Nieuwsarchief
Publicaties van medewerkers
Vis, Barbara (2011 forthcoming), Under which conditions does spending on active labor market policies increase? An fsQCA analysis of 53 governments between 1985 and 2003, European Political Science Review.
Vis, Barbara, Woldendorp, Jaap & Keman, Hans (2012 forthcoming), 'Economic performance and institutions: Capturing the dependent variable', European Political Science Review.
Na de zomer zal Routledge een boek van Ben Crum publiceren met de titel: ‘Learning from the EU Constitutional Treaty’. In dit boek zet Ben Crum een theorie uiteen over de vorming van een grondwet tussen staten. Hij past deze theorie toe op het Europese Grondwettelijk Verdrag en de mogelijke ratificatie van het verdrag van Lissabon.
Peters, Dirk and Wagner, Wolfgang (2011) Between Military Efficiency and Democratic Legitimacy. Mapping Parliamentary War Powers in Contemporary Democracies, 1989-2004, Parliamentary Affairs 64 (1): 175-192.
Graaff, Naná de (2011) A Global Energy Network? The Expansion and Integration of non-triad National Oil Companies’, Global Networks 11(2): 262-283.
Lezingen door medewerkers
Naná de Graaff geeft een lezing op het seminar ‘Geographies of Energy Transition’ van de Royal Geographical Society in Londen op vrijdag 17 juni 2011.
Op de alumnidag van de VU, 28 mei, heeft Barbara Vis een lezing gehouden over de vraag of de verzorgingsstaat de crisis overleeft.
Op 18 mei 2011 heeft Bastiaan van Apeldoorn een gastcollege gegeven op het Jean Monnet Centrum in Kopenhagen, Denemarken. De titel van de lezing was: ‘From Lisbon to Europe 2020: Neoliberal European Governance in Crisis or Phoenix Arising?’
Wolfgang Wagner heeft op 12 Mei een presentatie gegeven op het European University Institute in Florence. De presentatie is gebaseerd op een paper met de titel “Positive and Negative Integration in European Criminal Law cooperation”
Ben Crum heeft een paper gepresenteerd met de titel “Is there a role for political parties in international politics?” op het Match Points seminar dat plaatsvond in Aarhus van 12 tot en met 14 mei.
Filmavond over de Arabische Lente
De afdeling Politicologie nodigt iedereen van harte uit voor een filmavond over de Arabische lente. Er worden twee documentaires getoond. "Tweets from Tahrir"(2012) volgt vijf jonge activisten die deelnamen aan de demonstraties. "Egypt: the promise and perils of revolution"(2012) laat zien dat democratisering geen gemakkelijke weg is.
Michal Onderco LLM and drs. Martijn Dekker zullen een inhoudelijke bijdrage leveren en de discussie na afloop leiden. Michal Onderco is onder andere gespecialiseerd in conflicten en internationale veiligheid. Martijn Dekker is gespecialiseerd in burgerinitiatieven in conflict gebieden en staatshervorming.
Datum: donderdag 26 april
Tijdstip: 18:45u – 22:00u
Plaats: OH-19 (Bellevu gebouw)
18 april Alumni bijeenkomst Politicologie "Het minderheidskabinet als coalitieconstructie"
We nodigen je van harte uit voor een alumnibijeenkomst van de afdeling Politicologie. Op woensdag 18 april ontmoet je oude en nieuwe bekenden tijdens een bijeenkomst over het gedogen van een minderheidskabinet als coalitieconstructie in Nederland.
De avond zal beginnen met wat hapjes en drankjes en vervolgens zullen drie sprekers dit nieuwe fenomeen in de Nederlandse politiek kort bespreken. Er is daarna uitgebreid ruimte voor reacties en voor vragen uit en discussie met de zaal. Tweede Kamerlid en alumnus Joël Voordewind van de Christen Unie en Eerste Kamerlid en alumnus Arjan Vliegenthart van De Socialistische Partij bespreken de gedoogconstructie vanuit hun ervaringen in de praktische politiek en een staflid van de afdeling Politicologie vanuit de wetenschap.
Datum: woensdag 18 april 2012
Tijd: 18:00 - 20:00 uur
Locatie: VU, Metropolitan, Z-009, Buitenveldertselaan 3, Amsterdam
MSR student Neda Delfani genomineerd voor SER scriptie prijs
De scriptie van Neda Delfani is getiteld "Experts versus Politicians". Centraal staat de vraag of EU-beleidsaanbevelingen in het kader van de European Strategy for Growth and Jobs door een lidstaat gevolgd worden omdat ze rationeel-logisch zijn of omdat ze passen bij de ideologie van de regering van die lidstaat? Haar conclusie is dat regeringen aan cherry-picking doen: ze volgen vooral aanbevelingen op die passen bij de ideologie van de regerende partijen.
Op vrijdag 20 april wordt de winnaar bekend. Zie voor meer informatie de website van de SER.
Een interdisciplinair seminar van het Amsterdam Global Change Instituut over klimaatverandering en conflict
Het Amsterdam Global Change Instituut organiseerde een seminar over klimaatverandering en conflict op maandag 19 maart.
