Democratic Expeditions are openly sourced, carefully crafted international research workshops that explore underexamined dimensions of democratic crises and democratizing struggles. The initiative is a joint venture of the CEU Democracy Institute’s Research Group on De- and Re-Democratization, the CEU Department of Political Science, and the FES Regional Office for International Cooperation, Democracy of the Future.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping democratic politics across the globe. From election campaigns and political communication to journalism, public administration, and civic activism, AI technologies increasingly influence how citizens receive information, how political actors compete, and how democratic institutions operate.

• AI poses serious democratic risks, including AI-enabled disinformation, deepfakes, automated targeting, and algorithmic amplification. These developments can undermine trust in media, distort public debate, and exacerbate inequalities between political actors and citizens.
• At the same time, AI opens democratic opportunities. Journalists, civil society organizations, opposition movements, and public institutions are experimenting with AI tools to counter manipulation, improve access to information, and foster more inclusive and responsive forms of political participation.

This workshop brings these dynamics together. It examines AI not only as a source of democratic disruption, but also as a potential resource for democratic resilience, asking how democratic politics can respond constructively to AI-driven challenges.

Workshop Focus

The workshop explores how AI shapes three core dimensions of democratic politics:

information → competition → participation

We welcome contributions that engage with both the democratic risks posed by AI and the ways in which AI can strengthen democratic politics, with a particular interest in work that examines opportunities for democratic empowerment, resilience, and renewal.

The workshop adopts a broad comparative approach. We particularly welcome contributions focusing on Europe and the United States, as well as comparative or case-based studies from other regions that offer broader relevance for democratic politics in these contexts.

The workshop will take place at Central European University (CEU), Vienna, on November 19-20, 2026. We anticipate approximately 12 paper presenters, including invited speakers. In addition, a limited number of practitioners from civil society, media, and policy-oriented organizations will be invited to contribute to discussions.

The submission deadline is March 31, 2026, 11:59 PM CET. Applicants will be informed of the outcome by April 30, 2026.

This series of policy papers is based on the papers presented by the authors at the workshop Moral Dilemmas of Resistance: Political Ethics in the Face of Democratic Regression and Electoral Authoritarianism, a joint venture of the Regional Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation on Democracy of the Future in Vienna, the CEU Democracy Institute, and the CEU Department of Political Science. 

Convened by Zoltan Miklosi and Attila Mráz, the workshop took place at the CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest on 27 and 28 September 2024. It was the inaugural event of Democratic Expeditions, a series of openly sourced, carefully crafted international research workshops that shed light on underexplored issues of democratic crises and democratizing struggles. The initiative is a joint venture of the Regional Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation on Democracy of the Future in Vienna, the CEU Democracy Institute, and the CEU Department of Political Science.