Explore our research projects

BRRIDGE (Horizon Europe)

BRRIDGE is a Horizon Europe project that brings together Matej Bel University (UMB) and three of Europe’s premier institutions in social sciences: Central European University, European University Institute, and the University Galway.

With a focus on enhancing research capabilities in democracy and policy at UMB, BRRIDGE delves into the contemporary challenges to democracy, influenced by shifts in technology, culture, governance, and inequalities. Through this exploration, the project aspires to boost UMB’s academic standing in these topics, while generating knowledge that contributes to the quality of democracy in Slovakia and beyond.

EMMELO (Horizon Europe)

The EMMELO Project: European Men, Masculinity, and Extremist Leadership Online examines the role of masculinity in extremist movements online across Europe and the threats it poses to democracy, fundamental rights and EU values. As is well established, the internet has become a focal point for modern extremist activities. What is less understood in a European context is the role masculinity plays in these online communities and platforms. More insight is also required into how extremist leaders use and perform masculinity to appeal to European men, and how, in turn, these men respond to these gender narratives and how this shapes their perception of democracy and the EU.

To address this need for deeper, more critical understandings of these gendered phenomena, EMMELO focuses on six countries: Ireland, Sweden, France, Hungary, Germany and Slovakia, exploring how different forms of masculinity are used by extremist movements and their leadership to appeal to men and undermine traditional democratic participation and discourse in cross European contexts. The project explores how extremist movements construct, perform and circulate narratives of masculinity online, how these narratives shape the perspectives and gendered experiences of European men currently or formerly active in extremist online communities, and the wider implications of these trends for democratic processes and social cohesion, online and offline. From its activities, EMMELO will develop innovative, gender-sensitive tools and policy recommendations to enable policymakers, practitioners and citizens better understand and address the role of masculinity in modern European extremist movements. The project’s findings will be targeted at key audiences in formats designed to raise awareness at the levels of policy, practice and citizen of the key role masculinity plays in extremism, including how to identify it, discuss it, and challenge it.

POSILA (VAIA)

This project is funded by the European Union (EU) NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia

MIKRO-SCOPE (VAIA R2 Fellowship)

MICRO-SCOPE: Unraveling Micro-Foundations of Challenges to Democracy through the Applications of Smart Repression and Polarization

The MICRO-SCOPE project examines contemporary threats to democracy by exploring how ‘smart’ repression and polarization are used to legitimize anti-democratic practices and delegitimize dissent. Over the past two decades, (aspiring) authoritarian leaders have increasingly relied on subtle and sophisticated methods to suppress opposition while maintaining a façade of democratic governance. They often manipulate public discourse through polarizing narratives, framing anti-democratic measures as ‘necessary’ for the public good. Using survey experiments conducted in Turkey, Hungary, and Slovakia, the project investigates the effectiveness of these strategies and the conditions under which citizens perceive repression as justified. Overall, MICRO-SCOPE deepens our understanding of authoritarian resilience and democratic backsliding in the 21st century, offering both empirical insights and practical implications for defenders of democratic values operating in increasingly repressive environments. (Project No: 09I03-03-V04-00609)

This project is funded by the European Union (EU) NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia.

ADI (VAIA R2 Fellowship)

Anti-Democratic Intuitions Project

The Anti-Democratic Intuitions (ADI) project explores how intuitive thinking and emotions shape political attitudes, with a focus on uncovering the psychological roots of anti-democratic views. ADI investigates how political intuitions can contribute to support for populist leaders, conspiracy theories, and anti-immigrant or anti-democratic attitudes. The project combines research-oriented work packages based on quantitative political psychology studies with impact-oriented work packages that develop educational materials, policy briefs, and an interactive political literacy trivia. By revealing the intuitive and emotional foundations of these views, ADI aims to advance our understanding of why anti-democratic sentiments are rising in liberal democracies and how they might be countered through education, communication, and policy. This project is funded by the European Union (EU) NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia under the project No. 09I03-03-V04-00707.

DAPPED (VAIA R2 Fellowship)

Diverging Attitudes of Political Parties at European and Domestic Level in V4 Countries

DAPPED focuses on one of the potential reasons for the disconnect felt by EU citizens – the potential duality of political representatives who may follow a different policy at the EU level than on the domestic level. The main objective is to assess the Divergence of Attitudes of Political Parties from V4 countries at European and Domestic level (DAPPED). The study will involve quantitative research, analysing voting records on dual-aspect legislative acts at both European and national levels using methodological procedures from the research area of party unity voting. The project’s geographical focus is on V4 nations, where the “double face policy” is speculated to be more pronounced. Temporally, it is strategically positioned after the end of the 9th term of the European Parliament, allowing for comprehensive analysis of voting data across four full mandates since these countries joined the EU in 2004. This project is funded by the European Union (EU) NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia under the project No. 09I03-03-V04-00617.

This project is funded by the European Union (EU) NextGenerationEU through the Recovery and Resilience Plan for Slovakia.