Cluster 3 | Rule of Law Culture: People, Trust, Communication and Pluralism

Scope. Treats the rule of law as a matter of culture, public legitimacy and a sociopolitical phenomenon rather than technical design alone: how, by whom and through what are different societies (also at sub-national levels) affected, what makes an effective system of checks and balances (technocratic approaches vs. culture), and how resilient are those cultures. Turns specifically to the peoples’ angle: Why people mobilise and citizens vote for parties engaged in rule of law regression (including the socio-economic dimension); how do they engage with extremist actors and how do (dis)information environments shape these dynamics, and how can democratic trust (an emotionally loaded, contested term) be ensued. This includes the gap between perception and data, communicating the rule of law, pluralism vs. polarisation, the renegotiation of the social contract from the standpoint of citizens on sub-national, national and supranational levels, the consideration of non-citizens, and re-anchoring the rule of law in a diverse, multicultural society. It also considers the role of academics and asks how scholarly expertise can respond to and bridge the gap between academic knowledge and public needs.

Rationale. The rule of law cannot be sustained by institutions alone if it loses societal legitimacy. This cluster confronts the peoples’ angle head-on — the socio-economic drivers of support for radical parties, the loadedness of “trust,” the perception–data gap, the role of disinformation, and the communications gap between legal experts, academics and the public. It asks what a resilient rule-of-law culture looks like.