Globalisation has made education the new political cleavage in Europe

Several recent European elections, as well as the UK's referendum on Brexit, have produced a clear split in voting choices between citizens with different levels of education. Mark Bovens and Anchrit Wille argue that a new political cleavage in Europe has emerged between citizens with high levels of education and those with lower levels of educational attainment, with the former ..

A not so universal suffrage: how Europe's political elites have become educational elites

Education levels are often cited as a key factor in explaining differences in opinion between voters, but as Mark Bovens and Anchrit Wille illustrate, many national parliaments have highly unrepresentative numbers of MPs with university degrees. They highlight that the number of MPs with degrees has increased substantially in western European countries over recent decades, and that the absence of low and medium educated citizens in parliaments and other political venues constitutes a serious democratic deficit

It's education, stupid: how globalisation has made education the new political cleavage in Europe

Several recent European elections, as well as the UK's referendum on Brexit, have produced a clear split in voting choices between citizens with different levels of education. Mark Bovens and Anchrit Wille argue that a new political cleavage in Europe has emerged between citizens with high levels of education and those with lower levels of educational attainment, with the former group more likely to support green and liberal parties, and the latter drawn toward nationalism

The EU’s ‘watchdogs’: assessing the powers of the European Ombudsman and European Court of Auditors

The European Ombudsman and European Court of Auditors both play an important role in guaranteeing the EU’s transparency, accountability and integrity. Anchrit Wille and Mark Bovens argue that the key to understanding the impact of the two institutions lies in the use of their powers, rather than the formal remits they have been assigned

The Impact of European Legislation on National Legislation in the Netherlands

Session 1: Governance in the European Unio

Opleiding als scheidslijn: van oude en nieuwe maatschappelijke breukvlakken

Opleiding vormt in ons land een belangrijke maatschappelijke scheids lijn. De stuwende kracht hierachter is de enorme groei van het aantal hoger opgeleiden. Zij hebben vooral andere hoogopgeleiden als vrienden en partners. Hoger en lager opgeleiden leven in gescheiden werelden, verschillen sterk in welvaart en welbevinden, en verschillen van mening over nieuwe sociaal-culturele issues, zoals immigratie, integratie en Europeanisering. De tegenstelling is het sterkst onder onkerkelijken. Die sociaal-culturele scheidslijn is tegen woordig ook zichtbaar in het politieke landschap, met sociaal-liberale, pro-Europese partijen als D66 en GroenLinks aan de ene, en Eurosceptische en nationalistische partijen, zoals de SP en PVV, aan de andere kant. Daarmee zijn de contouren zichtbaar van een maatschappelijk breukvlak tussen hoger en lager opgeleiden. Dit opleidingsbreukvlak is vooralsnog onuitgesproken, burgers organiseren zich niet expliciet naar opleidingsniveau, zoals ze dat wel doen naar religie, regio of etniciteit

Migration Diversity and Social Cohesion

This open access book shows policymakers which initiatives work when responding to the increasing diversity in cities, towns and neighborhood's. In recent times, policymakers have grappled with ways of responding to this increase, which has resulted in a plethora of policy initiatives, some more effective than others. Bringing together a large amount of research and evidence-based policy recommendations, this book offers both a sense of strategic direction as well as more specific, actionable advice. It brings together a remarkable mixture of policy areas that touch upon issues of diversity, immigration policy, education, and labour policy. It is of benefit and importance to all those making policies for a country with increasing immigration

Why Knowing What To Do Is Not Enough

This open access book sets out to explain the reasons for the gap between “knowing” and “doing” in view of self-reliance, which is more and more often expected of citizens. In today’s society, people are expected to take responsibility for their own lives and be self-reliant. This is no easy feat. They must be on constant high alert in areas of life such as health, work and personal finances and, if things threaten to go awry, take appropriate action without further ado. What does this mean for public policy? Policymakers tend to assume that the government only needs to provide people with clear information and that, once properly informed, they will automatically do the right thing. However, it is becoming increasingly obvious that things do not work like that. Even though people know perfectly well what they ought to do, they often behave differently. Why is this? This book sets out to explain the reasons for the gap between ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’. It focuses on the role of non-cognitive capacities, such as setting goals, taking action, persevering and coping with setbacks, and shows how these capacities are undermined by adverse circumstances. By taking the latest psychological insights fully into account, this book presents a more realist perspective on self-reliance, and shows government officials how to design rules and institutions that allow for the natural limitations in people’s ‘capacity to act’

The education gap in participation: A rejoinder.

The book Diplomademocratie, which was published in Dutch in 2011, ended with a brief note of justification from our side. With the publication of our book, we hoped both to deliver an academically sound contribution to the public debate, and to explain political trends in a readable manner, so as to make the book accessible to a broader public. It was a difficult balancing act to pull off. On the one hand, we did not want to bore the reader with methodological details, incomprehensible figures and unreadable tables. On the other hand, we knew that our colleagues would be looking over our shoulders to see whether our analyses were valid and reliabl