Busara is joining People Powered and the Democracy Narratives Alliance (DNA). This expands global collaborations of Busara’s Behavioural Science for Governance (BeGov) portfolio. As part of the partnership, Busara and People Powered co-produced a three-part research series on what democracy narratives are, and how they can be used to foster democratic engagement. Busara is releasing two of the foundational research products today, and People Powered will be releasing a research brief, at an upcoming DNA webinar on March 24th.
People Powered is a global hub for participatory democracy supporting the direct participation of community members in policy decisions that affect their lives.
DNA seeks to coordinate and consolidate narrative change efforts in the democracy field. Bringing together more than 35 organisations, research institutions and funders working on democracy and communications it builds on the consensus that narratives are key to promoting, protecting and preserving democracy in a time of rising authoritarianism. While different organisations have invested significant time and resources to identify salient narratives that can encourage or discourage support for democracy as a system and practice these efforts remain siloed without a clear strategy for coordination or consolidation for the broader field. DNA is the space for such knowledge sharing.
‘For the past ten years, Busara’s BeGov has been closing the gap between behavioural science research and the real-world strategies used by civil society, policymakers and other actors to build effective engagement with citizens,’ said Gideon Too, Busara’s Vice President of Research, Advisory and Practice. ‘It has been eye-opening to understand what shapes the behaviour of engaged citizens. It can be easy for organisations to assume that their strategies to enthuse people for their democracy programmes will work. Understanding the underlying behavioural aspects that shape how citizens engage in and navigate democratic processes in different cultures and contexts often brings surprises that require programmatic change. It is exciting for Busara to share our insights within the global reach of People Powered and DNA. But crucially, at a time when democracy needs our support, I look forward to learning from and collaborating with other partners. ’
The three research outputs produced in collaboration with People Powered and launched today reflect some of these insights. The systematic literature review Democracy narratives: what are they and how do they matter for democratic engagement and behaviour examines how narratives about democracy shape democratic engagement and behaviour. The report explores how people’s mental models, communication environments and lived experiences influence their participation in democratic processes or disengagement. It concludes that supporting democratic engagement requires understanding behavioural drivers, social context and power structures.
The second publication From narrative to action: fostering democratic engagement and engaged citizens through behaviour change examines how narratives about democracy translate into democratic behaviour and participation. Drawing on behavioural science it frames democracy not only as a system of institutions but as a set of everyday actions carried out by citizens and institutions. Using the COM-B behaviour change model the report outlines how capability, opportunity and motivation shape whether people engage in democratic practices.
The third publication is the Research Brief How to Talk about Democracy: What We Know (and Don’t Know) will be launched at a global webinar to present the three-part research series, synthesizing nearly 400 academic and practitioner publications, evidence from over 150 studies, and insights from more than 30 international organizations and funders.
Webinar title: Democracy Narratives: What works—and what doesn’t
When? : March 24th, 1:00 pm UTC / 9:00 am EST
Where? Register for the event here
About Busara
Busara is a non-profit research and advisory organization with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, and offices in India, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Mexico. Our mission is to advance and apply behavioral research in pursuit of poverty alleviation. Since our beginning in 2013, we have built the largest behavioral science laboratory for the Global Majority, and have created applied research portfolios in agriculture, health, inclusive finance, governance and education, among others. Along the way, we have become a global leader in behavioral research and serve as an exemplar of mixing science and application to solve problems of equity, access, poverty and opportunity.