This article investigates the feminisation of local politics. Starting from the observation that the representation of women in local electoral politics lags behind the regional and federal level, and taking into account the relevance of local party branches in the recruitment and selection of candidates for elections, we examine the extent to which there is an ‘internal’ feminisation of local party branches and how this links to the ‘external’ feminisation of local electoral politics. Based on surveys among local party chairs, the article maps patterns of feminisation over time and across parties, investigates problems local branches encounter in the recruitment of candidates for local elections, and analyses the (attitudes towards the) measures taken to further the integration of women in local electoral politics. We conclude that internal and external feminisation do not always go hand in hand and that local politics continues to be a male-dominated political biotope. |
Article |
|
Tijdschrift | Politics of the Low Countries, Aflevering 2 2020 |
Trefwoorden | local politics, local party branches, local elections, gender quotas, Belgium |
Auteurs | Robin Devroe, Silvia Erzeel en Petra Meier |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Article |
Between Party Democracy and Citizen DemocracyExplaining Attitudes of Flemish Local Chairs Towards Democratic Innovations |
Tijdschrift | Politics of the Low Countries, Aflevering 2 2020 |
Trefwoorden | democratic innovations, citizen participation, local politics, Flanders, Belgium |
Auteurs | Didier Caluwaerts, Anna Kern, Min Reuchamps e.a. |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
As a response to the perceived legitimacy crisis that threatens modern democracies, local government has increasingly become a laboratory for democratic renewal and citizen participation. This article studies whether and why local party chairs support democratic innovations fostering more citizen participation. More specifically, we analyse the relative weight of ideas, interests and institutions in explaining their support for citizen-centred democracy. Based on the Belgian Local Chairs Survey in 2018 (albeit restricting our analysis to Flanders), the central finding is that ideas matter more than interests and institutions. Ideology is alive and kicking with regard to democratic innovation, with socialist and ecologist parties and populist parties being most supportive of participatory arrangements. By contrast, interests and institutions play, at this stage, a minor role in explaining support for participatory innovations. |
Article |
Like Mother, Like Daughter?Linkage Between Local Branches and Their National Party Headquarters in Belgium |
Tijdschrift | Politics of the Low Countries, Aflevering 2 2020 |
Trefwoorden | local branches, national party headquarters, linkage, integration, multilevel parties |
Auteurs | Kristof Steyvers |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
This article scrutinises local-national linkage in Belgium to better understand territorial power relations in multilevel parties. Drawing on a survey of local chairs of national parties, it adopts an innovative, informal and bottom-up approach. The descriptive analysis reveals two central axes in the morphology of linkage: scope (downward support and upward influence) and surplus (benefits versus costs). However, (the valuation of) this interdependence appears as a matter of degree. The explanatory analysis therefore probes into the effect of macro- (between environments), meso- (between parties) and micro- (within parties) level factors. It demonstrates that variance is explained by different parameters. For scope, differences between parties trump those within them. For surplus, specific differences between parties as well as within them matter. The answer to our guiding question is therefore variegated: it depends on for what and for whom. |