DATADRIVEN: Data-driven campaigns: intended and unintended consequences for democracy

数据驱动的政治运动正在兴起。有人担心，像在线政治微目标技术这样的做法对民主有害。在2016年美国总统选举、英国脱欧公投和欧洲最近几次选举的意外结果之后，这些担忧加剧。然而，目前还不清楚使用在线微目标技术的数据驱动运动是否是对民主的实际威胁。该项目将重点关注数据驱动的目标定位和数字说服的预期和非预期后果。鉴于目前的政治和社会动荡，在一个动荡的时代和不断变化的媒体环境中，如何说服公民从未如此重要。这项研究将侧重于微观（对公民的影响），中观（对政治精英的影响）和宏观层面的影响（对民主的影响）。该项目将解决四个研究问题：（RQ 1）组织如何通过在选举期间在线瞄准潜在选民来塑造选举活动？(RQ2)在欧洲国家，哪些宪法和立法框架决定了数据驱动竞选的范围和性质？(RQ3)如何看待数据驱动的目标定位实践？(RQ4)在多大程度上，数据驱动的定位做法实际上会影响选民？该项目是新颖的，因为它（1）扩展和经验测试数据驱动竞选的理论框架，同时（2）使用研究方法和（3）比较视角的混合。DATADRIVEN将提供四个欧洲国家选举期间在线数据驱动的目标定位技术的更深入理解（即，荷兰、德国、奥地利和联合王国）。

Data-driven political campaigns are on the rise. Concerns have been voiced that practices like onlinepolitical microtargeting techniques are harmful for democracy. These concerns grew after the unexpectedoutcome of the US presidential elections in 2016, the Brexit vote in the UK, and several recent electionsin Europe. However, it is unclear if data-driven campaigns using online microtargeting techniques are anactual threat to democracy. The project will focus on both the intended and unintended consequences ofdata-driven targeting and digital persuasion. In light of ongoing political and societal turmoil, investigatinghow citizens may be persuaded in a turbulent age and in a changing media landscape has never beenmore important. The study will focus on micro (consequences for citizens), meso (consequences forpolitical elites), and macro level effects (consequences for democracy). The project will address fourresearch questions: (RQ1) How do organizations shape elections campaigns by targeting potential votersonline during elections? (RQ2) What are the constitutional and legislative frameworks shaping the extentand nature of data-driven campaigning in European countries? (RQ3) How are data-driven targetingpractices perceived? (RQ4) To what extent do data-driven targeting practices actually affect voters? Theproject is novel as it (1) extends and empirically tests a theoretical framework of data-drivencampaigning, while (2) using a mixture of research methods and a (3) comparative perspective.DATADRIVEN will offer a deeper understanding of online data-driven targeting techniques during electionsin four European countries (i.e., Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and United Kingdom).