Op het seminar spraken Professor Halvard Buhaug (Peace Research Institute Oslo), Professor Wolfgang Wagner (VU) en dr. Laurens Bouwer (VU) over de volgende vragen: Kunnen klimaatoorlogen worden voorkomen? Hoe zijn klimaatverandering en conflict gerelateerd? Waar staat het huidige onderzoek over klimaat conflicten en waar moet toekomstig onderzoek zich op richten?
Corporate Elite Networks in World Politics
Bastiaan van Apeldoorn en Nana de Graaff organiseren een panel op de Annual Convention of the International Studies Association in San Diego, California 1-4 April 2012. De titel van het panel is Corporate Elite Networks in World Politics.
Politicologie valt in de prijzen
Zowel de FSW Johannes Van der Zouwen masterthesis prijs als de facultaire onderzoeksprijs zijn dit jaar aan politcologen toebedeeld. Trineke Palm, oud master student bij Politicologie, heeft de FSW Johannes van der Zouwen masterthesis prijs ontvangen voor haar scriptie Normative Power and Military Means. A study of the EU’s involvement with the FYR Macedonia. Trineke Palm onderzocht in hoeverre de ontwikkeling van een veiligheids- en defenisiebeleid het karakter verandert van het buitenlandbeleid van de Europese Unie. De afdeling Politicologie had haar voorgedragen vanwege de hoge kwaliteit van de opzet als ook van de uitvoering van het onderzoek.
Frank Biermann heeft de FSW Onderzoeksprijs gewonnen met het door hem ontwikkelde concept "Earth System Governance". Zijn conceptuele onderzoek is van groot internationaal belang en integreert verschillende disciplines en onderzoeksniveau's.
Wolfgang Wagner ontvangt subsidie van de Berghof Foundation
Professor Wolfgang Wagner heeft een subsidie ontvangen van de Berghof Foundation voor een onderzoek naar kiesstelsels in na-oorlogse samenlevingen. Het project richt zich op de vraag welk kiesstelsel het beste is onder welke contextuele condities. Voor meer informatie over het project klikt u hier.
De Berghof Foundation financieert projecten die zich bezig houden met vrede en conflict, vooral projecten die kunnen leiden tot of bijdragen aan praktische of pragmatische oplossingen in conflict situaties.
Promotie Gijs Schumacher: Moderniseer of Sterf?
Op 10 januari 2012 promoveerde Gijs Schumacher op zijn proefschrift Modernize of Die? Social Democrats, Welfare State Retrenchment and the Choice between Office and Policy.
Waarom hebben sociaaldemocraten zoals Schröder in Duitsland, Kok in Nederland en Blair in Groot-Brittannië bezuinigd op de verzorgingsstaat? Sociaaldemocraten waren de vertegenwoordigers van de arbeidersklasse en de hoofdrolspelers in de uitbreiding van de verzorgingsstaat. Bovendien straffen de kiezers sociaaldemocraten voor het doorvoeren van bezuinigingen op de verzorgingsstaat. Omdat bezuinigingen in de verzorgingsstaat niet lijken te corresponderen met sociaaldemocratische principes en geen electoraal succes lijken te brengen is het moeilijk te begrijpen waarom sociaaldemocraten bezuinigen op de verzorgingsstaat. In zijn dissertatie ontwikkelt Gijs Schumacher een algemene theorie van partijverandering om de vraag te beantwoorden waarom sociaaldemocraten van beleidsvoorkeur op het gebied van de verzorgingsstaat zijn veranderd. In deze theorie speelt de verhouding tussen partijleiders en partij-activisten een cruciale rol (p202 Modernize or Die?).
Marlies Glasius opvolger van Mient Jan Faber op leerstoel IKV
Marlies Glasius is per 1 januari 2012 benoemd als bijzonder hoogleraar Citizens Involvement in War Zones and Post-Conflict Zones aan de Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen van de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
VU heeft weer het beste bachelorprogramma Politicologie
Volgens hoogleraren en universitair hoofddocenten heeft de VU de beste bachelor opleidingen op de vakgebieden Politicologie en Technische Informatica. Dat bleek 1 oktober jl. uit het jaarlijks terugkerende thema ‘De beste studies’ van het weekblad Elsevier.
Nieuw Boek: Democratische Constitutionalisering van de Europese Unie van dr. Ben Crum
Op 30 november publiceert Routledge Learning from the EU Constitutional Treaty,Democratic Constitutionalization beyond the Nation-State van VU Politicoloog Ben Crum. Deze monografie biedt een omvattende analyse van de totstandkoming en verwerping van de Europese grondwet en de aansluitende aanname van het Verdrag van Lissabon. Crum beschouwt het Europees Grondwettelijk Verdrag als de meest gedurfde poging om de steeds verdergaande internationalisering van de politiek te voorzien van een democratische fundering. Vanuit die gedachte gebruikt hij deze episode om een theorie te ontwikkelen van de wijze waarop, en de voorwaarden waaronder, internationale organisaties van een democratische basis kunnen worden voorzien.
Het boek zal bij twee gelegenheden gepresenteerd worden:
Op maandag 5 december presenteert Crum Learning from the EU Constitutional Treaty bij het Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussel. Als referent treedt daarbij op Richard Corbett, lid van het kabinet van de president van de Europese Raad en voormalig Europarlementariër en rapporteur over het Grondwettelijk Verdrag.
Registratie en informatie voor deze bijeenkomst kan via het Centre for European Policy Studies.
