272 research outputs found
The wall with Mexico is a utopian project for Trump’s supporters
No full textOne 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
No full textThe 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
De Politieke Vertegenwoordiging van Vrouwen in de Belgische Kamer: een Historische Analyse
No full textIn het interbellum kregen vrouwen de eerste toegang tot het politieke leven in België met onder meer de eerste vrouwelijke verkozenen in de Belgische Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers. Het duurt echter tot de tweede feministische golf alvorens een verhoogde deelname van vrouwen aan de politiek een belangrijk strijdpunt werd. De idee was dat deze deelname een belangrijke hefboom kon vormen voor de verbetering van de positie van de vrouw in de samenleving. In deze bijdrage onderzoeken Sofie Marien en Silvia Erzeel of de toename in het aantal vrouwelijke verkozenen in de Belgische Kamer inderdaad samenging met een verhoogde aandacht voor vrouwenthema’s
sj-pdf-1-psx-10.1177_00323217221137444 – Supplemental material for Scaling Up? Unpacking the Effect of Deliberative Mini-Publics on Legitimacy Perceptions
No full textSupplemental material, sj-pdf-1-psx-10.1177_00323217221137444 for Scaling Up? Unpacking the Effect of Deliberative Mini-Publics on Legitimacy Perceptions by Micha Germann, Sofie Marien and Lala Muradova in Political Studies</p
A problem-based approach to understanding public support for referendums
No full textA prominent explanation of widespread popular support for referendums is dissatisfaction with the functioning of representative democracy. In this article, the aim is to gain a better understanding of how dissatisfaction affects support for referendums. Drawing on previous research, it is argued here that citizens follow a problem-based approach in their support for referendums, in that referendums are considered a suitable solution to address some specific problems in a political system but not all. Survey data from the 2012 European Social Survey (29 countries; N = 37,070) is used to show that citizens' expectations towards and evaluations of representatives relate to support for referendums. In particular, dissatisfaction with the ability of governments to listen to their citizens is associated with higher support for referendums. In contrast, citizens dissatisfied with the government's ability to lead are less supportive of referendums. Furthermore, the relationship between dissatisfaction with governments' ability to listen varies across countries depending on the level of experience with decision making via referendum. In countries where referendums are used more often, the expectation of referendums being able to solve the problem of unresponsive government is weaker. This study offers important insights into the different ways in which preferences and evaluations of representative practices relate to popular support for referendums.sponsorship: The authors would like to thank Alejandro Arias Lera for his valuable help in advancing this project. We are also grateful to Joan Font and Jamie Pow for their precious feedback. We benefitted greatly from comments by participants in the Conference `Participatory Spaces in Perspective', University of Westminster, London, 5-7 September 2018 and in the 2018 ECPR General Conference, Hamburg University, 22-25 August 2018. Finally, we thank all our colleagues at the Democratic Innovations and Legitimacy research group, KU Leuven, for their support in developing our ideas. This project has received funding from the EuropeanResearch Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 759736). This publication reflects the authors' views and the ERC is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. (EuropeanResearch Council (ERC) under the European Union|759736, European Research Council (ERC)|759736)status: Published onlin
Scaling Up? Unpacking the Effect of Deliberative Mini-Publics on Legitimacy Perceptions
No full textDeliberative 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= 1,309). 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 effect of accumulated losses on perceptions of legitimacy
No full textHow do citizens react to repeated losses in politics? This paper argues that experiencing accumulated losses creates strong incentives to externalize responsibility for these losses to the decision-making procedure, which can, in turn, erode legitimacy perceptions among the public. Using a survey experiment (N = 2,146) simulating accumulated losses in a series of direct votes among Irish citizens, we find that decision acceptance and the perceived legitimacy of the decision-making procedure diminish with every loss. Three accumulated losses depress the perceived legitimacy of the political system. These effects are mediated by procedural fairness perceptions, suggesting that even when democratic procedures are used, accumulated losses can induce a belief that the process and system are rigged
De politieke vertegenwoordiging van vrouwen in de Belgische Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers: een historische analyse (1971-2014)
No full textIn het interbellum kregen vrouwen de eerste toegang tot het politieke leven in België met onder meer de eerste vrouwelijke verkozenen in de Belgische Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers. Het duurt echter tot de tweede feministische golf alvorens een verhoogde deelname van vrouwen aan de politiek een belangrijk strijdpunt werd. De idee was dat deze deelname een belangrijke hefboom kon vormen voor de verbetering van de positie van de vrouw in de samenleving. In deze bijdrage onderzoeken Sofie Marien en Silvia Erzeel of de toename in het aantal vrouwelijke verkozenen in de Belgische Kamer inderdaad samenging met een verhoogde aandacht voor vrouwenthema’s
2018 Abortion Referendum Survey
No full textPost-referendum survey on the 2018 Abortion Referendum in Ireland.
Please cite as Johan A. Elkink, David M. Farrell, Sofie Marien, Theresa Reidy, and Jane Suiter (2018), "2018 Abortion Referendum Survey"
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