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Following the June 2010 elections, Belgium was left for more than a year without a full government, as negotiations about constitutional reform dragged on. In this article, I investigate why this interregnum did not have any fatal consequences for Belgian governance and society. On a formal level, the Belgian constitution allows a caretaker government to take all necessary steps to ensure continuity, thus avoiding government deadlock. From a political science perspective it can be noted that in a system of multi-level governance, other levels typically step in if one level fails. This is especially the case in a country like Belgium with a strong pro-European consensus, where European Union (EU)-interference is considered as legitimate. The theoretical relevance is that multi-level governance can be seen as a safeguard against government failure.

Contact theories on the development of ethnocentrism assume that interaction with ethnic minority representatives will reduce prejudice. We test this assumption among a representative sample of Belgian late adolescents ( n = 2828), taking the class level as interaction context. Given an average class size of 13 pupils/class, it can be expected that within the class room an intensive interaction between pupils occurs, thus providing an ideal setting for testing the contact hypothesis. The Belgian Political Panel Study (BPPS, 2006–2008) allows for longitudinal multilevel analysis, tracing effects over time. The analysis shows no significant effects of diversity as such on ethnocentrism. The perception of ethnic and cultural tensions at school, however, is associated with the strengthening of prejudice two years later on. A dating thermometer question had a significant relation with diversity level, but this more personal question too reacted strongly to the presence of ethnic tensions. We conclude that there is no mechanical effect of diversity in class rooms, but that this effect is dependent on the perceived quality of the intergroup relations, in line with the contact theory as developed by Allport and Pettigrew.

Pompe disease is an autosomal recessive lysosomal glycogen storage disorder, characterized by progressive muscle weakness. Deficiency of acid a-glucosidase (EC; 3.2.1.20/3) can be caused by numerous pathogenic variants in the GAA gene. The Pompe Disease Mutation Database at aims to list all variants and their effect. This update reports on 94 variants. We examined 35 novel and 34 known mutations by site-directed mutagenesis and transient expression in COS-7 cells or HEK293T cells. Each of these mutations was given a severity rating using a previously published system, based on the level of acid a-glucosidase activity in medium and transfected cells and on the quantity and quality of the different molecular mass species in the posttranslational modification and transport of acid a-glucosidase. This approach enabled to classify 55 missense mutations as pathogenic and 13 as likely nonpathogenic. Based on their nature and the use of in silico analysis (Alamut (R) software), 12 of the additional 25 novel mutations were predicted to be pathogenic including 4 splicing mutations, 6 mutations leading to frameshift, and 2 point mutations causing stop codons. Seven of the additional mutations were considered nonpathogenic (4 silent and 3 occurring in intron regions), and 6 are still under investigation. Hum Mutat 33:11611165, 2012. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Recently, various attempts have been undertaken to develop a comprehensive social cohesion index to monitor the social progress of society. However, classical sociological theories predict that contemporary modern communities function according to a different type of social cohesion than traditional communities. From both a theoretical and a methodological perspective, it can be questioned whether social cohesion can be summarised into one single index. In this article, an extensive dataset of social cohesion indicators is analysed, including indicators of religious involvement, social inclusion, crime and voter turnout, for 308 local communities in the Flemish region of Belgium. Based on first- and second-order factor analyses, it is concluded that it is impossible to construct one single indicator for social cohesion when taking the multidimensionality of the concept into account. While the traditional form prevails in rural areas, it does not coincide with a distinct modern form that prevails in urban areas.

Objective MRI in vanishing white matter typically shows diffuse abnormality of the cerebral white matter, which becomes increasingly rarefied and cystic. We investigated the MRI characteristics preceding this stage. Design In a retrospective observational study, we evaluated all available MRIs in our database of DNA-confirmed VWM patients and selected MRIs without diffuse cerebral white matter abnormalities and without signs of rarefaction or cystic degeneration in patients below 20 years of age. A previously established scoring list was used to evaluate the MRIs. Results An MRI of seven patients fulfilled the criteria. All had confluent and symmetrical abnormalities in the periventricular and bordering deep white matter. In young patients, myelination was delayed. The inner rim of the corpus callosum was affected in all patients. Conclusions In early stages of VWM, MRI does not necessarily display diffuse cerebral white matter involvement and rarefaction or cystic degeneration. If the MRI abnormalities do not meet the criteria for VWM, it helps to look at the corpus callosum. If the inner rim (the callosal-septal interface) is affected, VWM should be considered. Copyright © 2012 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.

