Belgium : State of the Federation 2021

Friday Dec 17, 2021, 9:00 AM → 3:40 PM Europe/Brussels

Teams

After the virtual 2020 conference wonderfully organised by our colleagues from the Ghent University, we are glad to invite you to the 10th (!) edition of the State of the Federation. The “SoF” conference has now become a very awaited event among our community. Since its creation, it has grown as a key event for Belgian and Belgium-based political scientists (but also for some international scholars), with high-quality panels and interventions as well as with motivated and engaged researchers. After a rather difficult past year, we hope that this 10th edition will once again be a welcoming opportunity to discuss results of political science in Belgium.

The conference will take place on Friday 17 December 2021, a few days before the winter break, as tradition requires. Due to health conditions, it will be once again a virtual event organised via Teams. You will find the complete agenda with Teams links here below. We welcome papers dealing with any aspect of politics in Belgium and comparative politics. Topics could include: electoral and party politics, federalism and institutional reform, participation and representation, public policies and administration, covid politics or Belgium’s international and European politics. Papers could examine all levels of the polity (local, regional, federal, European and international).

Please submit your abstract(s) of max 200 words on the registration form by 22 October 2021 at the latest.

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Organizing Committee: Jérémy Dodeigne, Archibald Gustin, Elisa Minsart, Gert-Jan Put and Carine Remy.

Google Drive Folder for Final Papers

SoF2021_Programme.pdf

9:00 AM → 9:25 AM Panel 1 : Federalism and regionalism: Jakob Frateur (UAntwerpen): Assessing the state of democracy of multilevel polities and their reforms: the case of Belgium.

Chair: Gert-Jan Put (UNamur)
Discussant: Min Reuchamps (UCLouvain)

9:00 AM → 9:25 AM Panel 2: Democratic innovations I: Maxime Gaborit (Université Saint-Louis Bruxelles) & Selma Tilikete (Université Paris 8) : Délibérer pour le climat en France et en Belgique

Chair: François Randour (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Ramon van der Does (UCLouvain) ) & Lisa van Dijk (KU Leuven)

9:00 AM → 9:33 AM Panel 3: Political Communication: Nicolas De Vadder (ULB) & Lukas Kins (ULB): Party organisation and campaign digitalisation: analysing tasks and role perceptions among digital communication staff in French-speaking Belgian parties

Chair: Archibald Gustin (ULiège)
Discussant: Laura Jacobs (ULB)

9:25 AM → 9:50 AM Panel 1 : Federalism and regionalism: Laura Pascolo (UCLouvain): The federal dynamics in Belgium: the points of views of political parties and their members

Chair: Gert-Jan Put (UNamur)
Discussant: Min Reuchamps (UCLouvain)

9:25 AM → 9:50 AM Panel 2: Democratic innovations I: Vincent Jacquet (UNamur), Jérémy Dodeigne (UNamur) & Elisa Minsart (UNamur): Which public authorities invest in participatory budgeting?

Chair: François Randour (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Ramon van der Does (UCLouvain) ) & Lisa van Dijk (KU Leuven)

9:33 AM → 10:06 AM Panel 3: Political Communication: - Elise Storme (Universiteit Gent): How About the Female Voice: Evaluating the Representation of Flemish Ministers in Newspaper Articles

Chair: Archibald Gustin (ULiège)
Discussant: Laura Jacobs (ULB)

9:50 AM → 10:15 AM Panel 1 : Federalism and regionalism: Lorenzo Terrière (Universiteit Gent): When crossing the Rubicon: regionalist parties in government

Chair: Gert-Jan Put (UNamur)
Discussant: Min Reuchamps (UCLouvain)

9:50 AM → 10:15 AM Panel 2: Democratic innovations I: Julien Vrydagh (VUB & UCLouvain): Driving the same vehicle but with a different itinerary? How initiators justify the use of minipublics in Belgium (2001-2021)

Chair: François Randour (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Ramon van der Does (UCLouvain) ) & Lisa van Dijk (KU Leuven)

