The Potential of Digital
Optimising Trustworthy Digital Contact (PODtrust)
PODtrust
PODtrust Project is driven by a dual mission: to advance academic understanding of political trust in the digital era, and to support the development of more inclusive and trustworthy democratic institutions.
The project is rooted in the belief that high trust interactions between citizens and political actors such as politicians, government officials, and journalists, enable collective action, inspire participation and ensure adherence to political rules and norms. Yet these bonds are subject to challenge and increasingly frayed. This project is exploring whether and under what conditions digital communication can strengthen or erode trust – specifically looking at communication via email, social media, chatbots, social media influencers, and AI-generated synthetic media.
The mission is both scholarly and societal: to generate new theoretical models of trust and to provide policymakers, civil society organizations, and technology practitioners with evidence-based good practive recommendations for fostering democratic connection. PODtrust aims to influence not only academic debates but also real-world practices, helping to reimagine political contact in a way that supports inclusion, legitimacy, and long-term democratic resilience.
Commitment to equity is matched by rigorous interdisciplinary research that brings together 4 Partner Universities with various academic expertice in political science, communication studies, and political psychology with research agenda embracing quantitative and qualitative approaches.
