The wall with Mexico is a utopian project for Trump’s supporters

One of Donald Trump’s signature policies during the Republican’s presidential primary race has been the construction of a border wall with Mexico, which he claims would end the flow of undocumented immigrants into the US. Marc Hooghe and Sofie Marien write that it does not matter whether the ‘Wall with Mexico’ can actually be built; instead it is a utopian metaphor for the kind of closed society that Trump’s supporters wish to live in

Hashtag activism is not the solution to democratic inequality

The internet offers of swathe of new opportunities for democratic interaction, but how does this affect engagement levels among different groups? In this Policy Network repost, Mark Hooghe, Sofie Marien, and Jennifer Oser argue that what they term ‘hashtag activism’ is an inadequate solution to democratic equality

Scaling Up? Unpacking the Effect of Deliberative Mini-Publics on Legitimacy Perceptions

Data de publicació electrònica: 2 de desembre de 2022Deliberative mini-publics are increasingly used to try to tackle public discontent with the functioning of democracy. However, the ability of mini-publics to increase perceptions of legitimate decision-making among citizens at large remains unclear, given especially that existing studies have not considered the potentially damaging effects of mini-public recommendations not being followed. We designed, pre-registered, and ran a survey experiment in Ireland to test the effects of mini-publics on legitimacy perceptions conditional on whether or not their non-binding policy recommendations are honored (N = 1309). We find that mini-publics increase legitimacy perceptions among the broader citizenry; however, these beneficial effects are largely limited to situations in which their recommendations are honored. Additional results suggest that it makes no difference whether mini-public recommendations are overturned by elected representatives or by citizens in a referendum. Finally, we find that the legitimacy-enhancing effects of participatory processes are driven by citizens with low political trust.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No 759736) as well as the British Academy (SRG20\200260)

Fierce but short-lived: how does economic crisis affect political participation?

The Great Recession that hit Europe in 2008 led to the loss of millions of jobs and soaring levels of unemployment. In a recent study, Anna Kern, Sofie Marien and Marc Hooghe investigate whether the recent crisis depresses or boosts levels of political participation in Europe. They find that economic growth is positively associated with elite challenging forms of political participation such as protests or boycotts when investigating a longer period (2002-2010) but that crises such as between 2008 and 2010 rising unemployment came along with rising levels of such acts of political participation

Deliberative Mini-Publics: Core Design Features

This working paper identifies core design features of a deliberative mini-public (DMP). It aims to provide clarity on what distinguishes a DMP from other forms of citizen engagement and participation by characterising its normative foundations and setting out its key features under a series of discrete headings that can be used as a resource by anyone designing, implementing, or studying DMPs. </p

Lokale politici zijn belangrijk, ook voor Brussel

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The Effect of Electoral Outcomes on Political Trust. A Multi-level Analysis of 23 Countries

Competing theoretical claims exist in the literature on the effect of proportionality on political trust. To date, empirical studies yielded mixed results. In this paper, we examine a curvilinear effect of the proportionality of election outcomes on political trust using data from the European Social Survey (2006-2009). The findings show that political trust is indeed highest in countries with very proportional as well as in countries with very disproportional election outcomes and lowest in countries that fall in between. Election outcomes that are more fully inclusive and those that provide more accountability can both lead to higher levels of political trust. Next to the proportionality of the translation of votes into seats, this study investigates a broad range of election outcomes that are associated with (dis)proportionality i.e. the effect of the number of parties in elections, parliament and government, voting for the winning or losing party under different levels of proportionality and the clarity of responsibility.status: publishe

Electoral Rules and Citizens' Trust in Political Institutions

There is an extensive literature on the effects electoral rules have on citizens’ attitudes towards the political system. While proportional rules stimulate inclusiveness and representation, disproportional rules foster government accountability and effectiveness. However, empirical studies yield mixed results showing proportional as well as disproportional election outcomes to increase political trust or finding no relation at all. In this paper, we will outline how political trust is affected by the proportionality of election outcomes using data from the European Social Survey (2006-2009). Also the most common explanations that have been advanced for this relation will be tested empirically. These include the effect of the party-system on political trust and the effect of coalition governments on political trust. Also the effect of voting for the winning or losing party on citizens’ trust under different levels of proportionality will be investigated. Finally, the question whether the more diffuse nature of coalition governments has an effect on the evaluation of its performance will be tackled.status: publishe

Wie is er bang van een burgertop contraterreur?

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Heeft Clinton een vrouwenprobleem?

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