Op dinsdag 13 december tussen 17 en 19 uur organiseert het Europafonds van de Wiardi Beckman Stichting een presentatie van Learning from the EU Constitutional Treaty in Den Haag (locatie: Dudok, Hofweg 1a). Na een inleiding door Ben Crum, zullen Frans Timmermans, destijds namens de Tweede Kamer lid van de Conventie, en Tom de Bruijn, voormalig permanent vertegenwoordiger van Nederland bij de EU als coreferenten optreden. De bijeenkomst wordt geleid door Jan Marinus Wiersma, bestuurslid van het WBS-Europafonds en voormalig lid van het Europees Parlement.
De afdeling Politicologie heet Moira Nelson welkom
Sinds 1 september is Moira Nelson werkzaam bij de afdeling Politicologie als post doctorale onderzoeker. Zij gaat onderzoek doen binnen het project ‘Om de balans in de nieuwe welvaartstaat’ wat gefinancierd wordt door stichting instituut GAK. Daarnaast neemt ze deel aan het project NEUJOBS. Binnen het NEUJOBS project richt ze zich op de gevolgen van innovatie voor productie en werkgelegenheid, alsook op de transformatie van de verzorgingsstaat. In beide projecten zijn AIO’s en permanente medewerkers van de afdeling Politicologie actief.
Meer informatie over NEUJOBS kunt u vinden op de website.
Professor Peter Mair (1951-2011)
Last monday 15 August, Dr. Peter Mair, Professor of Comparative Politcs and Government at the EUI (Florence) has suddenly and unexpectedly passed away at the age of 60. He leaves behind his wife and 3 children. The political science community in Europe and beyond grieves this loss of an outstanding academic, journal editor and teacher.
Peter Mair was a native of Sligo (Ireland) and a graduate of University College Dublin and enjoyed a distinguished academic career and was the author of a large number of books, chapters and articles on comparative and European politics. It is a sad loss to European political science.
He graduated in 1974 and began his career as an assistant professor at the University of Limerick. He subsequently lectured at the universities of Strathclyde and Manchester before moving to the European University Institute of Florence in 1979. He moved to the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in 1987 and was appointed professor of comparative politics in 1994. In 2005 he returned to Florence and was appointed head of the department of political and social sciences in 2007.
Prof Mair specialised in the study of party and party systems and has written a number of books on the subject. He was co-author of Representative Government in Modern Europe , the fifth edition of which was published this year. He was also co-author of Identity, Competition and Electoral Availability , which was awarded the prestigious Stein Rokkan prize. Peter Mair served the comparative political science community by editorships of the internationally reputed European Journal of Political Science and of West European Politics.
Peter was a person of great charm, a congenial colleague and always encouraging students.We grieve over his loss and sympathize with his family he left behind too early and too soon.
On behalf of the department of Political Science
Prof. Hans Keman (VU University)
Chair in Comparative Political Science
Student assistent Trineke Palm publiceert Working Paper
Trineke Palm, student assistent bij de afdeling Politicologie, heeft een paper gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift Compass Working Paper Series. De titel van het artikel is 'Embedded in social cleavages: An explanation of the variation in timing of women’s suffrage’. Het artikel is hier te vinden.
Opening Amsterdam Global Change Institute
Op donderdag 16 juni 2011 is de opening van het Amsterdam Global Change Institute (AGCI). AGCI is een samenwerking van drie faculteiten, namelijk de faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen, de faculteit Aard –en Levenswetenschappen en de faculteit der Economische Wetenschappen. Dit nieuwe instituut aan de Vrije Universiteit gaat interdisciplinair onderzoek doen naar globale veranderingen, duurzaamheid en milieu. Door het integreren van onderzoek zal AGCI bijdragen aan innovaties en de besluitvorming.
Workshop ‘Transnational Social Justice in the European Union and its Implications for Global Justice’, Amsterdam 10 en 11 Juni
In het kader van het EU programma Reconstituting Democracy in Europe heeft de afdeling Politicologie een tweedaagse internationale workshop georganiseerd over transnationale sociale rechtvaardigheid in de EU en de consequenties er van voor wereldwijde rechtvaardigheid. Verplichtingen van sociale herverdeling zijn van origine beperkt tot de natie staat. Transnationale herverdeling wordt gezien als liefdadigheid of hulp en niet als een politieke verplichting. Critici van dit idee stelling dat we sociaaleconomische verplichtingen hebben ten aanzien van de armen wereldwijd. In een tijdperk van steeds verdere globalisering kan men stellen dat de verantwoordelijkheden over grenzen heen meer verplichtend worden. Binnen de Europese Unie zijn de sociaaleconomische condities nauw met elkaar verwezen zoals we kunnen zien in de huidige financiële crisis. Er is dan wel geen Europese verzorgingsstaat, maar de Europese betrokkenheid met bijvoorbeeld Griekenland gaat duidelijk verder dan liefdadigheid en hulp.
Deze workshop brengt politicologen, filosofen, sociologen en juristen samen om te praten over de mogelijke consequenties van deze ontwikkelingen voor sociale verplichtingen over staatsgrenzen heen.
Politicologenetmaal 9 en 10 juni 2011
In 14 parallelsessies hebben politicologen zich over uiteenlopende onderwerpen gebogen. Wolfgang Wagner was voorzitter van de sessie “Domestic Politics and International Security”.