10:06 AM → 10:40 AM Panel 3: Political Communication: Gunther Vanden Eynde (KU Leuven) & Gert-Jan Put (UNamur): The coming of age of paid digital campaigning: Equalization or Normalization in the 2019 Belgian federal elections

Chair: Archibald Gustin (ULiège)
Discussant: Laura Jacobs (ULB)

10:15 AM → 10:40 AM Panel 1 : Federalism and regionalism: Maxime Vandenberghe (Universiteit Gent): Federalization and Accommodative Power-Sharing: Curse or Cure? The Impact of Federalization on Communal Conflict in Belgian Cabinets

Chair: Gert-Jan Put (UNamur)
Discussant: Min Reuchamps (UCLouvain)

10:15 AM → 10:40 AM Panel 2: Democratic innovations I: Nina De Smedt (Ghent University) : The changed face of local councillors

Chair: François Randour (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Ramon van der Does (UCLouvain) ) & Lisa van Dijk (KU Leuven)

10:40 AM → 11:00 AM Coffee break

11:00 AM → 11:33 AM Panel 4: Political parties: Floriane Geels (Saint-Louis University): Basic income(s): support and opposition of Belgian political parties

Chair: Alban Versailles (UCLouvain)
Discussant(s): TBC

11:00 AM → 11:33 AM Panel 5: Multi-level politics: Loris Gathy (KU Leuven): The influence of country-specific recommendations: the case of "spending reviews" in Flanders and Wallonia

Chair: Thomas Laloux (UCLouvain)
Discussant(s): Gilles Pittoors (University of Groningen)

11:00 AM → 11:50 AM Panel 6: Voting and Electoral Behavior I: Jérémy Dodeigne (UNamur), Jean-Benoit Pilet (ULB) & Peter Thijssen (UAntwerpen): Can voters correctly assess the electability of candidates in PR list systems? A study of Belgian local elections

Chair: Vincent Jacquet (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Gert-Jan Put (UNamur)

11:33 AM → 12:06 PM Panel 4: Political parties: Jasmien Luypaert: (Universiteit Gent): When do parties change their political product? Causes of programmatic-, organizational – and personnel reforms in Belgian mainstream parties

Chair: Alban Versailles (UCLouvain)
Discussant(s): TBC

11:33 AM → 12:06 PM Panel 5: Multi-level politics: Sophie Kopsch (UNamur & UCLouvain): So close but still too far away from power? Unveiling women's careers in the European Parliament

Chair: Thomas Laloux (UCLouvain)
Discussant(s): Gilles Pittoors (University of Groningen)

11:50 AM → 12:40 PM Panel 6: Voting and Electoral Behavior I: Silke Goubin (KU Leuven): Do Belgians care about economic inequality? How inequality does (not) drive political engagement in an “equal” society

Chair: Vincent Jacquet (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Gert-Jan Put (UNamur)

12:06 PM → 12:40 PM Panel 4: Political parties: Raf Reuse (Universiteit Gent): Ideological nationalization within Flemish parties. An exploratory study based on computerized coding of local party manifestos

Chair: Alban Versailles (UCLouvain)
Discussant(s): TBC

12:06 PM → 12:40 PM Panel 5: Multi-level politics: François Randour (UNamur) & Scott Hamilton (University of Antwerp) : Parliamentary resistance in a multi-level environment: Belgian parliaments and the CETA saga

Chair: Thomas Laloux (UCLouvain)
Discussant(s): Gilles Pittoors (University of Groningen)

12:40 PM → 2:00 PM Lunch Break

2:00 PM → 2:25 PM Panel 7: Public Opinion and Attitudes: Lore Baeten (UGent) & Anna Kern (UGent): To what degree is policy-making responsive to electoral losers? A comparative analysis of policy responsiveness in European democracies

Chair: François Randour (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Anna Kern (Ghent University) & Jérémy Dodeigne (UNamur)

2:00 PM → 2:25 PM Panel 8: Voting and Electoral Behavior II: Jérémy Dodeigne (UNamur), Gert-Jan Put (UNamur) & Jean-Benoit Pilet (ULB): Somewhere between open and closed, but where exactly? A new approach to classify flexible list PR electoral systems

Chair: Sophie Kopsch (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Peter Thijssen (UAntwerpen)

2:00 PM → 2:20 PM Panel 9: Democratic Innovations II: Loïc Cobut (Université Saint-Louis Bruxelles) : Local governance and the (non)emergence of renewable energy cooperatives. The case of Wallonia.

