The engagement of European political scientists with parties and the citizens: The case of Voting Advice Applications

This chapter contends that the growing interest in the discipline for digital transformations and the emerging potential of “civic technology” has led to novel forms engagement. The authors concentrate on a concrete example of engagement with parties, candidates, and voters: Voting Advice Applications (VAAs). VAAs are popular information-providing tools that help voters find their way around the electoral offer. These tools—originating in Europe in the late 1980s and by now prominent throughout all continental democracies—have catapulted political scientists to co-shapers of public opinion formation processes. For one thing, Garzia and Trechsel provide a timely and telling example of the ways in which European political science can engage with the citizenry in the digital age. At the same time, their case study of VAAs sheds precious light on the ethical implications of “doing impact” on our objects of study and calls for a careful reflection about the rapidly changing role of political scientists in the online era.