Daniel Heinsiusprijs 2010 voor Politicologie Alumnus Tom Hylands
De Afdeling Politicologie is trots te kunnen meedelen dat Tom Hylands, alumnus van de Social Research Master, track Political Science, de Daniel Heinsiusprijs 2010 heeft gewonnen voor de beste politicologische thesis geschreven in Nederland en Vlaanderen. De prijs voor zijn thesis getiteld 'Fat Government, Thin Populace? The Role of Social Policy in Obesity Outcomes' werd uitgereikt op 9 juni 2011 tijdens het Politicologenetmaal. Tom werd begeleid door Barbara Vis en Hans Keman was de tweede lezer.
NWO subsidie voor onderzoek naar de herverdelingseffecten van wereldwijde milieuregelgeving
Markten zijn wellicht effectief in het oplossen van milieu problemen, maar zijn de uitkomsten ook eerlijk?
Prof. Dr. Frank Biermann heeft een subsidie ontvangen uit de Open Competitie van de NWO. Voor het project “Markets as Solution to Transnational Public Policy Problems? An Analysis of the Problem-solving and Distributive Effects of Market-based Governance Mechanisms” ontvangt Professor Biermann 208.000 euro. Voor dit project zal intensief worden samengewerkt met het internationale onderzoeksprogramma “Earth System Governance Project”.
De ontwikkeling van internationale markten op het gebied van internationaal milieubeleid wordt sterk gestimuleerd. Voorbeelden zijn de handel in emissierechten, de vrijwillige CO2 markt, regionale markten voor visquota, of de financiële en verhandelbare compensatie voor het niet gebruiken van natuurlijke bronnen en de bescherming van bossen. Professor Biermann en Eleni Dellas (AIO) gaan nu onderzoeken of, en hoe, grensoverschrijdend, op de markt gebaseerd bestuur kan bijdragen aan een oplossing voor wereldwijde milieuvraagstukken zoals de opwarming van de aarde. Hun onderzoek richt zich niet alleen op de effectiviteit van op de markt gebaseerd bestuur, maar ook op de herverdelingseffecten ervan.
Frank Biermann benoemd in VN milieu panel
VU Professor Politicologie en Milieuvraagstukken Frank Biermann is benoemd in het expert panel van de Verenigde Naties. Dit panel is een initiatief van het VN Milieu programma (UNEP). Het panel zal de VN en andere beleidsmakers informeren over de wereldwijde milieuonderwerpen die de komende jaren de meeste aandacht nodig hebben. Het panel zal zowel het programma van het VN Milieu programma als ook andere VN organisaties van adviezen voorzien. Het belangrijkste advies zal zijn aan de Rio +20 VN Conferentie over duurzame ontwikkeling in mei 2012. Het expert panel bestaat uit 20 vooraanstaande internationale wetenschappers met als voorzitter de belangrijkste wetenschapper van het UNEP.Pattberg publiceert speciale uitgave van het tijdschrift International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics
Philipp Pattberg heeft samen met Michelle Betsill en Elini Dellas een speciale uitgave van het tijdschrift International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics gepubliceerd. Het onderwerp van deze uitgave is “Agency in Earth System Governance”.New PhD students and guest in the department
As of 1 September, the department of political science has four new PhD students, Jeanine Bezuijen, Benjamin Neudorfer, Michal Onderco and Jerome Schaefer. Moreover, in the first semester 2010/2011, Natascha Neudorfer is an official guest in the department as well as a fellow in the ERC Advanced Grant project 'Causes and Consequences of Multilevel Governance' of Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks.Kees van Kersbergen, Henk Overbeek and Matthias Stepan at EU Workshop in Chengdou
Kees van Kersbergen, Henk Overbeek and Matthias Stepan have been invited to a workshop in Chengdou, 'The European Union after the Lisbon: Opportunities and Challenges', 7-9 May 2010.
The workshop has brought together the leading scholars in European Studies in China and a number of distinguished European scholars in the field.
Kees van Kersbergen discussed European Social Governance, Henk Overbeek the Political and Economic Diplomacy of the EU, and Matthias Stepan presented research on the Open Method of Coordination.
The week following the workshop, they gave lectures on European Integration and visited the Graduate Forum providing comments and suggestions to the PhD candidates in European Studies of Sichuan University who presented their research.
PhD Workshop Democracy in Transformation, 18/19 June 2010 in Amsterdam
Gijs Schumacher is organising a PhD workshop on 'Democracy in Transformation', 18/19 June 2010 in Amsterdam.
Confirmed speakers include Kris Deschouwer (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Liesbet Hooghe (UNC/Chapel Hill & VU Amsterdam), Ingrid van Biezen (Universiteit Leiden) and Mark Bovens (Universiteit Utrecht).
PhD students are invited to submit paper proposals (DL is 31 March). Papers should be related to our topic Democracy in Transformation. Broadly, we invite papers about the representative side of politics, namely elections, electoral systems and party behavior and parties and papers about the governance side of politics, namely public policy outputs. Specifically, some of the papers of PhDs who have signed up already are about populism, media effects, campaign strategies, the new politics of the welfare state and democratic legitimacy.