In this article, we investigate the impact of religious involvement on voting preference for the Christian Democratic party in Belgium. Although religious involvement is declining in Western European democracies, there is still significant evidence for the influence of religion on voting behaviour. We examine the relationship between individual religiosity, community religious involvement and vote preference for the Christian Democratic party in Belgium in 2009. The results show that a Catholic denomination is the most important predictor for vote preference for the Christian Democratic party, followed by church practice. The multilevel analysis demonstrates that this effect can be observed not just at the individual level, but also at the community level as inhabitants of communities with high levels of church practice are more likely to vote for the Christian Democratic party, even controlling for their own religious background and behaviour. Religion still plays a role in determining voting preferences, with the religious effect occurring simultaneously at the individual and the community level, although it is clear that the effect is much stronger at the individual level.

Traditionally political knowledge was regarded as an important potential outcome for civic education efforts. Most of the currently available research, however, tends to focus on non-cognitive goals, despite the fact that studies repeatedly have shown that political knowledge is an important resource for enlightened and engaged citizenship. In this article, we investigate whether civic education efforts at school contribute to political knowledge levels. The analysis is based on the Belgian Political Panel Survey, a two year panel study among 2,988 Belgian late adolescents. The analysis shows that experiences with group projects at school contribute significantly to political knowledge levels two years later on. Furthermore, we can observe an interaction effect as those who are already most knowledgeable about politics, gain most from these group projects. Classes about politics, on the other hand, did not have an effect on knowledge levels. In the discussion, it is argued that civic education can have strong cognitive effects, but that these effects are not always related to classical civic education efforts and we discussion the policy implication for civic education. ispartof: Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability vol:23 issue:4 pages:321-339 status: published

An ecological study of age-standardized suicide rates in Belgian communities (1996-2005) was conducted using spatial regression techniques. Community characteristics were significantly related to suicide rates. There was mixed support for the social integration perspective: single person households were associated with higher suicide rates, while religious participation was unrelated and both immigration and the presence of non-European inhabitants had a negative impact. Deprivation had a positive relation with suicide. Population density had a negative influence on suicide rates. Areas with older populations had higher suicide risks than expected. A spatial contagion effect of neighboring communities was present for men. In the conclusion, hypotheses are presented on why an aging population could be associated with higher suicide rates in the community.

As voter turnout is steadily declining in western democracies, various authors have expressed concern about the stratification in electoral participation that this trend might entail. Some research suggests that specific categories of potential voters refrain from voting, leading to the electoral dominance of more privileged groups within the population. In this article, we investigate whether systems of compulsory voting are associated with more equal participation in elections. We study 36 countries that participated in the 2004 International Social Survey Programme. The analysis shows that compulsory voting is associated with higher turnout rates, but we do not observe any significant differences in electoral participation based on gender or educational level. However, we find a significant interaction effect between age and compulsory voting, suggesting that young age cohorts are unlikely to be affected by the dynamics of the civic duty argument that is inherent in systems of compulsory voting.

During the past two decades, various attempts have been made to implement changes in the Belgian electoral system. While most of these attempts met with failure, some minor changes were successful. In this article, we consider three cases in depth: demands for the abolishment of compulsory voting, the ongoing discussion about splitting the Brussels electoral district according to linguistic lines, and the introduction of an electoral threshold. We demonstrate that legal barriers and veto players are instrumental in explaining the odds that attempts at electoral reform will be successful. Belgium’s consociational system does indeed impose the use of super majorities for some reforms and the in-built obligation of power sharing grants veto power to major but also to smaller political parties in every language group. The case studies also demonstrate that political parties often fail to estimate in a reliable manner the consequences of reform. ispartof: West European Politics vol:34 issue:3 pages:626-643 status: published

Traditional sociological insights assume that cities are characterized by lower levels of voluntary engagement as it is expected that community size and population density are negatively associated with network and mobilization opportunities. Others, however, argue that cities allow for the formation of different networks that are no longer based on ascribed personal characteristics. The authors analyze voluntary association membership in Belgium, based on the “Social Cohesion Indicators in Flanders” dataset ( n = 2,080 respondents, sampled in 40 communities). The analysis shows that neither population density nor community size have an effect on scope or intensity of participation in voluntary associations. Only two forms of associations are negatively related to population density. Their results therefore do not support the hypothesis of a rural-urban divide in participation in voluntary associations. They speculate how future research could take into account different sorts of voluntary associations when investigating the rural-urban divide and include other measurements of participation.

Most conventionally used subjective well-being scales do not include any measurement of sexual well-being, despite the fact most available research and theories indicate that sexuality is to be considered an important and integral part of human well-being. In this paper we propose a five-item subjective well-being scale, including sexual well-being. A representative pilot survey in Belgium (n=2,080) indicates that item non-response on the sexual item remains limited. The new scale is strongly one-dimensional and internally coherent. A multivariate analysis demonstrates that including sexual well-being allows for a better understanding of subjective well-being, highlighting the importance of age and having a partner, and the interaction between both variables. We conclude that the positive impact of having a partner on subjective well-being significantly increases with age. We argue that sexual well-being should be included in subjective well-being measurements that are routinely being used in population surveys. ispartof: Journal of Sex Research vol:49 issue:2 pages:264-273 ispartof: location:Brussels status: published

