Projects
A study on how political debates shape citizens' trust judgement of politicians and the political system KU Leuven
While it is claimed repeatedly that political debates in the media have coarsened over time leading to detrimental effects on citizens’ political trust, little effort has been made to investigate this. The question how the media influence political trust is of paramount importance as political trust is a key resource for a democratic political system influencing citizens’ willingness to commit public resources to policy ends and accept ...
When, why and how do bureaucrats and politicians respond to reputational threats? Comparing Central Government Organizations in Denmark and Belgium/Flanders'. University of Antwerp
Public Politics: The coming of age of the media politician in a transnational communicative space, 1880s-1910s KU Leuven
Around the turn of the twentieth century, accelerated social, political and technological changes interconnected with the emergence of the mass press in Western societies. What impact did this first form of mass media have on the role of the politician within this age of acceleration? So far, historical research has generally remained limited to the study of (specific) politicians conducting concrete politics in national or bilateral ...
Themistius’ Self-Fashioning as a Philosopher in its Contexts. Philosophy, Rhetoric and Public Action KU Leuven
At the imperial court in Constantinople, Themistius reaped success with encomia in which he played the role of a truth-loving philosopher. In other, 'private', orations, he reflected upon this strategy and on whether the many roles he played (philosopher, orator, politician) could be reconciled. How Themistius sees himself, what image of himself he presents and in particular how he justifies this persona with arguments from the philosophical ...
BOF Sabbatical leave 2018-2019 Prof. Beyen. University of Antwerp
The Ethiopian Public Sector Leadership Profile Unveiled: Determining the Leadership Profile of the Ethiopian Federal Civil Service Organizations KU Leuven
The PhD dissertation entitled ‘’The Ethiopian Public Sector Leadership Profile Unveiled: Determining the Leadership Profile of the Ethiopian Federal Civil Service Organizations’’ is motivated by calls for Afro-specific leadership research and pragmatic leadership problem in Ethiopian federal civil service organizations. It dealt with profiling the civil service leaders contrasting how the leaders are expected to act in terms of contextual ...
Global IP law and local politics: The political economy of African seed business law KU Leuven
The World Trade Organisation has promoted Western-styled intellectual property (IP) norms around the world. This IP-related endeavours can be seen as part of a global move in the direction of less state and more private entrepreneurship. Whereas some ‘orthodox’ development scholars have welcomed the turn towards market institutions in development policy, other ‘critical’ development scholars have argued that Western IP norms are ill-suited to ...
Les dynamiques collectives au service de la promotion de la santé du diabétique au Maroc Institute of Tropical Medicine
Destructive or Deliberative? An Investigation of the Evolution, Determinants, and Effects of the Quality of Political Debate KU Leuven
In recent years, concerns have been raised repeatedly about the poor quality of the political debate. Particularly the uncivil and ill-justified ways in which politicians regularly seem to express their views and standpoints raise scholarly and public concern (e.g. Dryzek et al., 2019). Yet despite severe concerns, surprisingly often statements such as “we are currently living in an era of incivility” or “soundbite culture” are based on ...