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Politics of the Low Countries

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Aflevering 2, 2023 Alle samenvattingen uitklappen
Article

Appendix Using Process-Tracing to Evaluate Competing Accounts of Proportional Representation in Belgium

Trefwoorden proportional representation, Belgium, institutional change, electoral threat, extra-institutional threat, protest mobilisation
Auteurs Nina Barzachka
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie

    Analyses of the historical origins of proportional representation (PR) in Belgium have helped shed light on the origins of electoral systems in Western Europe. Nevertheless, debates over what exactly led to the introduction of PR in Belgium persist. Was it electoral threat, Left existential threat or a combination of these two factors? This article applies the completeness standard for process-tracing and employs theoretical insights from the institutional change literature to evaluate these explanations. It re-examines the historical sources used by the extant scholarship of the Belgian case. It finds that both extra-institutional threat and electoral threat fluctuated over time, interacted with one another and mattered during different points of the electoral system reform process. In 1899, when pure PR was finally introduced, both of these factors played a role.


Nina Barzachka
Nina Barzachka is Assistant Professor of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross, MA, US.

Audrey Vandeleene
Audrey Vandeleene is a postdoctoral researcher in political science at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and scientific collaborator at the Universiteit Gent (UGent). She is a member of the Editorial Board of Politics of the Low Countries where she serves as a co-editor of the PhD Reviews.

Maurits J. Meijers
Maurits J. Meijers is an assistant professor for political science at the Department of Political Science at Radboud University in Nijmegen. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Politics of the Low Countries where he serves as a co-editor of the PhD Reviews.

Luana Russo
Luana Russo is an assistant professor in quantitative methods at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS) of Maastricht University. She serves as co-editor-in-chief of Politics of the Low Countries.

Min Reuchamps
Min Reuchamps is a professor of political science at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) and he currently serves as co-editor-in-chief of Politics of the Low Countries.
Article

Assessing Basic Income Feasibility Political Parties’ Positions on the French-Speaking Belgian Scene

Trefwoorden basic income, parties, political feasibility
Auteurs Floriane Geels
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie

    Social protection systems are under growing pressure and face many challenges. Some argue that a universal basic income (BI) has the potential to transcend political cleavages and offer the ground for a welfare reform. While previous literature has increasingly tackled BI’s feasibility, ground-based research is still scarce. This study intends to fill this gap by considering the positions of five French-speaking Belgian parties (PTB, PS, Ecolo, Les Engagés and MR) on BI. Through a qualitative in-depth analysis of semi-structured interviews and grey literature, the article shows that BI proposals coming from liberals, democrats and ecologists are representative of the left-right cleavage. This is explained by the multidimensionality of the ‘basic income’ concept but also by diverging visions on work and society. By studying concrete parties’ positions, this article reveals the barriers and ways forward the path to BI’s strategic political feasibility in Belgium.


Floriane Geels
Floriane Geels, MD, is a junior researcher at the Université Saint-Louis in Brussels, Belgium.
Article

Using Process-Tracing to Evaluate Competing Accounts of Proportional Representation in Belgium

Trefwoorden proportional representation, Belgium, institutional change, electoral threat, extra-institutional threat, protest mobilisation
Auteurs Nina Barzachka
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie

    Analyses of the historical origins of proportional representation (PR) in Belgium have helped shed light on the origins of electoral systems in Western Europe. Nevertheless, debates over what exactly led to the introduction of PR in Belgium persist. Was it electoral threat, Left existential threat or a combination of these two factors? This article applies the completeness standard for process-tracing and employs theoretical insights from the institutional change literature to evaluate these explanations. It re-examines the historical sources used by the extant scholarship of the Belgian case. It finds that both extra-institutional threat and electoral threat fluctuated over time, interacted with one another and mattered during different points of the electoral system reform process. In 1899, when pure PR was finally introduced, both of these factors played a role.


Nina Barzachka
Nina Barzachka is Assistant Professor of Political Science, College of the Holy Cross, MA, US.
State of the Profession

Access_open The University in Crisis: Why (Neoliberal) Diversity Is Not the Answer

Trefwoorden diversity, gender equality, academia, policy, decolonization
Auteurs Dounia Bourabain
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie

    The academic profession is often perceived as the epitome of meritocracy, while Critical Diversity and University scholars have demonstrated how it continues to grapple with gender and racial inequality across all levels. This article delves into the challenges of inequality in academia, particularly in the context of Belgian universities, and proposes a transformative approach to address these issues. Based on my previous work, I discuss how Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) policies are misused and serve as a smokescreen to achieve the neoliberal interests of universities while remaining largely non-performative. Even more, EDI policies are introduced to bypass power, rather than change the power structures that continue to reproduce gender and racial inequality in academia. Using a praxis of hope, I move beyond identifying the problem by proposing the ‘University of the Common’ as an alternative academic system that goes beyond superficial diversity, aiming to create a university founded on social justice and in service of the common good. Key features include decolonizing knowledge, promoting antiracist feminist governance, and fostering a collective effort by academics to build an equitable university.


Dounia Bourabain
Professor Dounia Bourabain, School of Social Sciences, Hasselt University.
State of the Profession

Access_open Doing Political Science on the Eve of Destruction: Why I Decided to Leave Academia

Trefwoorden climate change, ecological crisis, political science profession
Auteurs Ramon van der Does
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie

    The current human condition knows no precedent. Our species’ history is replete with societies crumbling and ecosystems collapsing. But never before has human existence itself been this clearly on the eve of destruction. What does this mean for political science? In this piece, I argue why now more than ever political scientists ought to reflect on the question how they are to spend the 80,000 hours of their careers and explain my own choice to quit academia and do political science outside of the university.


Ramon van der Does
Ramon van der Does, ISPOLE, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium.

Joke Matthieu
Joke Matthieu is a senior researcher affiliated with the research group M2P of the Department of political sciences at the University of Antwerp.

Silvia Erzeel
Silvia Erzeel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

David Talukder
David Talukder, University of Cambridge & Université libre de Bruxelles.

Roberto Foa
Robert Foa, Assistant Professor, University of Cambridge.

Julien Vrydagh
Julien Vrydagh, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Stuttgart.

Christoph Niessen
Christoph Niessen, Christoph Niessen, FWO Research Fellow, University of Antwerp.

Ramon van der Does
Ramon van der Does, ISPOLE, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium.

Florian van Leeuwen
Florian van Leeuwen, Assistant Professor, Tilburg University.