How Algorithms Change Public Decision-making

From visa applications to social benefits, algorithmic systems are already involved in decisions that affect people's everyday lives. "This is not some kind of a science fiction future," says Daria Gritsenko. "This is what is happening right here, right now." Algorithmic systems can speed up administrative processes and support decision-making. At the same time, however, they also change how governance works. As rules and discretionary authority become embedded in software, questions of responsibility, transparency, and control also shift.

For Gritsenko, these developments are not only a matter of technological efficiency. They raise political questions: how public authority is exercised, how decisions are justified, and how citizens come to accept or contest automated procedures. Her research therefore looks beyond the design of individual systems and asks what happens when algorithmic tools become part of public institutions.

Acceptance of algorithmic decisions

"I want to understand how people perceive these systems and what kinds of norms develop around them," Gritsenko says. In practice, this means studying questions such as who is held responsible when an automated system makes a mistake, what people consider fair, and why some algorithmic decisions are accepted while others trigger mistrust.

To answer these questions, Daria Gritsenko combines approaches from political science with experimental designs, qualitative research, and computational methods. Rather than viewing algorithms as isolated technical tools, she examines how people, institutions, and technologies shape one another. "I am not primarily interested in what an algorithm is technically capable of, but in how technology, institutions and societal values change one another," she says. Whether such systems gain public acceptance depends not only on how well they function, but also on whether their use is seen as accountable and legitimate.