This article investigates to what extent national and/or local factors influence the performance of national parties in the most recent Flemish and Dutch municipal elections of, respectively, 2012 and 2014. |
Zoekresultaat: 16 artikelen
Introduction |
Local Elections in the Low Countries: Evolutions and Reforms |
Tijdschrift | Politics of the Low Countries, Aflevering 3 2019 |
Auteurs | Sofie Hennau en Johan Ackaert |
Auteursinformatie |
Article |
Domineren Brussel en Den Haag ook de Dorpsstraat?Nationale en lokale determinanten van het succes van nationale partijen bij de Nederlandse en Vlaamse gemeenteraadsverkiezingen |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 3 2017 |
Trefwoorden | second-order elections, municipal elections, local politics |
Auteurs | Sofie Hennau, Ramon van der Does en Johan Ackaert |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Editorial |
Woord vooraf |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 1 2010 |
Auteurs | Joop van Holsteyn en Johan Ackaert |
Auteursinformatie |
Article |
Bestuurskracht binnenshuis. Doorwerking van het Gemeentedecreet op bestuurskracht van Vlaamse gemeenten |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 3 2009 |
Trefwoorden | administrative power, municipalities, cooperation, Flemish municipal decree |
Auteurs | Filip De Rynck, Ellen Olislagers en Johan Ackaert |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
This article examines the impact of the Flemish municipal decree on the administrative power of Flemish municipalities. The general goal of the Flemish municipal decree was the strengthening of administrative power by changing political-political relations, political-administrative relations and the supporting policy and management cycle. This article shows the limited meaning of the political component for this strengthening. Changes in the administrative organization of Flemish municipalities on the other hand are looking more promising, although scale and different types of municipalities continues to stay an important factor. |
Article |
De gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 8 oktober 2006Evolutie sinds 1976 |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 2-3 2007 |
Auteurs | Johan Ackaert, Herwig Reynaert, Koenraad De Ceuninck e.a. |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
The 2006 local elections in Belgium were the first one organised after the transfer of the local authorities competences from the federal to the regional level. This means by consequence that the different regions have as well the competence in designing the institutional framework of local government as the competence of changing electoral rules. The same elections were also the first ones after drastic reforms in the national political landscape (eg., the democratic Flemish nationalist party split in different groups, nearly all the parties changed their name and particularly in the Flemish part of the country, different kinds of alliances between parties emerged). |
Article |
De provincieraadsverkiezingen van 8 oktober 2006Electorale tendensen in Vlaanderen en Wallonië |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 2-3 2007 |
Auteurs | Tony Valcke, Herwig Reynaert, Kristof Steyvers e.a. |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
The 2006 provincial elections in Belgium were the first organised after the transfer of the bulk of competences on local and provincial government from the federal to the regional level. This means that the different regions have both the competence to redesign the institutional framework on provincial government and to change the electoral rules. The government has exercised its competence: some institutional and electoral rules are now different in the two regions. These elections were also the first after drastic reforms in the national political landscape (e.g., the democratic Flemish nationalist party split in different groups, nearly all the parties changed their name and different kinds of cartels and alliances between parties emerged, especially in the Flemish part of the country). |
Article |
Doen (wijzigende) instituties ertoe?De invloed van het gemeente(kies)decreet op de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 2006 |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 1 2007 |
Auteurs | Johan Ackaert, Koenraad De Ceuninck, Herwig Reynaert e.a. |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
With the local elections in 2006, new organisational schemes have been applied by the Flemish government to the 308 municipalities. These schemes included institutional reform aimed to change the outset of local government. In this article we studied the influence of these reforms in practice. Are they actually carriers of change? We thereby focused on the direct aspects linked to these reforms. While many instruments of reform had indirect intended effects, acceptance and action among key decision-makers (both voters and local governors to the extent of their discretion) to use them directly becomes crucial. Our analysis has shown that, with some exceptions, direct autonomous space for action was only limitedly used, hence reducing the chances for indirect change. While it is still too early to fully assess the foreseen indirect effects, in our opinion it is crucial to understand the nature of these local reforms within the central (Flemish) bargaining arena. The latter seems to have transformed the new schemes of local governmental organisation to the path-dependent art of the political feasible. |
Conclusion |
Hoe duurzaam is de heraangelegde Dorpsstraat?Lessen uit 8 oktober 2006 |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 1 2007 |