Clifton van der Linden guest doctoral researcher in the department
The department welcomes Clifton van der Linden as guest doctoral researcher for the next eight months.
Cliff is a PhD candidate in International Relations in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. 
He is the past-chair of the G8 Research Group at the Munk Centre for International Studies and outgoing editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Law and International Relations at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Cliff is examining how European integration has contributed to the manifestation of a new brand of nationalism in Western Europe over the past two decades. He is particularly interested in how and why certain practices in Western Europe have become securitized under the auspices of a liberal nationalist sentiment. His research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada.
Admissions open for MSc Specialisation Global Environmental Governance after successful start of new programme
Our new master specialisation Global Environmental Governance has seen a successful start this academic year 2009/10. This new programme is a unique combination of broad training in political science with intense specialised lectures and seminars on global environmental governance.
The admission procedure for new students is now open. For more information, download here the flyer and the programme for the specialisation in our MSc in Political Science, and have a look at the admissions website for the master programme.
Laura Horn wins FSW Dissertation Prize 2009
Laura Horn has won the annual faculty dissertation prize with her PhD dissertation 'The Transformation of Corporate Governance Regulation in the European Union - Towards a Marketisation of Corporate Control'. The jury recommended her dissertation for the clear theoretical framework, clear and elegant argumentation and wide range of sources. Horn's dissertation will be published in 2010 by Palgrave. For more information, see the faculty website (in Dutch).
Elsevier Ranking 2009 - Political science again voted best POL programme in the Netherlands
According to the Elsevier university ranking 2009, the BA Political Sience at the VU has been voted the best political science programme by Political Science Professors in the Netherlands for the second time in a row.
EU Profiler wins e-Democracy Award
For the past five years, the World e-Democracy Forum has rewarded those who have made a commitment to carry out meaningful political change through use of the Internet and new technologies. Together with the other 9 finalists, EU Profiler, developed by the European University Institute, will receive its trophy at the ceremony to be held during the French National Assembly on Thursday, October 22nd, in partnership with the American web portal PoliticsOnline, the Politech Institute of Europe and Blog Territorial.
At the international level, this is the most renowned award in the field of e-democracy.
The European University Institute (Florence, Italy) and its technical partners (the Swiss NCCR Democracy and the Dutch Kieskompas) developed EU Profiler at the beginning of this year. Its objective was to help EU citizens make their choice for whom to vote at this year’s European Parliament elections, as well as to analyse the political preferences and voting behaviour of the European electorate. In replying to thirty simple questions pertinent to the main issues of this electoral campaign, EU citizens could, for the first time ever, express their opinion on the most important topics relevant to the future of Europe – immigration, energy, social policies, global warming, security, unemployment and European integration. By doing so, they were able to easily identify the party that best corresponded to their expectations and ideas on the future of the European Union.
For more information on the award: http://www.edemocracy-forum.com/2009/09/the-world-edemocracy-forum-announces-finalists-of-the-2009-edemocracy-awards.html#more
Introduction programme Master in Political Science
From August 31 till September 4, the introduction of the VU Master in Political Science takes place. The full programme can downloaded as a pdf file.Annemarie van Elfrinkhof Visiting Scholar at UNC Chapel Hill, Fall Semester 2009
Annemarie van Elfrinkhof has been invited by Prof. dr. Hooghe to spend a semester at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill as a visiting scholar, starting August 25, 2009. UNC is an excellent venue for advanced training in political methodology and comparative and European Politics. It is the home of an important method for party positioning, the Chapel Hill expert survey, and is known for cross validating methods for party positioning. Annemarie is part of the CAMeRa project Text to Political Positions and her training at UNC will benefit the method that she is developing together with Isa Maks and Bertie Kaal (Faculty of Arts) to extract the positions of political parties from texts.
Annual Report 2008 of the Department of Political Science now available!
The annual report of the Department of Political Science is now available for download here.
The report covers the profile of the Teaching Curriculum and gives an outline of the progress of our Research Programme 'Multi-layered Governance in EUrope and beyond'. Also, it provides an overview of the international co-operation, publications as well as Academic and Professional Activities of the members of the department.
Arjan Schakel awarded a Newton International Fellowship
The department congratulates Arjan Schakel, who has been awarded a Newton International 
Fellowship. This scheme is run by the British Academy, The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. For the next two years Arjan will be working on a project at the Territorial Politics Groups at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.
The title of the research project is 'Regional reform and territorialization of party systems'. More information and the award can be found at the Newton International Fellowships website.
Transatlantic Master in European Politics
On May 12th, 2009, a meeting took place at the Department at which the cooperation between our Department and the Center for European Studies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (the ‘other’ home of our colleagues Liesbet Hooghe and Gary Marks) was sealed with the signing of the official document by John Stephens, Director of the Center for European Studies, and Kees van Kersbergen, Head of Department of the VU Political Science Department. Under the terms of the agreement, up to 10 graduate students from the UNC Transatlantic Master in European Politics program will spend a full academic year at our Department taking part in the MSc Political Science program. In September 2009, the first group of five UNC students will arrive in Amsterdam to enrich our Master programme.
Model United Nations workshop, 4/5 June
Will you solve the conflict in Congo?
The department of Political Science, in cooperation with SAMUN and EOS, is organising a Model United Nations (MUN) workshop for all Political Science students on 4 and 5 June 2009. Led by experts from SAMUN, the UN simulation is free and open to ALL students (BA, PMC, MA, PhD, alumni).