Scholars have repeatedly expressed concern about the consequences low levels of political trust might have for the stability of democratic political systems. Empirical support and the identification of causal mechanisms for this concern, however, are often lacking. In this article, the relation between political trust and law-abiding attitudes is investigated. It is expected that citizens with low levels of trust in the institutions of the political system will find it more acceptable to break the law. As a result, low levels of political trust might undermine the effectiveness and legitimacy of government action and its ability to imple- ment legislation. Based on survey data from 33 European countries using the 1999-2001 European Values Study (N = 41,125), the relation between political trust and legal permis- siveness is examined using a multilevel ordered logistic regression analysis.The results show that respondents with low levels of political trust are significantly more likely to accept illegal behaviour such as tax fraud than respondents with high levels of political trust. Since it is known from earlier research that actors who are permissive towards law-breaking behaviour are more likely to commit these acts themselves, the hypothesis that low levels of political trust will be associated with less law compliance within a society is supported.

It has been suggested that political distrust is associated with lower levels of voter turnout and increased votes for challenger or populist parties. We investigate the relationship between political (dis)trust and electoral behaviour using the 2009 Belgian Election Study. Belgium presents an interesting case because compulsory voting (with an accompanying turnout rate of 90.4 per cent) compels distrusting voters to participate in elections. Nevertheless, distrusting voters are significantly more inclined to cast a blank or invalid vote. Second, distrust is positively associated with a preference for extreme right (Vlaams Belang) and populist (Lijst Dedecker) parties. Third, in party systems where there is no supply of viable challengers (i.e. the French-speaking region of Belgium), the effect of political trust on party preference is limited. We conclude that electoral effects of political distrust are determined by the electoral and party system and the supply of electoral protest.

In recent years, voluntary associations and political organizations have increasingly relied on Internet-based mobilization campaigns, replacing traditional forms of face-to-face recruitment and mobilization. Within the literature, one can observe an intensive debate about the possible consequences of this transition. Most importantly, the question is whether political mobilization through the Internet is just as effective as mobilization in a face-to-face setting. In this article, we report on a mobilization experiment using both traditional (face-to-face) and modern (Web site) incentives for mobilization. The experiment was conducted among undergraduate students in Belgium and Canada and included a test of medium-term mobilization effects. Results suggest that the Internet is successful in transferring knowledge and raising issue salience among respondents, but neither experimental manipulation led to significant behavioral changes. We do not find any indication that among this experimental sample Inter...

In the debate about the electoral appeal of Green parties, some authors argue that Green voting is a phenomenon typical of the ‘new middle class’ (young, highly educated and urban), while others assume that Green parties are able to reach out to new constituencies. Aggregate level data on the electoral performance of Belgian Green parties in the period 1994–2006, analysed using a Tobit II model, indicate that entry into the elections is strongly determined by district magnitude. No evidence of a mainstreaming of their electoral appeals was found, but a strong positive incumbency effect on the local level, as Green parties tend to be rewarded for participation in a local governing majority, contrasts with the negative incumbency effects demonstrated at the national level.

The traditional distinction between civic and ethnic citizenship continues to dominate the study of citizenship concepts. In recent years, various authors have questioned the dichotomous character of these concepts. In this article, we empirically investigate the applicability of this dichotomy based on an analysis of International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) survey data across thirty-three societies. The analysis demonstrates that this dichotomous structure can indeed be detected and therefore the theoretical dichotomy can be considered as empirically valid. While ethnic citizenship refers most strongly to having national ancestry, for civic citizenship the most important criterion seems to be to obey national laws. However, the ethnic concept of citizenship can also be defined in a negative manner: for ethnic citizenship, obeying the national laws is clearly not a sufficient condition. Further analysis also reveals that the measurement of both concepts is not equivalent cross-nationally, so that findings on civic and ethnic citizenship are difficult to compare across societies.

The purpose of the article is to examine whether an acculturation of trust takes place among non-western immigrants upon migrating to Western Europe and whether inclusionary integration policies have an effect on this process. Building on the second and third wave of the European Social Survey (ESS) we show that an acculturation of trust does take place, but that integration policy does not affect this process. In spite of some variation across destination countries, we also find that second generation immigrants tend to adapt more to the level of trust of natives in the destination country than first generation immigrants do. This indicates that the acculturation of trust is strengthened with the second generation in the country. The results hold up when controlling for confounding variables including the trust in the country of origin of immigrants.