Auteurs | Johan Ackaert, Herwig Reynaert en Peter Van Aelst |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Although the 2006 local elections can hardly be described as ‘historical’, there is sufficient evidence to distinguish remarkable characteristics associated with this elections. For the first time in decades, turnout has been growing. This evolution can be explained by several factors. This article emphasizes besides the impact of changes in the electoral rules, transformations in demographic structure of the population and the stake of the elections the importance of the media campaign surrounding the elections. However, in spite of this (national) campaigns, there are more than enough indications that local politics keeps its local ‘nature’. Secondly, the 2006 elections were the first ones organised after the transfer of the responsibility for municipality legislation from the federal state to the regions. This means that each region designed its own local government architecture and electoral rules. Yet, in practice, the consequences of this transformations seem to be very limited. Thirdly, and particular in the Flemish region, ‘strong mayors’ arose from the ballot stations (with the Antwerp mayor as the most spectacular case). The consequences of this trend will in the future be the issue of a new debate concerning the relations between council, board of alderman and mayor. |
Introduction |
De strijd om de (heraangelegde) Dorpsstraat |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 1 2007 |
Auteurs | Peter Van Aelst, Herwig Reynaert en Johan Ackaert |
Auteursinformatie |
Article |
De rol van de burgemeester |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 1 1997 |
Auteurs | Johan Ackaert |
Samenvatting |
This article confronts several theoretical role-models about mayor's behaviour with their own perception. For this purpose, the statistical data is drawn from a survey among Flemish mayors. Mayors perceive the ''father of the community" role as the most prevailing one. This perception is reflected in their timespending. More than 1/4 of their time is dedicated towards activities such as participation in the community life, individual service rendering to citizens and having individual contacts with them. The father of the community' role lives strongly among mayors with a lower educational degree and less among the higher educated ones. It is also more perceived among mayors being recent office-bolders, while the more experienced ones seem more to maintain a certain distance from this role. Moreover, mayors with a lower educational degree are recordholders in having individual contacts with citizens. Finally, no relation has been found between roleperception and timespending on the one hand and party background on the other hand. |
Article |
De gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 9 oktober 1994Analyse van de resultaten |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 3-4 1995 |
Auteurs | Johan Ackaert |
Samenvatting |
The institutional setting of the 1994 local elections was characterized by a by law introduced limitation of campaign expenditures and the increased share (at least 25%) of female candidates. In spite of compulsory voting rules, the turnout decreased with 1,2%. The proportion of blanc or invalid votes increased slightly with 0,3%. The results of the local elections followed the trends drawn by the 1991 general election. This means general losses for the traditional parties and large progress for the extreme right-wing parties. In the Flemish region, the winners were the extreme right-wing Vlaams Blok, the ecologist AGALEV and the VLD liberals. The others parties lost votes. This was particularly the case for the Flemish-nationalist VU, followed by the socialists (SP) and the christian-democrats (CVP). In the Walloons region, all the traditional parties were set back or stagnated. The socialists (PS) suffered the largest decline, but the liberals (PRL) and christian-democrats (PSC) lost voters too. The ecologist ECOLO only kept a modest status quo position. On the other hand, the extreme right-wing parties Front National and Agir realised a breakthrough. In Brussels, we notice the same tendencies, set-backs for the traditional parties and progress for the extreme rightwing parties (of both languages). The ecologists belonged there also to the winning side. Nevertheless, the fragmentation of the local political system should not be dramatized. In general terms, parties supporting the leaving political majorities in the municipalities were no langer electorally favoured. On the contrary, the liberals realized better results in these municipalities where they belonged to the opposition. |
Article |
Het gebruik van de voorkeurstem bij de gemeenteraadsverkiezingenEen terreinverkenning in de provincie Limburg |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 2 1994 |
Auteurs | Johan Ackaert |
Samenvatting |
There is only few information available about the use of preferential votes at local elections, since the Belgian Home Department does not publish that particular statistical material. This article registers the size of preferential voting and discusses its consequences for the local political system, based on statistical data collected in the 43 municipalities of the Limburg province where local elections were held in 1988. Nearly 9 of the 10 voters used the preferential vote to express their choice. This is a much higher level than the one noticed at the general elections. The use of preferential votes is varying according to the size of the municipalities (more preferential votes in the smaller ones) and differs from one party to another (f.e. 92.7 % for the christian-democratic parties to 47.1 % for the radical left). The local election system and the size of preferential votes at local elections explain why nearly 7 of the 10 local councillors broke through the order of the candidate-list. For the comparison, this occured only twice at the 1991 general elections. |
