Voting Advice Applications in Times of Democratic Backsliding and Polarization

Across Europe and beyond, democratic backsliding, rising polarization, and increasing societal fragmentation pose serious challenges to representative democracy and public trust in political institutions and procedures. In this context, Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) have become important instruments for fostering informed electoral participation by helping citizens compare their policy preferences with the positions of political parties and candidates. Initially developed to support voter engagement, VAAs are now a standard feature of electoral campaigns at local, national, and transnational levels, shaping how voters access, evaluate, and interpret political information. The widespread diffusion of VAAs has also created valuable opportunities for political and policy research. They offer unique data for studying party competition, ideological polarization, and attitudes toward democratic governance. Yet, while VAAs can enhance civic engagement and promote issue-based voting, they may also reinforce existing divisions—for instance, by simplifying complex ideological landscapes, amplifying affective polarization, or unintentionally strengthening partisan identities. Understanding these dual effects is essential for assessing the broader democratic implications of digital participation tools. Building on the success of previous ECPR sections on VAAs since 2013, this year’s section encompasses comparative and interdisciplinary contributions on the design, use, and consequences of VAAs. Panels examine their role in mitigating or intensifying polarization, their methodological and technological development (including applications of AI, machine learning, and big data), and their potential to either support or challenge democratic resilience in a changing political environment. By bringing together scholars and practitioners from across Europe, the section aims to link empirical VAA research with broader debates on democratic governance, citizen engagement, and the digital transformation of politics. The section is endorsed by the ECPR Research Network on Voting Advice Applications. Panel1: Effects of Voting Advice Applications on Political Behavior Chair: Micha Germann, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) provide users with personalized information on how their policy preferences align with parties or candidates. Despite extensive research, it remains unclear whether and to what extent VAAs affect political knowledge, vote choice, turnout, and other behaviors. While observational studies often find positive effects, experimental evidence is mixed, suggesting that correlational findings may be spurious. It also remains uncertain which voters are most affected, how long effects last, and whether they vary across electoral contexts. Finally, causal mechanisms behind VAA effects are still poorly understood. This panel brings together papers examining how VAAs influence political behavior. Panel 2: VAA Data and Party Research Chair: Eric Linhart, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Germany The primary aim of creating Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) was to provide tools for voters to compare their policy positions with those of political parties, helping them navigate elections. However, new research avenues have emerged that explore the significant potential of VAA data for studying parties and party systems. This data enables researchers to assess the proximity of different parties, identify centripetal or centrifugal trends within party systems, uncover representation gaps, and more. Nevertheless, there are concerns that data collected for different purposes may not be suitable for analyzing parties and party systems. This panel encompasses papers that either theoretically evaluate the applicability of VAA data for party research or empirically use VAA data to address the questions mentioned above. Panel 3: Recent innovations in VAA design and usage Chair: Naomi Kamoen, Tilburg University, Netherlands Since their rise in the late 1980s, Voting Advice Applications (VAAs) have become a significant element of electoral campaigns, particularly in Europe, where millions of citizens utilize them. Although the number of VAA designers is on the rise, many of the VAAs currently in use closely resemble those developed over a decade ago in terms of layout and methodology. This panel brings together papers that explore innovations in VAA design, including the usage of Conversational Agents and the integration of additional information, such as videos, images, fact checks, or summaries of arguments politicians use in the political debate. The panel encompasses both qualitative and quantitative contributions addressing these and related aspects of VAA design and VAA usage. Panel 4: Widening the scope of VAA research Chair: Nikandros Ioannidis, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain This panel explores recent developments in the research of VAAs, focusing on patterns of usage, preference formation, and their broader political effects. The included papers analyze contextual constraints and party cues in budgetary attitudes, develop a new typology of VAA users, assess the relationship between VAAs and affective polarization, and provide empirical evidence from a case study. In addition, the panel addresses normative and methodological considerations by examining quality standards in the design and implementation of VAAs.