Human ciliopathies are hereditary conditions caused by defects of proteins expressed at the primary cilium. Among ciliopathies, Joubert syndrome and related disorders (JSRD), Meckel syndrome (MKS) and nephronophthisis (NPH) present clinical and genetic overlap, being allelic at several loci. One of the most interesting gene is TMEM67, encoding the transmembrane protein meckelin. We performed mutation analysis of TMEM67 in 341 probands, including 265 JSRD representative of all clinical subgroups and 76 MKS fetuses. We identified 33 distinct mutations, of which 20 were novel, in 8/10 (80%) JS with liver involvement (COACH phenotype) and 12/76 (16%) MKS fetuses. No mutations were found in other JSRD subtypes, confirming the strong association between TMEM67 mutations and liver involvement. Literature review of all published TMEM67 mutated cases was performed to delineate genotype-phenotype correlates. In particular, comparison of the types of mutations and their distribution along the gene in lethal versus non lethal phenotypes showed in MKS patients a significant enrichment of missense mutations falling in TMEM67 exons 8 to 15, especially when in combination with a truncating mutation. These exons encode for a region of unknown function in the extracellular domain of meckelin.

Previous research has indicated that opposition toward LGBT rights remains quite prevalent among Western populations. In this article we investigate the determinants of anti-gay attitudes among adolescents in two liberal democracies, Belgium (n=6,330) and Canada (n=3,334). The analysis indicates that hostile feelings toward LGBT rights are particularly widespread among boys, while the effects of socio-economic status and parental education remain rather limited. Various religious denominations proved to have a strong and significant negative impact on tolerance, with especially high scores for Islam. Religious practice, too, contributes to a negative attitude toward LGBT rights. The consequences of these findings with regard to tolerance for gay rights among Islamic youth in Western democracies are discussed. ispartof: Journal of Homosexuality vol:57 issue:3 pages:384-400 ispartof: location:United States status: published

Various quantitative studies have suggested the occurrence of hostile feelings toward LGBT rights among Islamic communities in Western societies. We know less, however, about the structure of these attitudes among Belgian Islamic youth. Based on focus groups and in-depth interviews, we try to disentangle these elements. The interviews suggest that feelings toward LGBT rights are not based on a discourse of individual rights but are considered within the background of dense family relations, strongly linked to notions of family honor and the duty of the individual to contribute to the stability of the family and the community. While the respondents endorsed the notion that the basic scriptures of Islam prohibit homosexual behavior, there was more disagreement about what this entails for the moral status of the individual involved in this kind of behavior. It is suggested that this form of disagreement might serve as a leverage point for the development of a more tolerant outlook toward LGBT rights among Is...

It is assumed that civic education has persistent effects on political attitudes and behaviours of young citizens. There is no consensus, however, on what kind of efforts have the strongest effects on specific outcomes, like political knowledge and intended political participation. In some of the older literature, it has been shown that effects of civic education are stronger for children from a visible minority background. This article takes up these questions using a dataset with a sample of 15–17-year olds from Canada (n = 3,334). The results show that active efforts for civic education can make a difference. Especially community service, a rather new form of civic education, fosters political knowledge and conventional future participation. However, in Canada, adolescents from a visible minority background do not benefit disproportionately from civic education efforts.Résumé.On soutient que l'éducation à la citoyenneté amène des effets positifs durables sur les attitudes et les comportements politiques des jeunes. Toutefois, il n'existe pas de consensus concernant les efforts spécifiques les plus fructueux pour stimuler les connaissances et la participation politiques. Dans cet article nous examinons premièrement l'ampleur des effets de l'éducation à la citoyenneté. Deuxièmement, nous examinons la thèse selon laquelle ce sont les minorités visibles qui bénéficient le plus de ces efforts – position défendue dans une partie de la littérature plus ancienne sur le sujet. Ces deux questions sont étudiées quantitativement en utilisant un groupe témoin de jeunes Canadiens de 15 à 17 ans (n = 3334). Les résultats révèlent que les efforts actifs dans le domaine de l'éducation à la citoyenneté ont un effet sur les attitudes et les comportements politiques. Le service communautaire, entre autres, une nouvelle forme d'éducation à la citoyenneté, sensibilise les jeunes à la politique et favorise leur participation conventionnelle future. Nous ne trouvons pas, en revanche, d'effet différentiel notable chez les adolescents des minorités visibles.

While various authors have suggested that introduction of the Internet will lead to substantial changes in political communication patterns, others have argued that traditional inequalities and patterns will only be reinforced. Websites of political parties play a specific role in this debate. On the one hand, they can be used by voters seeking information on various political parties. On the other hand, they might reach only those that are already ‘converted’ and have sufficient means to gather political information by other media. During the campaign for the 2006 local elections in Belgium, we conducted an online survey among visitors to party websites (n = 3,224). The analysis shows that a substantial majority of online visitors is male and highly educated. About 60 per cent of all respondents had already decided to vote for the party whose website they had just visited, but another 40 per cent clearly compared parties’ positions and candidates. Our tentative conclusion therefore is that during elector...