Article |
L'Abstentionnisme électoral et vote blanc et nul en Belgique |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 2 1992 |
Auteurs | Johan Ackaert, Lieven De Winter, Anne-Marie Aish e.a. |
Samenvatting |
In spite op compulsory voting, the number of non-voters increased at the last general elections in Belgium to 7.3 per cent. This evolution can largely be explained by demographic factors. The number of blank or invalid voters reaches nearly the same level. Concerning this form of political non-participation, we noticed considerable differences occur between the types of elections (local, provincial, House, Senate, European) due to factors such as the importance and the proximity of the proper institution, the social distance between candidate and citizen and the main issue of the elections. The analysis of both phenomena over time at the level of the individual voters based on surveys shows that electoral absenteeism is rather accidental, white blanc and invalid voting is more permanent. From the analysis of absenteeism and blanc and invalid voting emerge on the one hand socio-economic factors (like age, gender, professional activity, income, marital status and family composition) which jeopardize electoral participation in a direct or indirect way, and on the other hand, attitudes and behaviour reflecting political indifference, alienation and hostility (like low levels of political interest, information, knowledge, satisfaction, party identification, and participation). |
Article |
Imperiali, D'Hondt en Niemeyer als verdelingstechnieken bij de gemeenteraadsverkiezingenEen simulatie aan de hand van de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 9 oktober 1988 |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 4 1990 |
Auteurs | Johan Ackaert |
Samenvatting |
Earlier research pointed out that the processing of the results of the municipal council elections shows a serious distorsion favouring the strongest lists and prejudicing the weaker ones. The Belgian Parliament will discuss at an early date two different proposals of law on that problem. One prefers the "D'Hondt"-method (which is used for all the other elections in Belgium), the other suggests the "Niemeyer"-technique, which is used in Germany. Both systems seem to be more proportional than the "Imperiali"-way (which is used naw). However, the "Niemeyer"-technique is not always able to transform an absolute majority of votes into a majority of seats in the municipal councils. A modification of the seatsdistributionsystem will seriously reduce the number of absolute majorities in the municipal councils. This could pose problems of political and administrative stability in local government. A modification will also produce negative ejfects on the positions of the christian-democrats in Flanders and the socialists and christian-democrats in the Walloons. Nearly all the other parties and particularly the small ones will improve their positions. |
Article |
De gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 9 oktober 1988Analyse van de resultaten |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 3 1989 |
Auteurs | Johan Ackaert |
Samenvatting |
In the Flemish region the greatest losers are the Flemish nationalists VU and the Socialist Party, followed by de christian-democrats of the CVP. The liberal party PVV, the ecologist AGALEV and the extreme right-wing Vlaams Blok (particularly in the city ofAntwerp) are the winners. The results of the Walloon region show a gain for the socialists (PS), christian-democrats (PSC) and the ecologists (ECOLO) and a sligtly liberal (PRL) recede. The high number of winners is caused by the disapearrance of the socialist-Walloon nationalist alliances and the anti-tax party UDR T. Another important factor is the fall in of the walloon nationalist party RW. The elections in the Brussels region are characterized by the further set-back of the once so strong French-speaking party FDF. The three traditional political families and the ecologists benefit by this decline. In Flanders the christian-democrats and the socialists profit by their participation in the boards of mayor and aldermen (the local majorities), in the Walloons the socialists. The data concerning the profits by this participations show no evidence for the other parties. |
Article |
Fiscaliteit en politiek: het lokaal niveauEen analyse in de 308 Vlaamse gemeenten |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 1 1989 |
Auteurs | Johan Ackaert |
Samenvatting |
Due to the financial crisis of the Belgian central administration and the financial difficulties of local government, municipal taxes are gradually taking a higher place in the rank of municipal income sources. One could expect a differentiation between the presence of some political parties in the board ofmayor and aldermen (the local majority) on the one hand and the burden of taxation (and its amount of increase) on the other hand. Concerning this amount of increase, the data showed no evidence to prove that differentiation in the Flemish municipalities. Still we noticed a small variation in the burden of taxation according as to theweight of the socialist group within the local majority. Nevertheless factors as population and the level of mean income in the municipalities were more important to explain the burden of taxation. The results of the municipal-council elections of 1988 are not affected by the increase of the local burden of taxation. |