Candidates, Parties and Voters in the Belgian Partitocracy

A black box in the study of representation in European democracies is our knowledge about elected but also unelected candidates. What is their background? How are they recruited? What are their campaign aims, strategies, resources and tools? How do they relate to their (constituency and central) party and their voters? How do they consider democratic governance at national and European levels? This book focuses on the triadic relationship between candidates and the other poles of the delegation and accountability triangle: political parties and voters. The chapters rely mostly on the Belgian Candidate Survey (CCS project) gathering about 2000 candidates belonging to 15 parties running for the 2014 federal and regional elections. Most conclusions do not hold only for the Belgian partitocracy but answer broad political science questions on elite recruitment, electoral strategies, personalisation, party cohesion, and descriptive and substantive representation. Its multilevel semi-open electoral system, atypical federal structure, and extreme party system fragmentation make Belgium a rich but complex case offering findings highly relevant to research on candidates in other democracies. Audrey Vandeleene is Researcher in the Department of Political Science, Lund University, Sweden. Lieven De Winter is Senior Professor of Political Science at the Centre of Political Science and Comparative Politics (CESPOL), Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Pierre Baudewyns is Professor of Political Science at the Centre of Political Science and Comparative Politics (CESPOL), Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.

Auteur
Audrey Vandeleene is Researcher in the Department of Political Science at Lund University, Sweden.
Lieven De Winter is Senior Professor of Political Science at the Centre of Political Science and Comparative Politics (CESPOL), Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
Pierre Baudewyns is Professor of Political Science at the Centre of Political Science and Comparative Politics (CESPOL), Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.

Résumé
This book focuses on the triadic relationship between electoral candidates and the two other poles of the delegation and accountability trianglepolitical parties and voters. The chapters rely mostly on the Belgian Candidate Survey (CCS project), gathering about 2000 candidates belonging to 15 parties represented in Parliament and running for the 2014 federal and regional elections, and the authors' conclusions serve at answering broad political science questions linked with elite recruitment, party and candidate electoral strategies, personalisation, party cohesion, and descriptive and substantive representation. Its multilevel semi-open electoral system, atypical federal structure, extreme party system fragmentation and volatility make Belgium an exceptionally rich but complex case that offers findings highly relevant to research on candidates in other democracies.

Contenu
1. Introduction. Candidates Between Parties and Voters: A Triadic Relationship in the Belgian PartitocracyAudrey Vandeleene and Lieven De Winter

PART I: CANDIDATES' BACKGROUND

2. The Effects of the Political Parties' Selective Filter Bias on Descriptive Representation: Analysis of the Candidates' Sociological and Political BackgroundJérémy Dodeigne and Ferdinand Teuber

3. The More, the Smoother? Candidate Selection and Intraparty CompetitionAudrey Vandeleene and Giulia Sandri

4. Who Wins More? Understanding Preferential Voting by Means of Context and Candidates' Background and CampaigningMarta Gallina, Stefano Camatarri and Maximilien Cogels

PART II: CAMPAIGNING

5. The Puzzle of Personalization of Politics: Evidence From Candidate Campaigns in Belgium 20072014Lieven De Winter, Pierre Baudewyns and Maximilien Cogels

6. Campaigning and Candidates: Different Strategies for Different CandidatesMaximilien Cogels and Pierre Baudewyns

7. The Electoral Impact of Local Campaigning in the 2014 Regional and Federal ElectionsAudrey André and Sam Depauw

PART III: POLICY CONGRUENCE

8. Constituting the List Amid Time of Personalization of Politics: The Balance of Congruent and Popular Candidates in Belgian Political PartiesJérémy Dodeigne, Conrad Meulewaeter and Christophe Lesschaeve

9. Who Do You Feel and What Future Do You Want for Belgium? A Comparison of Candidates and Voters' Identities and Institutional PreferencesSophie Devillers, Pierre Baudewyns, Lieven De Winter and Min Reuchamps

10. From More or Less Integration to Status Quo? Explaining Candidates' and Citizens' Attitudes Towards European IntegrationSamuel Defacqz, Jérémy Dodeigne, Ferdinand Teuber and Virginie Van Ingelgom

PART IV: REPRESENTATION AND DEMOCRACY

11. Between Parties and Voters: Candidates' Role Conception in the Belgian PartitocracyChloé Janssen, Mihail Chiru and Lieven De Winter

12. Critical Candidates: Elite Attitudes Towards the Functioning of Representative DemocracyChristoph Niessen, Nathalie Schiffino, Vincent Jacquet and Ludovic Deschamps

13. Conclusion. Studying Candidates, Parties and Voters. Lessons Learned and New QuestionsAudrey Vandeleene, Lieven De Winter and Pierre Baudewyns