The analysis is based on the Belgian Youth Survey (2006), which is a representative survey among 6330 16-year olds in the country. Citizenship concepts were shown to be multi-dimensional, with distinct factors for conventional or electoral participation and civic engagement. A third, weaker factor could be distinguished covering obedience to the law. This structure is largely in line with earlier comparative analysis. An exploratory analysis suggests that these factors have different outcomes on actual or intended political participation behavior of adolescents. We discuss the relevance of these findings with regard to the current debates on civic education and civic engagement among younger age cohorts. ispartof: Journal of Adolescence vol:32 issue:3 pages:723-732 ispartof: location:England status: published

While most current research documents a negative relation between ethnic diversity and generalized trust, it has to be acknowledged that these results often originate from one-country analyses in North America. In this article, attitudinal measurements from the European Social Survey are combined with Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development data on migration patterns, thus examining the relationship between diversity and trust in a comparative manner across 20 European countries. More fine-grained measurements of diversity (including type and rise of diversity over time and legal status of immigrants) are included in a multilevel model. At the individual level, most of the familiar relations were confirmed. At the country level, hardly any indicators for migration or diversity proved to be strongly and consistently related to generalized trust. Results suggest that the pessimistic conclusions about the negative effects of ethnic diversity on generalized trust cannot be confirmed at the aggregate level across European countries.

Introduction In 2008, the global financial and economic crisis that hit Europe initiated the worst recession Europe had experienced since the Second World War. In the wake of this so-called “Great Recession” (Cho and Newhouse, 2013; Elsby et al., 2010; Verick and Islam, 2010), millions of jobs were lost resulting in rising levels of unemployment in most European countries. A wave of protests erupted particularly in those countries that were most severely affected by the consequences of the crisis. At first sight, this observation is in accordance with the grievance theory which predicts that people who experience collective deprivation express their grievances by “raising their voice or by exciting” (Kriesi, 2012, p. 518). However, the economic crisis did not affect all citizens in the same way. Preliminary results indicate that particularly men, less educated citizens and younger citizens suffer under rising unemployment (Elsby et al., 2010; Eurostat, 2013; Verick, 2009). There are several explanations for why these specific groups were so severely affected by this crisis. First, it has been argued that men were especially vulnerable because they are more concentrated in those sectors that were most affected by the crisis (Eurostat, 2013; Verick, 2009). In addition, sectoral differences also depend on education, which can explain the higher vulnerability of low-skilled workers (Cho and Newhouse, 2013). Moreover, scholars argue that less educated workers are disadvantaged due to their lower average productivity (Cho and Newhouse, 2013). Finally, younger citizens might not always find sufficient opportunities to gain access to the labour market in times of crisis (Verick, 2009). The aim of this chapter is to investigate whether the heterogeneity in the social composition of groups of citizens affected by the crisis is reflected in the social composition of citizens that participate in the political protest. In line with grievance theory, we would expect particularly those citizens to be active, who were most vulnerable to the consequences of the crisis. If this reasoning holds true, this crisis will alter the traditional composition of participants in non-institutionalised forms of political participation and consequently affect political equality in countries that were hit by the crisis. Hence, the question we aim to answer is whether the financial and economic crisis affected thestratification of non-institutionalised political participation in Europe. We focus on non-institutionalised political participation because in the literature grievances are most strongly linked to forms of political participation that can be counted as non-institutionalised forms of engagement such as protest, involvement in social movements or boycotts (King, 2011; Klandermans, 1997; Opp, 1988, 2000). This is a very important issue as a more equal distribution of political participation implies more political equality, which is a fundamental goal of every democracy. Participatory equality is of crucial importance if a society wants to achieve equal consideration for the legitimate interests of all citizens (Schlozman et al., 1999). However, no contemporary democracy fully lives up to this ideal. The reason is that substantive inequality in the use of political opportunities remains present even if a democracy ensured perfect equality in political rights. There is a wealth of literature indicating that individuals differ in the level and the intensity of political participation. Among the most prominent stratification factors that distort the equal distribution of political participation acts are sex, education level and age (Verba et al., 1995). We assume that the financial and economic crisis has affected the distribution of non-institutionalised political participation along those factors. We aim to contribute to the literature on participatory equality by focusing on the effects of the economic crisis in Europe. The way the crisis affected highly developed democracies provides us with a unique opportunity to test this research question by comparing the impact of the economic downturn among different European countries. To answer this research question, we use the cumulative data from the European Social Survey (ESS 2002-2010) and combine it with economic indicators from the World Bank. This allows us to compare the social composition of participants in 25 European countries before the beginning of the crisis in 2008 with the situation in 2010 when the economic indicators were strongly negative. To this end, we conduct a multilevel analysis and examine whether the effect of the economic crisis on non-institutionalised political participation differs depending on the socio-demographic characteristics of the participants. In the following section, we give a brief introduction to the grievance theory. Subsequently, we review the literature on inequality within non-institutionalised political participation and relate it to the preliminary findings on the effects of the economic crisis on different segments of the population. Then we present the data and methods we use to answer the research question, before we elaborate on what our results imply for the evolution of participatory equality within noninstitutionalised political engagement in Europe.

