Politics of the Low Countries

💎 PLC is #diamondopenaccess thanks to Radboud University Press

doi.org/10.54195/plc...

🔽 Top-down local authorities isolate themselves from the local energy expertise of local climate stakeholders and maintain weak institutional capacities, which contributes to maintaining existing lock-in dynamics.

The main takes from their research?
🔁 Municipalities with polycentric governance systems manage to escape lock-in dynamics thanks to local climate stakeholders involvement and a reinforced local institutional capacity.

👉 Authors identify seven types of (more or less intentional) climate delay discourses at the local level.

#Localenergygovernance #Polycentricgovernance #Climatedelay #Lockin #Qualitativemethods

👉 Qualitative research based on fieldwork interviews with 66 actors of local energy governance in 18 rural municipalities in Wallonia
👉 Authors distinguish two governance systems at the local level: polycentric and top-down.

New research article published #openaccess in PLC ! 🤩

Loïc Cobut and @amandine-orsini.bsky.social (CReSPo - UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles) demonstrate that local governance structures can contribute to overcoming or maintaining carbon-intensive lock-ins.

🆓 Download here: doi.org/10.54195/plc...

💡 Summary of the PhD dissertation by Lisa Verhasselt ( @uni.lu ) : doi.org/10.54195/plc...

💡 Critical review of the PhD by @nicolecurato.bsky.social (University of Birmingham) : doi.org/10.54195/plc...

🆓 Both pieces are #openaccess, like all publications in PLC thanks to Radboud University Press

👉 Adaptation is key: Deliberative processes must tailor language choices to context, not use one-size-fits-all models.

Congratulations Lisa and thanks for choosing PLC!

#Deliberativedemocracy #CitizensAssemblies #Multilingualism #Luxembourg #Inputthroughputoutputlegitimacy

Some key conclusions:
👉 Language matters: Multilingualism strongly shapes who participates and how deliberation works.
👉 Luxembourg shows both sides: Multilingual assemblies boost inclusion but need careful design to avoid exclusion.
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We're pleased to open the PhD Review & Summary section of the 8th volume of PLC (2026, issue 1) with the very first review in PLC of a PhD based in Luxembourg !

🎓 "Deliberative democracy amidst the Tower of Babel. Insights from Luxembourgish deliberative minipublics" (Lisa Verhasselt, @uni.lu )

Congratulations to the 3 authors 👏

The publication is #openaccess : doi.org/10.54195/plc...

#Belgium #EuropeanUnion #CounciloftheEU #Rotatingpresidency

💎 Radboud University Press #diamondopenaccess

⭐ Success varied across policy fields: high rates in economic affairs and justice/home affairs, lower in environmental policy.
⭐ Preference heterogeneity within the Council boosted success, while high stakeholder attention reduced it, showing internal dynamics mattered more than external pressures.

Main takes from their research
⭐ The Belgian Presidency significantly increased the likelihood of trilogue deals on files it prioritized, making them 6.7 times more likely to succeed.
⭐ Overall, 56% of prioritized files were successfully negotiated, compared to only 15% of non-prioritized files.

🚀 Very first publication in PLC in 2026, a research note by Thomas Laloux, Tom Delreux & Emilien Mercenier (ISPOLE-UCLouvain) on whether the Belgian 2024 Presidency of the Council of the EU was successful in reaching trilogue deals on prioritised files, & what explains the variation in that success.

📬 We still welcome your submissions for research articles, research notes, literature reviews, PhD summaries&reviews or opinion pieces in our State of the profession section. Submit on our website: plc-journal.eu

🆓 All PLC publications are #openaccess thanks to Radboud University Press.

🎁 We are very pleased to have set up an International Advisory Board for PLC. @hannaeback.bsky.social, @leoniedejonge.bsky.social, @catherinedevries.bsky.social & @martingross.bsky.social agreed to provide strategic input for PLC and help uphold high scholarly standards. Thanks to all!
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🤝 In its last meeting, PLC Editorial Board appointed Take Sipma (Tilburg University) as new Board member. A warm welcome Take !

@takesipma.bsky.social

📢 PLC will be in the spotlight at the 13th ed. of State of the Federation, the ABSP-VPW conference. Join our editors-in-chief @mauritsmeijers.bsky.social & @audreyvdleene.bsky.social on Feb 6 in Antwerp for the launch session of PLC as Diamond Open Access journal 💎

www.uantwerpen.be/nl/overuantw...

📚 Papers are in the making for the SI on #democraticinnovations "Reinventing Democracy in the Low Countries: Evidence, Insights, and Next Frontiers in Democratic Innovations Research" guest edited by E Paulis, D Talukder & @takesipma.bsky.social. Expect a thick issue!

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✨Big plans for PLC in 2026 ✨

📚 The first research articles from the special issue on #localpolitics "Local democracy in the Low Countries: at the base changing face?" guest edited by Kristof Steyvers and @ostaaijen.bsky.social will be out soon !

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🚂 Authors underscore the importance of longitudinal case studies in understanding the impact of liberalization policies on public organizations and bureaucratic autonomy.

🚂 The article highlights the challenges of unbundling infrastructure management and transportation activities, including coordination issues between Infrabel and SNCB/NMBS. ​

🚂Infrabel's autonomy is nuanced, dynamic, and negotiated, with significant legal and managerial autonomy but limited financial and structural independence due to government control. ​

Sneak peak into their work:
🚂 The article examines the autonomy of Belgium's railway infrastructure manager, Infrabel, over 25 years, focusing on the effects of EU liberalization policies.

⏰ Publication alert!

Just in time before the end of the year, we published the final piece of the 2025 issue: a research article by Damien Piron, Amandine Andrien, Tom Frenea, Gatien Grommen, Alex Pierre & Yanis Tambour - @universitedeliege.bsky.social

👉 doi.org/10.54195/plc...

#openaccess

@vd-researchgroup.bsky.social

📢 New publication 📢

We are pleased to shine the spotlight on Toine Paulissen's PhD (‪@vd-researchgroup.bsky.social - KU Leuven)!

👉 The PhD summary by @toinepaulissen.bsky.social : doi.org/10.54195/plc...
👉A critical review by @theresareidy.bsky.social : doi.org/10.54195/plc...

#openaccess

[OUT] Out now in @plc-journal.bsky.social
PhD Summary: "Crafting campaigns, messages, and identities: Belgian parties in a digitalized political arena" by @lucaskins.bsky.social, postdoc at SciencePo ULB (Cevipol)
plc-journal.eu/article/view...

Interested in how parties integrate social media comm to shape public perceptions of party competition & their relationship to groups? Check out @lucaskins.bsky.social dissertation (and other outputs!).
PhD summary and my short review @plc-journal.bsky.social

plc-journal.eu/issue/view/1...

📢 New publication !

Julie Sevenans & Patrick F.A. van Erkel study how out-party cues shift policy preferences in 🇧🇪 and show that minimal aversion is needed for polarisation of attitudes.

🔗 doi.org/10.54195/plc...
#OpenAccess #PolSci