Projects
A Secularization of Cultural Politics? Changing Patterns of Cultural-Political Polarization and Voting Behavior in Western Europe, 1981-2008 KU Leuven
Despite claims about religion reasserting itself in the political realm, conflicts about non-religious issues like immigration and law and order appear to have superseded conflicts about religious issues like sexual freedom, abortion, and women’s roles. It is for instance telling that despite their major disagreements, today’s new-leftist and new-rightist political parties agree that religion should be banned from politics. It is also telling ...
(WHY) DO POLITICIANS CARE ABOUT PUBLIC OPINION? Politicians' accountability beliefs: the missing link in explaining policy (in)congruence. University of Antwerp
(Why) do politicians care about public opinion?Politicians' accountability beliefs: the missing link in explaining policy (in)congruence. University of Antwerp
How Are Policymakers Influenced by What the Public Wants? An Experimental Study of the Effect of Public Opinion on Elite Preferences and Behavior. University of Antwerp
Politicians as opinion leaders. How politicians' news sharing influences media trust and polarization. University of Antwerp
Understanding personalized voting. Media and campaign effects in local and national elections. University of Antwerp
The activation of political gender stereotypes: an experimental test of the effect of the information environment on the use of political gender stereotypes in Flanders. Ghent University
The position of women in politics has captured the attention of scholars for decades. Also today, women continue to face difficulties when penetrating this male-dominated domain. Gender stereotypes are one of the factors impeding women’s entrance in politics. By investigating the conditions under which political gender stereotypes are activated in voters’ minds, this project moves beyond a description of the presence of these stereotypes and ...
Voting motives in an era of volatility. KU Leuven
The presence of electoral volatility, and the fact that voters can change parties from one election to another is essential for the well functioning of representative democracies. Only if voters are open to switching parties can changes in public opinion be translated into alterations in which parties are elected, how many votes they obtain, and who governs. It is also by changing parties that voters can express dissatisfaction about their ...