Elections and Political Participation

The course aims to introduce students to the study of political participation. Together, we seek to unravel different explanations about how and why people get involved (or not) in politics. To do so, the course is divided into two main sections.

The first section is dedicated to the definition, measurement, and explanatory models of political participation. Here we study what political participation means, and what forms it can take. We also study how to measure political participation in a comparative perspective across individuals, countries, and over time. This connects to the debate on declining levels of participation and models of democracy. Lastly, this first section discusses the incentives and barriers to political participation and looks at the various explanatory models of participation.

The second section focuses on a specific type of political participation: electoral participation. We first discuss the issue of why voting – or why to abstain­­, from different perspectives (rational choice, resource model, institutional incentives etc.). Then, the course concentrates on the issue of how people vote. The course presents and discusses extensively the main explanatory models of voting behaviour. First, we study the sociological model, which has been applied at both the aggregate and individual levels (Columbia School). Second, we look at the social-psychological model which has mostly relied on the concept of party identification (Michigan School). Third, we present several explanatory models of the rational choice theory – e.g., issue voting and economic voting. Besides, we also introduce some research about the importance of candidates' profiles and characteristics, as well as the role of emotions in voting patterns.

This course touches upon major questions such as:

• What does it mean to participate politically? Is there a universal understanding of the concept?
• Which factors stimulate or decrease citizens’ involvement in politics?
• To what extent is political participation biased across age, gender, or class?
• To what extent is participation dependent on the context in which individual citizens evolve?
• Are there institutions or specific rules that favour political participation more than others?
• Are low levels of political participation a danger for democracy?
• Why do people vote or abstain?
• How could we reduce abstentionism?
• How can we explain voters’ choices?
• To what extent does voters’ socio-demographic profile determine their voting behaviour?
• Does party identification still matter?
• Are voters rational?
• How does the state of the economy influence voters’ choices?
• How do candidates’ profiles affect voters’ choices?
• How do salient issues impact voters’ choices?
• How do emotions interplay with voters' choices?

• To develop an in-depth knowledge of what political participation and vote choice mean, and of which critical factors may impact why citizens participate politically, or what triggers their vote choice
• To be able to evaluate the weight of certain factors such as socioeconomic status, group mobilization, or institutional rules, to explain variations in political participation and voting behaviour
• To demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of the literature and strong methodological skills related to this specific field of political science

Contribution au profil d'enseignement

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

A list of references is provided in the outline of the course. Each reference is available on the UV. As a guide, recent references have been added:

• Theocharis Y. and Van Deth J. W. 2019. Political Participation in a Changing World. Conceptual and Empirical Challenges in the Study of Citizen Engagement. London: Routledge.
• Theocharis Y. and Van Deth J. W. 2021. Digitally Networked Participation and Lifestyle Politics as New Modes of Political Participation. Policy & Internet, 13(1): 30-53.
• Giugni M. and Grasso M. (2022). 'The Study of Political Participation Across Research Traditions', in Marco Giugni, and Maria Grasso (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Political Participation, Oxford Handbooks.
• Thijmen J. and Spierings N. (2023). Political participation profiles. West European Politics, 46(1): 1-23.
• Kitanova, M. (2019). Youth political participation in the EU: evidence from a cross-national analysis. Journal of Youth Studies, 23(7) : 819–836.
• Chrysanthou G. M. and Guilló M. D., (2024). Identifying the economic determinants of individual voting behaviour in UK general elections, Oxford Economic Papers, 76(1): 267–289
• Rekker R. (2024). Electoral change through generational replacement: An age-period-cohort analysis of vote choice across 21 countries between 1948 and 2021. Frontiers in Political Science 6:1279888.
• Goldberg A.C. (2020). The evolution of cleavage voting in four Western countries: Structural, behavioural or political dealignment?. European Journal of Political Research, 59: 68-90.
• Emanuele V. (2021). Lost in Translation? Class Cleavage Roots and Left Electoral Mobilization in Western Europe. Perspectives on Politics.
• Gomez R. (2022), When the chickens come home to roost: The long-term impact of party positions on religious voting. European Journal of Political Research, 61: 566-585.
• Kostelka, F., Krejcova, E., Sauger, N., & Wuttke, A. (2023). Election Frequency and Voter Turnout. Comparative Political Studies, 56(14), 2231-2268.
• Wagner M, Johann D, Kritzinger S. (2013). Voting at 16: Turnout and the quality of vote choice. Electoral Studies, 31(2):372-383
• Stockemer D. (2017). What Affects Voter Turnout? A Review Article/Meta-Analysis of Aggregate Research. Government and Opposition. 52(4):698-722

Support(s) de cours

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

EMILIEN PAULIS
2024-25 substitute professor

1. Office hours: every Monday from 9 to 11 am (or appointment by email).
2. Office location: S building – Office S.11.234.
3. Contact:
   • email: emilien.paulis@ulb.be
   • phone: 0032 650 66 77

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Travail personnel
• Examen écrit

Travail personnel

Examen écrit

• Examen à livre ouvert

• Question ouverte à développement long
• Question ouverte à réponse courte
• Question fermée à Choix Multiple (QCM)

The course is evaluated as follows:

• via a final written exam (50%)
• via a final research paper (3,000 words) (50%)

The final grade is the mean between the grades obtained for the exam and the paper. Students will obtain a grade for the course only if they submit the two assignments. If not, they will be noted as absent until they do. In second session, students decide at their own risk whether they want to retake the final exam, the final paper, or both. The guidelines for both tasks are the same as in the first session. The written exam in the second session may be organized online.

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

FINAL EXAM (50%)

The final written exam lasts three hours and consists of three questions (/20):

1. One big, open transversal question related to the course (/12)
2. Small, close, and open questions related to a mandatory reading (/4)
3. Small, close, and open questions related to audio-visual material (/4)

Evaluation & feedback

The quality of answers will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Form: style of writing and structure
• Content:
  • organization, presentation, and development of arguments
  • accuracy and critical character of the answers

A correction of the exam will be posted on the UV shortly after. A feedback session is also organized in February.

Each student is expected to write a research note (3,000 words max.) on the recent electoral trends of one party in a country of their choice.

Aim

The final paper pursues two main objectives. The student is expected to:

• summarize, report, and describe a party’s electoral performance over a certain period
• provide explanations for the electoral patterns that are observed over this period

Students must show their ability to rely on the course and personal research to explain how one political party performed electorally over a given period.

Content

 (1) Introduction (400 words)

• Goal: what will be the research note about?
• Justification: Why is it important to focus?

• Pick one political party and position it within the political landscape and over the political spectrum
• Build a line graph: plot the results of the main political parties competing in the country of your choice. Make sure that we can identify your party.
• Describe your party’s main electoral trends over the last three elections (if relevant)

• Identify and explain potential factors that have driven the patterns identified in the previous section. This part should move from description to explanation. It must be the most consistent part of the research note. Please rely on existing research and empirical data to feed your argumentation.

• Summary of the main findings

Evaluation & feedback

• Format (references, style of writing, structure)
• Introduction (goal setting) & conclusion (findings’ summary)
• Preparation and research (use of empirical data, mobilization of previous studies and findings, identification of relevant theories and explanations...)
• Accuracy and critical character of the analysis

Deadline

• In 2nd session, the final paper is due by August 16th, 2024 (before midnight)

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais