POPGOV ERC Synergy Grant
hoover | Louvain-la-Neuve
POPGOV is an ERC Synergy Project studying popular forms of government by combining the history of ideas, empirical political science, philosophy and comparative political thought.
The project is a collaboration between UCLouvain (Hoover Chair), King's College London, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of Girona. It will run from June 2026 to June 2032.
The UCLouvain group is composed of Hong Do, Kate Long, Théophile Pénigaud (postdocs), Spencer McKay (associated researcher) and Fabien Tremblay (PhD student). Together with the PI, Pierre-Étienne Vandamme, they will study competing models of democracy (lottocracy, council democracy, liquid democracy, hybrid democracy) and normatively assess different mechanisms of popular empowerment (recall, imperative mandate, popular assemblies, citizens' assemblies, popular initiatives).