Birds of a Feather or by Note? Ideological Nationalization of Local Electoral Manifestos in Belgium

Authors

  • Nicolas Van de Voorde Ghent University, Department of Political Science
  • Nicolas Bouteca Ghent University, Department of Political Science
  • Tom Schamp Ghent University, Department of Political Science
  • Kristof Steyvers Ghent University, Department of Political Science

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4335/10.4335/16.1.1-24(2018)

Keywords:

nationalization

Abstract

Until now, scholars trying to unravel the phenomenon of nationalization have seldom considered the local policy layer or the ideological dimension as their main subject. This paper, however, studies the ideological nationalization of Flemish local party branches. It applies the method of content analysis of electoral manifestos to the local elections and examines the programmatic overlaps between the party headquarter and its local branches. An innovative nationalization measure is introduced and subsequently included in an explanatory regression model. The results show that ideological similarities are ubiquitous and especially prevailing among leftist parties, in majority-participating party branches, and in large municipalities.

References

Aars, J., & Ringkjob, H. E. (2005) Party politicization reversed? Non-partisan alternatives in Norwegian local politics, Scandinavian Political Studies, 28(2), pp. 161–182.

Ackaert, J. (2006) Politiek in mijn gemeente (Leuven: Uitgeverij Davidsfonds).

Agasoster, B. (2001) A framework for analysing local party policy emphases in Scotland, In: M. Laver (ed.) Estimating the policy positions of political actors (London: Routledge), pp. 76–89.

Ashworth, R. (2000) Party manifestoes and local accountability: a content analysis of local election pledges in Wales, Local Government Studies, 26(3), pp. 11–30.

Bäck, H. (2003) Party politics and the common good in Swedish local government, Scandinavian Political Studies, 26(2), pp. 93–123.

Budge, I. (1987) The internal analysis of election programmes, In: Budge, I., Robertson, D. & Hearl, D. (eds.) Ideology, strategy and party change: spatial analyses of post-war election programmes in 19 democracies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 15–38.

Buelens, J., Dumont, P., Rihoux, B. & Heyndels, B. (2008) Het standpunt van de partij. Wat is belangrijk voor de lokale afdelingen, In: Buelens, J., Rihoux, B. & Deschouwer, K. (eds.) Tussen kiezer en hoofdkwartier. De lokale partijafdelingen en de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 2006 (Brussel: VUBPress), pp. 31–46.

Caramani, D. (2004) The nationalization of politics: the formation of national electorates and party systems in Western Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Carty, R. K. (2004) Parties as Franchise Systems: The Stratarchical Organizational Imperative, Party Politics, 10(1), pp. 5–24, https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068804039118

Copus, C., Wingfield, M., Steyvers, K. & Reynaert, H. (2012) A Place to Party? Parties and Nonpartisanship in Local Government, In Clarke, S., John, P. & Mossberger, K. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Urban Politics (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 210–230.

De Lange, S. (2007) A New Winning Formula? The Programmatic Appeal of the Radical Right. Party Politics, 13(1), pp. 411–435.

Denters, B. (2011) Local Governance, In: Bevir, M. (ed.) The SAGE Handbook of Governance (London: Sage), pp. 252–270.

Deschouwer, K. (1996) Nationale partijen en gemeenteraadsverkiezingen, In: Buelens, J. & Deschouwer, K. (eds.) De dorpstraat is de wetstraat niet (Brussel: VUBPress), pp. 13–25.

Deschouwer, K. (2003) Political Parties in Multi-Layered Systems. European Urban and Regional Studies, 10(3), pp. 213–226.

Deschouwer, K., & Rihoux, B. (2008) De lokale partijafdelingen. Van hiërarchie naar stratarchie, In: Buelens, J., Rihoux, B. & Deschouwer, K. (eds.) Tussen kiezer en hoofdkwartier. De lokale partijafdelingen en de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 2006 (Brussel: VUBPress), pp. 19–30.

Devos, C., Verlet, D. & Reynaert, H. (2007) Spreken lokale afdelingen van Vlaamse partijen uit één mond? Res Publica, 49(1), pp. 89–110.

Ennser, L. & Hansen, M. (2013) The contingent nature of local party system nationalisation: the case of Austria 1985-2009, Local Government Studies, 39(6), pp. 777–791.

Enyedi, Z. & Linek, L. (2008) Searching for the right organization. Ideology and party structure in East-central Europe, Party Politics, 14(4), pp. 455–477.

Frendreis, J. P., Gibson, J. L., & Vertz, L. L. (1990) The electoral relevance of local party organizations, The American Political Science Review, 84(1), pp. 225–235.

Gemenis, K., & Dinas, E. (2010) Confrontation still? Examining parties’ policy positions in Greece, Comparative European Politics, 8(2), pp. 179–201.

Goldsmith, M., & Page, E. C. (2010) Conclusions, In: Goldsmith, M. & Page, E. C. (eds.) Changing Government Relations in Europe (Abingdon: Routledge), pp. 247–260.

Gunther, R. & Diamond, L. (2003) Species of Political Parties: A New Typology, Party Politics, 9(2), pp. 167–199.

Hajnal, Z. & Trounstine, J. (2014) What Underlies Urban Politics? Race, Class, Ideology, Partisanship, and the Urban Vote, Urban Affairs Review, 50(1), pp. 63–99.

Heidar, K., Kosiara-Pedersen, K. & Saglie, J. (2012) Party Change and Party Member Participation in Denmark and Norway, In: Blom-Hansen, J., Green-Pedersen, C. & Skaanning, S.-E. (eds.) Democracy, Elections and Political Parties (Aarhus: Politica), pp. 155–163.