This workshop is your chance to get first hand experience of how the UN system works, how countries can cooperate (or not) and why, despite all our theories and concepts, the bodies are still piling up. Each student will represent ONE country. The case we’ll be discussing and negotiating is the conflict in Congo, and how to react to it. All study materials and the rules of procedure will be provided.
If you want to register for the MUN, or would like more information, please send an email with your name, student number (if applicable) and a very short motivation on why you want to participate and which country you would want to represent to Naná de Graaff:na.de.graaff@fsw.vu.nl. The deadline for registration is 11 May 2009!
Dr. Ian Budge (Essex) International Research Fellow in our department
As of 1 April Dr. Ian Budge will be International Research Fellow in our department. Ian Budge is Honorary Research Professor at the University of Essex. His research focus is, broadly, on democratic theory from a comparative perspective.
He is the author or co-author of some twenty volumes and sixty monographs on democratic theory and practice, most recently Elections, Parties and Democracy (2006). He is the founder of the international Comparative Manifesto Research Project, to which Hans Keman and Paul Pennings have also contributed. Together with Hans Keman and Jaap Woldendorp he is managing the Party Government Data Set.
Workshop 'With or without Lisbon: continuous institutional change in the EU' 15-16 May 2009
Amsterdam, 15-16 May 2009
Venue: Felix Meritis, Amsterdam
This workshop is organised within RECON's WP 2 - The Constitutionalisation of the EU, the Europeanisation of National Constitutions, and Constitutionalism Compared.
After the demise of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe and the rejection of the Lisbon Reform Treaty in the referendum in Ireland, the prospects for formal EU reform by Treaty revision look rather gloomy. Even if the Lisbon Treaty will eventually be passed, new Treaty negotiations are unlikely to be anticipated for the first time in 25 years.
Still, it would be too quick to conclude that the EU’s institutional evolution has come to a standstill. Scholarly analysis has pointed out how also in the absence of formal Treaty change, EU institutions and the norms governing them have been subject to ‘informal change’. A classical case in point is the jurisprudence of the ECJ that on some rather momentous occasions rather sought to elaborate the spirit of the Treaties than to follow them by the letter. In more recent years, in particular the European Parliament but also some elements in the Council of Ministers have separately and in collaboration been remarkably active in developing new modes of operation where the Treaties remain silent.
This workshop is to reflect upon the potential of institutional change that has emerged in the shadow of the attempts to move to a new Treaty. It does so by focussing on three sets of institutions: the European Parliament, the role of national parliaments in the EU architecture, and the European and national courts. The focus on these three institutions is motivated by a particular interest in the role that normative ideas may play in driving and justifying informal institutional change. Here we think in the first place of normative ideas like the idea of ‘popular sovereignty’ in the case of parliaments and the idea of ‘basic rights’ in the case of courts, but one might also think of the idea of ‘national sovereignty’.
Among the questions to be pursued are thus:
What institutional changes have taken place since the beginning of the Laeken process?And what potential for future changes has been opened up?
How do these changes relate to the proposals that have been part of the formal Treaty re-
negotiations? Do they, for instance, anticipate them or rather respond to them?What causes the opportunities for institutional change to arise and to be successfully carried through? And to what extent are normative ideas essential in providing them with a normative and practical justification?
What do these findings bode for the prospects of future Treaty change or even a renewed attempt to constitutionalise the Union on the basis of popular engagement and consent?
For more information, please contact Ben Crum (co-leader WP 2)
MSc Political Science - Global Environmental Governance track
From the academic year 2009/10 onwards there will be a third specialisation in our MSc programme. Whereas students until now had the choice between a specialisation in International Relations & Transnational Governance or Comparative & European Politics, students can now also choose to take modules in the Global Environmental Governance track. This consists of a course on Selected Issues in Global Environmental Governance and a Workshop in Governance for Sustainable Development. The new specialisation has been set up in cooperation with the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), in particular Prof. Frank Biermann and Dr. Philipp Pattberg.
This new programme is a unique combination of broad training in political science with intense specialised lectures and seminars on global environmental governance. In the first part of the programme, students will get a solid foundation in political theory, methods of political science, and international relations. In the second part, they will specialise in global environmental governance, with emphasis on the new actors, mechanisms and interlinkages in this important field of international relations. Students will finalise their studies with an MSc thesis, which may be written in conjunction with the many large-scale international research projects already underway at the Institute for Environmental Studies of the VU University Amsterdam. The Institute's department on Environmental Policy Analysis was evaluated in 2007 as the top research department in the Netherlands in its field; students in this new MSc programme can also rely on the department's extensive international networks, such as the Europe-wide Global Governance Project (www.glogov.org) and the worldwide Earth System Governance Project (www.earthsystemgovernance.org).
The new MSc programme is demanding in its combination of a disciplinary focus on political science within a multidisciplinary field of study. It unites challenging academic work with the search for practical solutions and policy reform. It is targeted at students with both academic and practical career objectives, and it is decidedly international in approach. Moreover, as a one-year programme it can be particularly appealing to those who may prefer a shorter timeframe for their academic pursuits. Finally, it is located in one of the most fascinating cities in Europe, known not only for its vibrant cultural life and architectural beauty, but also for its strong environmental policies, with more bicycles per inhabitant than cars.
