The DEFIDEM project is an international, multi-disciplinary (mainly law and political science) project to study ways of involving citizens directly in the workings of institutions and political decision-making processes, in order to promote inclusion, civic engagement and the development of a culture of participation.
 
This vast project is made up of some sixty researchers attached to 11 research teams: 2 French teams (DICE and CERAPS) and 9 European and North American teams from Belgium (Brussels), Canada (Montreal and Quebec), Croatia (Zagreb), Hungary (Szeged), Ireland (UCD Dublin), Iceland (Reykjavik), Italy (Bari), Norway (Agder) and Switzerland (Geneva and Neuchâtel).

The aim of DEFIDEM is to consolidate a research network on the mechanisms of direct democracy and citizen participation.