Economic voting theory assumes that on an individual level voters react to economic indicators to hold incumbents responsible for the performance of the economy. On an aggregate level, this would imply that there is an association between economic indicators and levels of volatility since voters have to switch parties if they want to punish or reward political actors. Based on a time-series cross-section analysis of the Pedersen Index for West European countries in the period 1950-2013 we do indeed observe an association between economic indicators and levels of volatility. This effect furthermore grows stronger over time, and it is assumed that this is rendered possible by processes of partisan dealignment. The analysis suggests that European electorates are significantly more likely to shift parties in response to economic downturn now than they were a few decades ago. ispartof: Comparative European Politics vol:15 issue:6 pages:919-943 status: published

Elections are routinely investigated with a focus on the way in which winners or losers of the elections are different in their attitudes towards the political system. There is no previous research on the general impact of participation in the electoral process on support for the political system. In this study, we hypothesize – based on the procedural fairness theory – that participating in elections raises the voter’s political trust, irrespective of the result of the party s/he voted for. Furthermore, we expect this impact to be largest for voters with the lowest level of internal political efficacy. These expectations are investigated using the Belgian Election Panel (2009-2014) study, observing political trust before and after the elections in two consecutive electoral cycles. The results provide support for all proposed hypotheses, highlighting the importance of general participation in elections for democratic legitimacy. ispartof: Res Publica: Tijdschrift voor Politologie vol:58 issue:3 pages:193-216 status: published

Within the literature, there is an ongoing debate on how to understand the broader implications of the process of electoral dealignment. While some authors argue that dealignment leads to a more ‘open’ electorate that ponders the options offered by the party system, other authors have argued that dealignment leads to a general alienation from the party system. In this article, we investigate the relation between partisanship, indifference towards political parties, and alienation from the party system, based on an analysis of the voter surveys of the European Election Studies (EES) project, 1989-2014. The results indicate that dealignment is associated with indifference as well as with alienation but that the relation with alienation is much stronger, both on an aggregate as on an individual level. We conclude therefore that dealignment could pose a challenge for the legitimacy of the party system as a whole. ispartof: Acta Politica vol:52 issue:1 pages:1-23 status: published

In recent years an impressive amount of evidence has been collected documenting a negative relationship between levels of ethnic diversity and social capital indicators, in particular generalized trust. In this article we raise a number of theoretical arguments that should be addressed before these findings can be generalized. First, it has to be remembered that most of these studies focus on generalized trust as a social capital indicator, while trust probably is most vulnerable for the effects of weakening homogeneity. Second, it is argued that in order to arrive at a better understanding of the relation between diversity and social capital, at least three intermediary variables need to be taken into account: 1) the question whether diversity entails segregation of networks at the individual level; 2) the increase in diversity rather than the absolute level; 3) the regimes societies use to govern diversity, and especially the variation with regard to the openness of these regimes. We close by exploring the suggestion that in more diverse societies, recognition of group differences and identities, and group relations based on equality-based concepts of reciprocity should be considered as potentially more meaningful strategies.Résumé.Dans les dernières années, une quantité impressionnante de preuves ont été rassemblées, qui documentent une relation négative entre le niveau de diversité ethnique et les indicateurs de capital social, en particulier la confiance généralisée. Dans cet article, nous soulevons un certain nombre d'arguments théoriques qu'il faut examiner avant de pouvoir généraliser ces résultats. D'abord il faut noter que la plupart de ces études se sont concentrées sur la confiance généralisée comme indicateur de capital social alors que la confiance est probablement particulièrement vulnérable aux effets d'une érosion de l'homogénéité. Deuxièmement, nous avançons que, pour mieux comprendre la relation entre diversité et capital social, trois variables intermédiaires au moins doivent être prises en considération : 1) l'existence d'une ségrégation des réseaux au niveau individuel du fait de la diversité; 2) l'augmentation de la diversité plutôt que son niveau absolu; 3) les régimes que les sociétés utilisent pour gouverner la diversité et surtout le degré d'ouverture de ces régimes. Pour finir, nous explorons la suggestion que, dans des sociétés plus diverses, la reconnaissance des différences et identités des groupes, et des relations inter-groupes basées sur des concepts d'égalité et de réciprocité devraient être considérées comme des stratégies potentiellement plus significatives.