See this flyer (pdf) for more information on the MA specialisation. More information will be available on this website soon. Please contact us at info.fsw@vu.nl if you have any questions!
Kees van Kersbergen back in the department after research stay in Konstanz
Kees van Kersbergen, head of the department of Political Science, has returned from a research stay at the University of Konstanz. From January - October 2008, Kees has been working in the context of the 'Kulturwissenschaftliche Kolleg Konstanz'.
His work has mainly focused on finalizing the theoretical introduction to an edited volume titled “Religion, Class Coalitions, and Welfare State Regimes” and completing the manuscript of this edited volume and preparing it for publication. The aim of the book (edited with Philip Manow from the University of Konstanz) is to re-asses the role of religion in modern welfare state development. This is essential for understanding the historical causes of the marked institutional differences between Europe’s welfare regimes and for better understanding the present functioning logic of Europe’s different political economies. The work radically reviews established knowledge in comparative historical welfare state studies and introduces a new perspective on why and how religion shaped modern social protection systems.
Dr. Stuart Shields (Manchester) Guest Researcher in the Department
In November, January and March Stuart Shields will visit our department for a series of short research stays.
Stuart is Lecturer in International Political Economy at the University of Manchester. Stuart completed his PhD on the transnational dimension of regime transformation in Eastern Central Europe at Aberystwyth's Department of International Politics, in 2002, and joined Manchester in 2003. Stuart's research interests are in International Political Economy, Eastern Europe and post-communist transition, EU enlargement, neoliberalism, and globalisation. He has been secretary of the Critical Political Economy Research Network of the European Sociological Association, and is the current convenor of the British International Studies Association International Political Economy working group.
While visiting the Vrije Universiteit Stuart will be working on the following project connected to a new collaboration with members of the department on the Limits to Neoliberal Reform and the Reemergence of State Capitalism.
The limits to neoliberalism - Populism and the 'new' Europe This project engages in a theoretical critique of the postcommunist state's role in the contestation of neoliberalism in the `new' Europe. It asks why opposition to neo-liberalism so frequently takes the form of populist and regressive nationalist appeals to workers, as right-wing movements make greater headway than the traditional left.
The paper focuses on Poland and Hungary, contemporary examples of post-communist states in the global political economy that have pursued fundamental changes within national economic, political, and social spheres of life. Recent events in these countries have challenged the established neoliberal rolled back state. In 2006 the celebrations of the 1956 revolution provoked neo-Nazi demonstrations that were brutally put down by the Hungarian police. From 2005 to 2007, Poland's right wing populist government was actively involved in high-profile attacks on gay rights, favoured the reintroduction of the death penalty, and demanded a complete ban on abortion. The project seeks to explain the character of the rejection of neoliberalism in these cases, and the absence of a left alternative. By interrogating what has happened to labour in the new Europe since 2004 the project explores how and why the `genuine' anti-capitalist alternative has come from the right wing with the pro-welfare position now dominated by politically regressive nationalist forces.
Stuart's visit is funded under the British Council NWO UK-Netherlands Partnership Programme in Science jointly run and financed by the British Council and Platform Bèta Techniek.
International Research Seminar - Dr. Ian Bruff, Edge Hill University (UK)
International Research Seminar (IRS), Friday 28 November,
15.00 – 17.00 (Z009, Metropolitan Building).
'A Critical Analysis of the Dutch and German Varieties of Capitalism: Wassenaar, the Alliance for Jobs and post-2001 Developments'
Dr. Ian Bruff
The presentation will be based on Ian Bruff's recent book publication, Culture and Consensus in European Varieties of Capitalism: A "Common Sense" Analysis (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
A sample chapter of the book is available at the publisher's website. The paper on which the presentation is based will be distributed in time.
We welcome you to join us for the discussion and drinks afterwards.
Political Science at VU University voted best POL programme in the Netherlands
In a recent poll amongst Political Science professors, senior lecturers and students in the Netherlands, the political science programme at the VU University Amsterdam has been voted the best POL study programme in the country.In the Elsevier Faculty Rating, the quality of the members of staff and their academic work, as well as the BA and MA programmes have been assessed.
For more information (in Dutch), see this link to Elsevier Magazine.
The department is delighted by this recognition of its efforts to continually improve its study programme, and will of course remain committed to its high standards.
Guest researcher in the Department
In cooperation between the KNAW and the Chinese Academy for Social Sciences (CASS), Dr. MO Wei of the Institute of European Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing has joined our department for one month.
She is Associate Professor of the Institute of European Studies at CASS, the Editor of the Chinese Journal of European Studies and a part-time lawyer of the Bagui Law Firm. Her research, in the field of International Economic Law, focuses on the legal aspects of the EU trade system. Her current research project is concerned with the politics and legal frictions between the EU and China over anti-dumping policies.
