HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-02: Understanding the Forms of Local Democracy in Low-Income and Low-Middle Income Countries

This Horizon Europe topic, officially titled “Understanding the forms of local democracy in low-income and low-middle income countries,” funds research into how democracy actually functions below the level of national government in low- and low-middle income countries, and what that means for the EU’s ability to support democratic practice abroad. The premise in the call text: developing countries with strong local democratic practices tend to be more resilient against democratic backsliding.

Call at a Glance

Expected Outcomes

Projects should contribute to all of the following:

• EU institutions and national decision-makers are equipped with science-based tools, toolkits, training models, monitoring frameworks, and recommendations to proactively promote inequality reduction, human rights, and democracy in low-income and low-middle income countries.
• EU institutions and national decision-makers are better able to promote democratic values, principles, and practices, grounded in a better understanding of local actors, their capacity, and their needs.
• EU institutions, national decision-makers, and civil society organisations can access and use evidence-based good practices for working in fragile contexts.
• EU institutions and national decision-makers understand the role of decentralisation, and its impact on the quality of public services and on citizen acceptance of democratic processes.

In addition, projects should contribute to at least one of:

• Policymakers, public authorities, and service delivery providers better understand the link between efficient public service delivery and pro-democratic sentiment.
• Civil society organisations and other actors working in development cooperation and human rights have better tools to promote democratic practices at local level.

Scope: What Proposals Should Address

The call situates itself in a global trend: democratic backsliding and human rights rollbacks, driven by internal instability and external interference promoting non-democratic models, which the text frames as a risk to European citizens and businesses and a destabilising factor for regions the EU works with.

Proposals should:

• Gather evidence on how local economic, political, and social actors foster democratic practices, increase trust in governance and institutions, improve transparency of decision-making, and promote respect for human rights.
• Examine different forms of democratic participation and governance at local level, with particular attention to the inclusion of women and marginalised and underrepresented groups.
• Investigate how EU and national public authorities can operate in fragile contexts where central governments lack effective control over parts of the territory, and where cooperation therefore runs through sub-national administrations and civil society partners.
• Investigate the link between efficient public service delivery and pro-democratic sentiment, measured for example by civic participation or trust in institutions, with critical analysis of the evidence and identification of good practices and the conditions under which they transfer to other contexts.

Method and Partnership Expectations

Research activities should meaningfully involve a wide range of local stakeholders, including non-scientific and non-academic actors: public authorities, economic and institutional actors, trade unions, traditional and faith leaders, indigenous people, women’s and LGBTIQ groups. Proposals are encouraged to involve entities based in low- and middle-income countries and to rely on their first-hand competences to steer the methodological approach and carry out data collection and analysis.

Participatory research approaches and experimental methods are encouraged, with a multidisciplinary approach spanning political science, public administration, economics, cultural studies, sociology, gender studies, and geography.

International cooperation is strongly encouraged, with collaboration aligned to the New EU Agenda for EU-Latin America and the Caribbean, the EU–Central Asia Strategy, and the AU–EU Innovation Agenda. The policy backdrop includes the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 2020–2027, Team Europe Democracy, and the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument.

Data Requirements

Where applicable, proposals should leverage data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and relevant Data Spaces. The call asks for particular effort to ensure data produced under the topic is FAIR: findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.

Eligibility and Consortium Requirements

Standard Horizon Europe eligibility applies (General Annex B): at least one independent legal entity established in an EU Member State, plus at least two further independent entities from different Member States or Associated Countries. Given the geographical scope, participation of entities from the countries under study is strongly encouraged.

Where to Apply

Proposals are submitted through the EU Funding & Tenders Portal. Check the official topic page and the Cluster 2 work programme for authoritative conditions.

Related Calls in This Destination

Also closing 23 September 2026 under Innovative Research on Democracy and Governance:

• HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-03 — Government in transition
• HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-DEMOCRACY-05 — Research and Innovation Network for a Union of Equality
• See all HORIZON-CL2-2026-01 calls

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