LoPaPol Workshop, Gent, Belgium

What is this workshop?

This event promises to be a dynamic gathering of scholars working on party politics at the local level. Set against the backdrop of the enchanting city of Ghent, the workshop is designed as a forum for in-depth discussions and the dissemination of cutting-edge research in the realm of local party politics. Over these two days, participants will have the opportunity to present their research papers or project proposals and receive valuable feedback.

By organising LoPaPol we want to advance research on local party politics and create a vibrant network among scholars in the field.

Why this workshop?

Local authorities have become pivotal government pillars dealing with complex policy problems that have a great impact on people’s lives. Equally, the local level is becoming increasingly important for political parties. For parties, it is a key arena to win elections, to staff local councils and executives, and to influence policy. Nevertheless, party politics at the local level has not attracted abundant academic attention. We lack a comprehensive understanding on the structure of party competition and cooperation as well as intraparty politics at the local level.

The goal of the workshop is to advance our current knowledge of local party politics by reviewing and consolidating the state of the art and engaging in theoretical, conceptual, and especially empirical innovations. We aim to move beyond the study of the topic based on impressions and perceptions to a systematic understanding of the interactions within and between parties on the local level.

Abstracts can involve all aspects of local party politics:

• Intraparty politics and party organisation at the local level
• Candidate selection for local councils
• Local party manifestos and ideology
• Local election campaigns and the messages parties send to voters
• Local coalition governance, formation outcomes and termination
• Behaviour of parties in local councils, including voting, speech-making, the submission of questions, amendments and motions
• Policy outcomes at the local level, when these are linked to the behaviour of parties
• The building of comparative datasets on party competition in local politics
• The link between behaviour of parties in municipalities and other layers of multi-level political systems

Organising team & contact

The LoPaPol workshop is organised by Raf Reuse (Ghent University) with the help of Martin Gross (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich), Christina-Marie Juen (Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg) and Simon Otjes (Leiden University). If you have any questions regarding the workshop, contact Raf Reuse at raf.reuseugentbe.