The persistence of adolescents’ political attitudes and behaviors into adulthood is a perennial concern in research on developmental psychology. While some authors claim that adolescents’ attitudinal patterns will remain relatively stable throughout the life cycle, others argue that the answers of adolescents in political surveys have but a limited predictive value for their future attitudes and behaviors. In this article, we tackle this question on an aggregate level, by comparing survey data for 14, 18 and 18 to 30 year old respondents from eight European countries (n = resp. 22,620; 20,142 and 2800). We examine political trust, attitudes toward immigrants’ rights and voting behavior. The analysis suggests that country patterns with regard to political trust and attitudes toward immigrant rights are already well established by the age of 14. We find less indications for stability in the relation between intention to vote (for 14 and 18 years olds) and actual voting behavior (for young adults). The latent structure of the political trust scale was found to be equivalent for the three age groups we investigated. We close by offering some suggestions on why attitudinal stability seems stronger than behavioral stability.

Various authors have claimed that in contemporary Western societies postmodern concepts of citizenship are becoming more prevalent. A new generation of ‘critical citizens’ are said to be more critical of the political system and less likely to participate in conventional politics, but they remain strongly interested in politics and social life. Michael Schudson has developed the concept of a ‘monitorial citizen’, who is interested in politics, has high levels of political efficacy and turns to political action if needed, but stays outside the traditional political organizations. Based on the European Social Survey (2004), this article investigates whether this type of citizenship actually occurs in Scandinavia. While the authors find that this form of citizenship is present in the Nordic countries, the characteristics of this group do not fit the theoretical expectations. In Scandinavia, ‘monitorial citizens’ do not have exceptionally high education levels and their trust in traditional political institutions remains quite elevated. The authors discuss the reasons why the concept of ‘monitorial citizens’ does not seem to flourish all that well in the Nordic countries, and what this implies for the theoretical debate about the political consequences of this postmodernization process.

In recent years, various authors have tried to develop a comprehensive explanation for the electoral success of extreme-right parties in Europe. While some authors stress individual-level factors (ethnocentrism, political cynicism, distrust), others stress macro-level variables (party strategy, electoral system). In this field of research cross-national survey data are often used to ascertain the strength of extreme-right parties and the motivation of those who vote for them. Hooghe and Reeskens question the external cross-cultural validity of these measurements, on the grounds of both response and measurement bias. Using the European Social Survey (29 observations) they find a huge diversity in the external validity of the data, with anything from 15 to 90 per cent of the electoral strength of the extreme-right party being covered in the survey. Using a multiple regression model, they identify survey response rate, voter turnout and the populist appeal of the party itself as possible causes for this selective under-representation. The only possible conclusion is that cross-national surveys do not succeed in establishing cross-cultural external validity for questions of extreme-right voting. ispartof: Patterns of prejudice vol:41 issue:2 pages:177-195 status: published

Generalized trust features as the most prominent attitudinal element of social capital, and as such the concept is widely used in comparative research. In this article we investigate the cross-cultural equivalence of the three-item scale on generalized trust that is included in the European Social Survey 2002 and 2004 waves. The use of metric equivalence tests demonstrates that these tree items can be considered as a reliable and cross-culturally valid concept. If we apply the stricter scalar equivalence test, however, the result is that the scale is not sufficiently equivalent across European societies, with especially the item on expecting help from others showing major problems in a number of countries. We close this article by offering some suggestions on how the generalized trust scale might be used in a (sufficiently) reliable manner in cross-cultural research across Europe.

This chapter presents the results of the study on Dutch adolescent's perspectives on and experiences with collective decision-making in everyday situations. It provides insight into the everyday opportunities available for adolescents, aged 13-15, to develop democratic attitudes and how these differ for students from different educational tracks and schools. Many scholars have argued that associational life and formal education offer adolescents opportunities for experiencing democracy. According to the perceptions of many of the interviewed adolescents, the opportunities to experience democracy by making their voices heard individually and making decisions collectively are limited in these everyday settings. Empirical research on the effect of citizenship education shows that formal education can indeed affect adolescent's attitudes towards democracy, and these attitudes can be developed both directly and indirectly. Students can be encouraged to reflect on everyday situations where they encounter hierarchical power relations, undemocratic decision-making processes, and the lack of a voice.

Social capital theory as it was developed in the 1990s assumed that face-to-face interaction is a crucial requirement for the development of generalized trust and other pro-social attitudes and behaviors. Television and other electronic media were therefore dismissed as having a potentially negative impact on social capital development. Based on an analysis of high-quality data and a rich variety of social capital indicators in the General Social Survey 2012 we assess the impact of two broad categories of screen time â internet and television â on both attitudinal and behavioral components of social capital. The results show that while watching television is either unrelated or negatively related to a range of social capital indicators, there is usually a positive relation between internet use (in various forms) and social capital indicators. This direct comparison of the impact of internet and television usage on social capital indicators in a nationally representative study challenges the expectation that television and other digital technologies would have a similar negative impact on social capital. The findings suggest that internet-based activities clearly play a positive role in the development of social capital despite the lack of in-person interaction, and the concluding discussion reviews avenues for future research to tease out causal mechanisms in the production of social capital in the digital age. peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=rics20 ispartof: Information, Communication & Society vol:18 issue:10 pages:1175-1199 ispartof: location:Paris status: published

