Democratic societies face unprecedented transformations as artificial intelligence (AI) increasingly mediates citizen engagement in democratic systems. Emerging technologies such as AI create many opportunities to enhance participatory processes, but also introduce new forms of digital power or technical dominion. This research project examines how AI-driven or enhanced platforms for public participation are reshaping democratic agency and political legitimacy by questioning “democratic algorithms”, design and deployment within participation platforms used by cities globally. The research project will investigate whose voice and whose power is amplified in the theories and normative assumptions embedded within the platform’s architectures, while framing AI’s impacts for citizens’ autonomy and agency and overall engagement integrity. It will propose three interconnected work packages combining comprehensive global platform mapping, empirical research and participatory analysis. An interdisciplinary multi-method approach working with citizens and cities (Munich and Zurich) will move beyond technological determinism and empirically trace how evolving AI systems are shaping the contours of future democratic society. The research will generate novel theoretical insights into the future of (e-)democracy and produce practical guidelines for cities implementing public participation platforms that use AI. The objective is to ensure that AI-mediated public participation is empowering citizens in democratic engagement by identifying and addressing emerging forms of digital power, algorithmic bias and sociotechnical-rooted imbalances and vulnerabilities.

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