Chair: Elisa Minsart (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Sebastien Rojon (ULB)

2:20 PM → 2:40 PM Panel 9: Democratic Innovations II: Rebecca Gebauer (UCLouvain), Ann-Mireille Sauter (UCLouvain), Christoph Niessen (UCLouvain) & Min Reuchamps (UCLouvain): Public perceptions of institutionalized deliberative mini-publics

Chair: Elisa Minsart (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Sebastien Rojon (ULB)

2:25 PM → 2:50 PM Panel 7: Public Opinion and Attitudes: Kamil Bernaerts (VUB and University of Warwick) & Benjamin Blanckaert (VUB): Institutional design and polarisation: do consensus democracies fare better in fighting polarisation than majoritarian democracies?

Chair: François Randour (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Anna Kern (Ghent University) & Jérémy Dodeigne (UNamur)

2:25 PM → 2:50 PM Panel 8: Voting and Electoral Behavior II: Peter Thijssen (UAntwerpen), Rozemarijn van Dijk (UAntwerpen) & Patrick van Erkel (UAntwerpen): Playing the (wo)man: the effect of centralized personalized voting on affective polarization

Chair: Sophie Kopsch (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Peter Thijssen (UAntwerpen)

2:40 PM → 3:00 PM Panel 9: Democratic Innovations II: Christophe Niessen (European University Institute), Sean Mueller (Université de Lausanne) & Min Reuchamps (UCLouvain): Democratic Innovations in Multilingual Federations: Taking Group-Level Dynamics for Demand Seriously

Chair: Elisa Minsart (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Sebastien Rojon (ULB)

2:50 PM → 3:15 PM Panel 7: Public Opinion and Attitudes: Thomas Laloux (UCLouvain), Virginie Van Ingelgom (UCLouvain), Soetkin Verhaegen (Maastricht University) & Alban Versailles (UCLouvain): Citizens’ perception of globalization: a systematic review and research agenda

Chair: François Randour (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Anna Kern (Ghent University) & Jérémy Dodeigne (UNamur)

2:50 PM → 3:15 PM Panel 8: Voting and Electoral Behavior II: Laura Jacobs (ULB), Caroline Close (ULB) & Jean-Benoit Pilet (ULB): The Angry Voter? The role of emotions in explaining the populist vote at the 2019 Belgian elections

Chair: Sophie Kopsch (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Peter Thijssen (UAntwerpen)

3:00 PM → 3:20 PM Panel 9: Democratic Innovations II: Ramon van der Does (UCLouvain): Societal Fragmentation and the Rise and Fall of Deliberative Politics

Chair: Elisa Minsart (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Sebastien Rojon (ULB)

3:15 PM → 3:40 PM Panel 7: Public Opinion and Attitudes: - Heidi Mercenier (VUB and UCLouvain): Understanding citizens’ resentment towards politics: a matter of time?

Chair: François Randour (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Anna Kern (Ghent University) & Jérémy Dodeigne (UNamur)

3:15 PM → 3:40 PM Panel 8: Voting and Electoral Behavior II: Archibald Gustin (ULiège) & Geoffrey Grandjean (ULiège): The political consequences of the use of constructive motions of no-confidence at the local level in Wallonia (2006-2018)

Chair: Sophie Kopsch (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Peter Thijssen (UAntwerpen)

3:20 PM → 3:40 PM Panel 9: Democratic Innovations II: Lisa van Dijk (KU Leuven), Emma Turkenburg (KU Leuven) & James Pow (Queen’s University Belfast): The perceived legitimacy of deliberative minipublics: A polarised perspective

Chair: Elisa Minsart (UNamur)
Discussant(s): Sebastien Rojon (ULB)