In this study, we investigate differences in occupational status between women and men, and between ethnic minority and majority members by means of a content analysis of Belgian primetime television in 2013. We evaluate the accuracy of these television portrayals using interreality comparison strategies. Results indicate that, although in television content women obtain higher average scores for occupational status than men, this is mainly due to the underrepresentation of women in low-status occupations. While previous studies focused on the absence of women in high-status jobs, this analysis shows for the first time that women are also absent in low-status manual and industrial jobs. Ethnic minorities have lower average scores for occupational status. Moreover, interaction terms made clear that this especially holds for female ethnic minorities, suggesting that mechanisms of intersectionality are at play. In general, the labor world as portrayed on television diverges strongly from the real labor world. peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=hmcs20 ispartof: Mass Communication & Society vol:18 issue:4 pages:498-521 status: published

In het overgrote deel van het bestaande onderzoek naar politieke participatie overheerst een toon van bezorgdheid. Over het algemeen gaan auteurs er van uit dat burgers te weinig betrokken zijn bij het politiek gebeuren, en een aantal studies stellen bovendien dat deze betrokkenheid nog verder zal dalen, vooral dan bij jongere burgers.2 Als we kijken naar het ter beschikking staande empirisch materiaal, dan zijn er inderdaad wel een aantal neergaande trends te onderkennen. Het aantal leden van politieke partijen in ons land daalt drastisch. Terwijl in 1992 nog 521.230 Belgen lid waren van een politieke partij, was dat in 2002 gedaald tot 409.230, of een daling met bijna 22 procent.3 Ons land neemt bovendien helemaal geen uitzonderlijke positie in met deze dalende trend: zowat in alle westerse landen zien we dat politieke partijen systematisch leden verliezen, en dat ze er nauwelijks in slagen aansluiting te vinden bij jongere generaties.4 Er zijn ook een heleboel andere indicatoren die er op wijzen dat de verhouding tussen jongere generaties en de traditionele politieke instellingen op zijn zachtst gezegd verstoord

In this research note we report on the results of an experimental study among 469 respondents in Belgium. The study shows that the familiar gender differences in political knowledge can be substantially reduced when including more questions on female politicians. Using confirmatory factor analysis and item response theory measurements, we can observe that the structure of political knowledge is identical for women and men implying that women and men do not have different conceptions of what constitutes the political domain. Both for women and men, “personal items” (in this case: The correct name of the new baby of the female vice-prime minister) were shown to load strongly and one dimensionally with the more traditional institutional political knowledge questions. It seems that women and men respond in the same manner to information about the personal lives of politicians.

From the May 2003 elections on, a new 5% electoral threshold was introduced in Belgium. The threshold was intended to curb a further fragmentation of the Belgian party system, and indeed, three small parties are now in danger of losing their autonomy. Mechanical effects, however, proved to be quite limited with only three seats shifting as a result of the threshold. Since we find no strong indications of strategic voting, Duverger's psychological mechanism seems to have a stronger impact at the elite level than at the mass level. Rules on party finance play a key role in this process: in Belgium, as in other countries, parties have become increasingly dependent on state money and this dependency serves as a powerful incentive for strategic co-ordination. Rules on party finance should be integrated more fully in the future study of the results of electoral reform.

In recent years, the number of ethnic organisations in Belgium has risen to more than 2,000. The question to be dealt with in this article is whether these associations can be said to constitute an ethnic social movement. Social movement theory assumes that the chances for the development of any movement are partly dependent upon the opportunities provided by the political system. It is generally taken for granted that the traditional culture of concertation and dialogue in Belgium is an ideal setting for the development of new social movements. However, ethnic associations are sharply divided along ethnic and political cleavages, while the electoral impact of ethnic minorities inevitably will remain limited. These two elements inhibit the formation of a successful and politically effective ethnic movement in the country. The article closes with some suggestions on how the study of ethnic mobilisation could be included in a broader social movement study.

Both anecdotal and case-study evidence have long suggested that consumer behavior such as the buying or boycotting of products and services for political and ethical reasons can take on political significance. Despite recent claims that such behavior has become more widespread in recent years, political consumerism has not been studied systematically in survey research on political participation. Through the use of a pilot survey conducted among 1015 Canadian, Belgian, and Swedish students, we ascertain whether political consumerism is a sufficiently consistent behavioral pattern to be measured and studied meaningfully. The data from this pilot survey allow us to build a “political consumerism index” incorporating attitudinal, behavioral, and frequency measurements. Our analysis of this cross-national student sample suggests that political consumerism is primarily a tool of those who are distrustful of political institutions. However, political consumers have more trust in other citizens, and they are disproportionately involved in checkbook organizations. They also tend to score highly on measures of political efficacy and post-materialism. We strongly suggest including measurements of political consumerism together with other emerging forms of activism in future population surveys on political participation.