., & Jordan, B. (2020). Inclusion and Democracy. Authoritarianism and How to Counter It, 71-83. Somer, M., McCoy, J. L., & Luke, R. E. (2021). Pernicious polarization, autocratization and opposition strategies. Democratization, 28(5), 929-948. Lührmann, A., & Merkel, W. (Eds.). (2023). Resilience of Democracy: Responses to Illiberal and Authoritarian Challenges. Taylor & Francis. Mayring, P. (2014). Qualitative content analysis: theoretical foundation, basic procedures and software solution. Klagenfurt. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-395173