Janda, K., Harmel, R., Edens, C. & Goff, G. (1995) Changes in party identity. Evidence from party manifestos, Party Politics, 1(2), pp. 171–196.

Kjaer, U. & Elklit, J. (2010) Local party system nationalisation: Does municipal size matter? Local Government Studies, 36(3), pp. 425–444.

Kjaer, U. & Steyvers, K. (2014) Second thoughts on second-order: towards a second-tier model of local elections and voting, 8th General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research, 2 Sept 2014 – 6 Sep 2014, Glasgow, UK.

Kjellberg, F. (1995) The Changing Values of Local Government, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 540(1), pp. 40–50.

Lago, I., & Montero, J. (2014) Defining and Measuring Party System Nationalization, European Political Science Review, 6(2), pp. 191–211.

LeDuc, L. (2001) Democratizing party leadership selection, Party Politics, 7(3), pp. 323–341.

Mair, P. (1999) New Political parties in Long-Established Party Systems: How Successful Are They?, In Beukel, E. K. , Mouritzen, K. K. & Odense, P. E. (eds.) Elites, Parties and Democracy: Festschrift for Professor Mogens N. Pedersen (Odense: Odense University Press), pp. 207–224.

Marien, S., Dassonneville, R. & Hooghe, M. (2015) How Second Order Are Local Elections? Voting Motives and Party Preferences in Belgian Municipal Elections, Local Government Studies, 41(6), 898–916, https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2015.1048230.

Meguid, B. (2005) Competition Between Unequals: The Role of Mainstream Party Strategy in Niche Party Succes, American Political Science Review, 99(3), pp. 347–359.

Morgenstern, S., & Swindle, S. (2005) Are Politics Local? An Analysis of Voting Patterns in 23 Democracies, Comparative Political Studies, 38(2), pp. 143–170.

Mustillo, T. & Mustillo, S. (2012) Party Nationalization in a Multilevel context. Where is the Variance?, Electoral Studies, 31(2), pp. 422–433.

Olislagers, E. & Steyvers, K. (2014) Choosing Coalition Partners in Belgian Local Government, Local Government Studies, 41(2), pp. 202–219.

Pedahzur, A. & Brichta, A. (2000) The attractiveness of the seemingly unattractive: an Israeli case. Local Government Studies, 26(3), pp. 55–70.

Pellikaan, H., Van der Meer, T., & De Lange, S. (2003) The Road From a Depoliticized to a Centrifugal Democracy, Acta Politica, 38(1), pp. 23–49.

Petrocik, J. R. (1996) Issue ownership in presidential elections, with a 1980 case study, American Journal of Political Science, 40(3), pp. 825–850.

Pilet, J.-B., & Cross, W. P. (2014) The Selection of Political Party Leaders in Contemporary Parliamentary Democracies (Abingdon: Routledge).

Reiser, M. (2008) Conclusion: independent local lists in Eastern and Western European countries, In: Reiser, M. & Holtmann, E. (eds.) Farewell to the Party Model? Independent local lists in Eastern and Western European countries (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag), pp. 277–294.

Rokkan, S. (1966) Electoral Mobilization, Party Competition and National Integration, In: Weiner, J. (ed.) Political Parties and Political Development (Princeton: Princeton University Press), pp. 241–265.

Saiz, M. & Geser, H. (1999) Local Parties in Political and Organizational Perspective (Boulder: Westview Press).

Sharpe, L. (1970) Theories and Values of Local Government, Political Studies, 18(2), pp. 153–174.

Steyvers, K. & De Ceuninck, K. (2013) De kracht van verandering of plus ça change? De gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 2012 in het licht van de trends sinds de fusies van 1976, In: Reynaert, H. & Steyvers, K. (eds.) De kracht van verankering? De gemeenteraadsverkiezingen van 14 oktober 2012 (Brugge: Vanden Broele), pp. 15–40.

Steyvers, K., Reynaert, H., De Ceuninck, K. & Valcke, T. (2008) All politics is local, partisan or national? Local lists in Belgium, In: Reiser, M. & Holtmann, E. (eds.) Farewell to the Party Model? Independent local lists in Eastern and Western European countries (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag), pp. 169–194.

Swianiewicz, P. (1996) The policy preferences and ideologies of candidates in the 1994 Polish local elections, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 20(4), pp. 733–743.

Swianiewicz, P. (2014) An Empirical Typology of Local Government Systems in Eastern Europe, Local Government Studies, 40(2), pp. 292–311.

Thorlakson, L. (2006) Party systems in multi-level context, In: Hough, D. & Jeffery, C. (eds.) Devolution and electoral politics (Manchester: Manchester University Press), pp. 37–52.

van Haute, E., Amjahad, A., Borriello, A., Close, C. & Sandri, G. (2012) Party members in a pillarised partitocracy. An empirical overview of party membership figures and profiles in Belgium, Acta Politica, 48(3), pp. 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1057/ap.2012.25.

Volkens, A. (2002) Manifesto conding instructions (Berlin: Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung gGmbH).

Wauters, B. (2014) Democratising Party Leadership Selection in Belgium: Motivations and Decision Makers, Political Studies, 61(1), pp. 61–80, https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.12002.

Wayenberg, E., De Rynck, F., Steyvers, K. & Pilet, J.-B. (2011) Sub-national Democracy in Belgium: A Tale of Regional Divergence?, In: Loughlin, J., Hendriks, F. & Lidström, A. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Local and Regional Democracy in Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 71–95, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004.

Wille, F. & Deschouwer, K. (2007) Het beschermde dorp: nationale tendensen bij gemeenteraadsverkiezingen, Res Publica, 49(1), pp. 67–68.

Published

2018-01-03

Issue

Section

Article