Recent and forthcoming publications by members of the department
Dr. Barbara Vis (2009) 'Governments and unpopular social policy reform: Biting the bullet or steering clear?' forthcoming 2009 in European Journal of Political Research
Abstract
Under which conditions and to what extent do governments pursue unpopular social policy reforms for which they might be punished in the next election? This article shows that there exists substantial cross-cabinet variation in the degree to which governments take unpopular measures and argues that current studies cannot adequately explain this variation. Using insights from prospect theory, a psychological theory of choice under risk, this study hypothesises that governments only engage in unpopular reform if they face a deteriorating socio-economic situation, a falling political position, or both. If not, they shy away from the risk of reform. A fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA) of the social policy reform activities pursued by German, Dutch, Danish and British cabinets between 1979 and 2005 identifies a deteriorating socio-economic situation as necessary for unpopular reform. It is only sufficient for triggering reform, however, if the political position is also deteriorating and/or the cabinet is of rightist composition. This study's findings further the scholarly debate on the politics of welfare state reform by offering a micro-foundation that helps one to understand what induces political actors aspiring to be re-elected to engage in electorally risky unpopular reform.
drs. Jasper de Raadt (2009) ‘Contestable Constitutions: Ambiguity, Conflict, and Change in East Central European Dual Executive Systems’ forthcoming 2009 in Communist and Post-Communist Studies
Abstract
This article investigates how ambiguous constitutional design affected president-cabinet relations, and constitutional change in post-communist Poland and Hungary. Constitutional provisions related to the prerogatives of presidents and governments were frequently subject to political conflict during the 1990s. The power struggle in the two cases developed and consolidated along two distinct patterns. In Poland, failed attempts to modify the constitution initially stirred up and extended intra-executive conflicts. With the adoption of a new constitution in 1997 the struggle over power between president and council of ministers was finally settled. In Hungary constitutional court rulings were instrumental in the settlement of president-cabinet conflicts.
See the latest newsletter
Newsletter 22 (07 August 2008)
Research Output 2007
For an overview of the department's research output in 2007, please see the document below.
Annual Report 2007
Bibliography Dutch Politics (1998-2008)
A bibliography of Dutch politics compiled by Dr. Jaap Woldendorp is now published on our website.
Bibliography Dutch politics
Workshop on the Politics of Change
The Department of Political Science at the VU Amsterdam and the Center for European Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill are hosting a two-day workshop on party politics, elections, and public opinion entitled "The Politics of Change." The event will take place on June 13-14 at the Felix Meritis in Amsterdam and is open to all NIG members. Further information about the workshop, including a detailed program, can be found by clicking on the link below. If you would like to attend, please feel free to contact the workshop organizers.
More information
Contact the organizers
Voting Advice Applications conference with Electoral Compass
On May 16 (Friday) the University of Antwerp and Electoral Compass will organise a conference under the title Voting Advice Applications (VAAs): between charlatanism and political science. For more information or to register for this conference, please do not hesitate to contact the organizers.
More information
Contact Electoral Compass
"The roots of China's Foreign Policy: Lessons for the future"
A group of students from the LLM “Law and Politics of International Security”, together with Kenneth Manusama from the Law faculty organise a conference on Chinese foreign policy which you are invited to attend. The conference takes place on 6 March 2008 15.00-18.30.
China conference flyer
More information
Installation of our Advisory Board
In the context of our continuous efforts to improve the quality of our teaching the Department of Political Science has set up an Advisory Board. The Advisory Board of Political Science has been installed and met for the first time November 26, 2007. The Department is very grateful to the members of the Advisory Board for their willingness to spend some of their valuable time to help us in improving our curricula. As the first meeting demonstrated, the advice of independent fellow academics as well as leading alumni of our Department can be a very valuable source of suggestions and ideas and thus play an indispensable role in monitoring the quality of our teaching. For more information on the Advisory Board and its members see under the new link Advisory Board.
Advisory Board
PhD Supervisor award for Bastiaan van Apeldoorn
Bastiaan van Apeldoorn has received the NIG PhD supervisor of the year award at the NIG conference at the Tilburg University. It was the first time the Netherlands Institute of Governance handed out such an award.
Bastiaan van Apeldoorn
Succesful VU Dissertations
On September 27, Catherine de Vries-Netjes defended her dissertation ‘European Integration and National Elections’ very successfully. She received her title with distinction (cum laude). Catherine is currently working at Leiden University.
Tanja Aalberts, who defended her dissertation ‘The Politics of Sovereignty’ at the VU university in 2006, received the John Blondel PhD Prize at the ECPR General Conference in Pisa. She already received the PhD prize of the Dutch political science association in May 2007. Tanja is also currently working at Leiden University.
More information on the ECPR PhD Prize
New working paper online
Marcus Taylor's paper 'Rethinking the Global Production of Uneven Development' is published in our working paper series. This paper argues that reconceptualising the relationship between production and uneven development is an important step in overcoming what have been termed ‘anachronistic approaches’ in contemporary development theory.
Marcus Taylor (Queens University, Canada)
Working papers
Sichuan University: VU Professors in China
Our department cooperates closely with the European Studies Center of Sichuan University in Chengdu (PRC). Hans Keman (left) and Kees van Kersbergen (right) have been teaching intensive two-week courses at Sichuan University in the period 14-25 May, and are here seen posing in front of the new main building of Sichuan University during a break between their lectures
Sichuan University
Summer School 2006: Report
The 2006 parties summer school 'Democracy in Europe: European Politics and Multi-level Governance' was organised by our department. All papers and a report by the local organisers are now available on the summer school website. The 2007 summer school will take place in Florence.
Summer school report 2006.pdf
