The CEVIPOF (Centre for Political Research at Sciences Po)

Convenors: Gilles Ivaldi & Romain Lachat

Researchers:

Kevin Arceneaux - Damien Bol -  Daniel Boy - Sylvain Brouard - Bruno Cautrès - Jean Chiche - Martial Foucault - Gilles Ivaldi - Romain Lachat - Janine Mossuz-Lavau - Anne Muxel - Pascal Perrineau - Henri Rey - Dominique Reynié - Luc Rouban - Lou Safra

Introduction to the cluster
Electoral studies by means of large-scale surveys are one of the CEVIPOF's traditional areas of research. Over time, these surveys have led to the conception and development of a number of key concepts (the gender effect, heritage effect, the generation effect, the religion effect, cultural liberalism, etc.). The broad range of survey tools put in place at the CEVIPOF ensure that all of these issues are comprehensibly covered in their entirety.

The ENEF (French National Electoral Survey) projects continue to represent the centrepiece of our approach, mobilizing a large number of the centre's researchers during election periods. This concerted effort and teamwork result in research and publications that in turn nourish the four themes included in the cluster.

In addition to working on elections, we also focus on political attitudes and behaviours drawing on barometric surveys to do so. Since 2009, the Baromètre de la confiance politique (Political Trust Barometer) has been the core instrument for an annual study of the determinants of political trust. Starting with the 2020 edition, the approach has broadened to increase its international focus and now includes several other European countries.

For its part, the Fractures françaises (France Divided) survey has been examining French values and attitudes towards political power since 2012. Similarly to trade union studies, the Baromètre du dialogue social (Social Dialogue Barometer) completes these barometric surveys by focusing on the state of social democracy in France and on the role played by law in negotiations between social democracy and the private sector.

Convenors: Olivier Costa & Camille Mazé

Reflection on this theme specifically focuses on institutional dynamics linked to anthropological changes currently at work: the digitisation of society, transnational environmental challenges and the politicisation of the living world.

Researchers: 

Elie Cohen - Olivier Costa - Alexandre Escudier - Serge Galam - Guy Groux - Éric Kerrouche - Zaki Laïdi - Camille Mazé- Virginie Tournay - Jean Viard

Introduction to the cluster
With this cluster, the aim is to understand political institutions as observation posts for democratic change, starting with how they relate to the political system, public opinion and their tipping points (the increasing rise of mistrust).
The legitimacy of these political institutions is also being put to the test by transformations in digital technology and globalization.
The cluster focuses on the institutional dynamics associated with current anthropological upheavals: the digitization of societies, transnational environmental challenges and the politicization of the living world. Institutions are understood not as static but rather as dynamic entities that vary over time and space, their consistency reaching beyond the democratic or undemocratic nature of a regime. And yet, far from being “neutral” objects, institutions encompass a system of actors, mechanisms and values that mediate between political authorities and citizens.
Reflection on the legitimacy and effectiveness of political institutions in an age of digital and environmental transformation and the emergence of lifestyle politics has become more essential than ever. While political philosophy has long been interested in the question of “good institutions” (from Aristotle to Rawls), the study of contemporary political institutions goes back to a time when political science was still closely linked to administrative law, including on a disciplinary level. Since then, the study of institutions has seen a considerable broadening of issues (digital transition, ecological issues, lifestyle politics) and methods (game theory, socio-physics, mixed methods), as well as in terms of political scale (local, national, European, international).
The emergence of these new political issues, linked to the digital age, ecology and lifestyle politics, means that our political institutions must redesign themselves.
There are two main questions here:
- The first concerns how political institutions can adapt, weaken or strengthen in
the face of challenges generated by new technologies such as AI or increasingly obvious ecological vulnerabilities.

- The second deals with how to face these challenges, what level of political action needs to emerge (local, national, European), and what coalitions of actors need to be put in place to deal with this issue. In other words, how to “govern environmental and digital transitions”.

Convoners: Samuel Hayat

Since its creation, the CEVIPOF has ascribed a central position to the study of political ideas. Three main themes emerge from the work currently being carried out by the centre’s political theorists.

· The question of democratic procedures, i.e. ways in which the ideal of power exercised by the people for the people can be institutionalised.

· The question of citizenship and, in particular, of the crisis in classic conceptions of citizenship and more critical citizen engagement.

· The question of "being a society": a national culture, common values, intermediary bodies, the sense of justice.

Researchers:

Gil Delannoi - Jean-Marie Donegani - Frédéric Gros - Samuel Hayat - Lucien Jaume - Annabelle Lever - Janie Pelabay - Bernard Reber - Réjane Sénac 

The study of emotions and political passions is becoming increasingly central to the way we understand political attitudes and behaviours. What new roles do emotions and the affect system play? How does the emergence of an “affective citizen” relate to the expansion of forms of political expression and behaviours? The aim is to study what effects emotions might have on politics and citizenship.

Legitimacy and trust are key concepts in political philosophy and political science, linked as they are to acceptance of political institutions and/or power that depends on a logic of consent rather than coercion.
The question of trust runs through all research carried out at the centre. What is the political outcome of increasing levels of mistrust in politics? Can democracy function with diminished levels of trust in the very mechanisms that sustain it among the citizenry?

The 2023-2028 research project will continue to study the world of politics through a
diversity of methods and a plurality of approaches. The objective is threefold:

• To encourage collaborative work and dialogue between the centre’s various sectors;
• To encourage the adoption of new technologies and tools such as AI;
• To broaden the range of themes beyond these three cross-disciplinary projects.