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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270107T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270107T140000
DTSTAMP:20261012T081355Z
CREATED:20260724T121515Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T081355Z
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SUMMARY:Thursday seminars: Sara Pina & Lucas Kins
DESCRIPTION:Extreme right use of social media in election campaigns: Countervailing strategies against mainstream political parties\nby Sara Pina \nThis paper analyses the use of social media by extreme-right candidates during election campaigns. Because established traditional parties are more strongly rooted both socially and in the political system\, something which makes them have wider access to the traditional mass media\, extreme-right parties have made an especially intense and innovative use of social media\, in order to compensate for some deficit of traditional media attention. \nAt the same time\, literature is not consensual about the impact of these strategies in what is called the post-modern campaigns (Norris\, 2000). On the one hand\, it has been shown in some studies that traditional parties continue to have the same or even wider impact in the public sphere than newcomer parties\, what is called normalization. On the other hand\, it has also been argued that equalization of forces sometimes occurs\, with smaller candidates gaining reinforced visibility thanks to the online use\, approaching their communicational power to established ones (cf.\, among all\, Gibson et al.\, 2003; Gibson\, Lusoli and Ward\, 2007; Wright\, 2011; or Lilleker and Jackson\, 2011). \nIn order to explain this variation\, we test the degree to which there is a strong correlation between more extreme messages\, their subsequent visualization and repercussion online\, and their overall impact in the polarization of the public sphere. In order to test empirically these assertions\, we will present a comparative study of the content and strategies developed online by the recently created Portuguese and Spanish newcomer extreme-right parties (Chega and Vox\, respectively) during a series of national elections between 2019 and 2022. \nBio\nSara Pina is a professor at Lusófona University and at FCSH/Universidade Nova de Lisboa\, in their Communication Sciences departments. Her main research areas are mass media ethics and law\, political communication\, and the political use of the internet and social media. She holds a PhD (2018\, University of Lisbon/ICS) on the use of the internet and social media in election campaigns in Portugal and the United States. \nHer academic and professional path has combined research with hands-on political and media experience. She volunteered in Obama’s 2012 campaign\, was a Visiting Researcher at Georgetown University\, and a Research Assistant at CUNY (City University of New York). From 2017 to 2021\, she served as senior advisor to the Portuguese Minister of Justice\, Francisca Van Dunem. Previously\, she was an advisor to the board of the Luso-American Foundation (FLAD)\, where she managed several programs and scholarships in the political and media fields\, and served as editor-in-chief of the Parallel newsmagazine for Portuguese and American readers. She has also worked extensively as a journalist and press and communication advisor\, primarily in the justice and political fields. \nShe is the author of two books\, co-author of two others\, and has published scientific articles as well as short fiction. Her academic background also includes a Master’s in Media and Society from FCSH/Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a degree in International Journalism from the School of Journalism in Porto. She has completed specialization and postgraduate studies at several foreign institutions\, including the French School of Public Management (ENA/Paris)\, the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution\, the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna\, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. \nhttps://www.ulusofona.pt/docentes/maria-sara-folhadela-figueiredo-pina-1641 \nBeyond Conflict: Cooperation Framing in Political Elites’ Communication\nby Lucas Kins \nContemporary democracies are often portrayed as being weighed down by increasing animosity among elites and citizens. As a result\, political communication scholarship has become increasingly precise in conceptualising and measuring how hostility manifests in elite discourse (Dodeigne\, 2025). This focus on negativity is understandable: conflict is intrinsic to political competition and attracts significant attention from both traditional and social media (Poljak & Muraille\, 2026). However\, in most countries\, day-to-day political communication is neither negative nor uncivil\, the latter usually being driven by a handful of actors\, and found especially in social (e.g.\, X) and/or partisan media (Druckman et al.\, 2019). Despite this\, we know far less about how political elites represent positive social relations toward their opponents—a particularly important question as affective polarisation is increasingly shown to reflect out-party dislike rather than in-party attachment (Garzia & Ferreira da Silva\, 2025). Drawing on party scholarship on elite cooperation cues (Wagner & Harteveld\, 2024)\, I put forth the concept of affiliative framing\, which describes communication that portrays interparty interactions in terms of cooperation\, mutual respect or belonging\, and depict political opponents as legitimate counterparts with whom positive social relations are possible. I distinguish affiliative framing from adjacent concepts such as positive campaigning and civility\, and develop a multidimensional framework capturing the quality of the relationship\, its basis of engagement\, and its depth. By shifting attention from whether political actors cooperate to how relations between political opponents are represented\, the concept provides a framework for analysing how positive cross-partisan relations are made visible in political communication. \nBio\nLucas Kins is a postdoctoral researcher in Political Science at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). He completed his PhD in 2025 with the support of an FNRS grant (Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique). His doctoral dissertation examined the digital communication strategies of major political parties in Belgium. More broadly\, his research focuses on digital campaigning and its implications for party organisations\, as well as on political cleavages\, polarisation\, and representation in partisan social media communication. In 2022\, he co-founded the Social Media Lab at Sciences Po ULB.
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-sara-pina/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270114T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270114T140000
DTSTAMP:20261012T081936Z
CREATED:20260724T121515Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T081936Z
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SUMMARY:Thursday seminar: Lala Muradova & Alberto López Ortega + Christoph Niessen
DESCRIPTION:Book launch: Cambridge Elements on Gender and Politics\nby Lala Muradova and Alberto López Ortega \nThis book argues that contemporary dating contributes to increasing gender-based political polarisation in modern societies. As heterosexual men’s and women’s political beliefs diverge\, especially around feminism and gender equality\, romantic encounters become sites of tension and conflict. Men often encounter women supporting (either directly or indirectly) feminist ideals\, while women frequently face dismissive or sexist attitudes\, fuelling frustration and hostility on both sides. These dynamics intensify political divides within intimate settings\, shape individuals’ attitudes and reinforces broader societal polarisation. Our theoretical claims are tested through a multi-method design that combines survey and experimental data with quantitative text analysis of individual responses to an open-ended question from respondents in the UK. The findings highlight the role of romantic contexts in sustaining gendered political polarisation. \nBio\nLala Muradova is Associate Professor in Political Psychology and Democracy at the University of Southampton (UK)\, where she is a member of the steering committees of the Centre for Democratic Futures and the Centre for Behavioural Experimental Action and Research (C-BEAR). Her research sits at the intersection of political psychology\, political communication\, and democratic innovations. \nLala is the author of Empathy and Political Reasoning: How Empathy Promotes Reflection and Strengthens Democracy (Cambridge University Press\, 2025)\, and of journal articles published in European Journal of Political Research\, Political Communication\, PLoS ONE\, and Political Studies\, among others. Dr Muradova holds a PhD in Social Sciences from KU Leuven\, Belgium (2021)\, and her doctoral thesis received the 2021 Best Political Science PhD Award from the Belgian and Dutch Political Science Associations\, as well as an honorary mention for the APSA/ICA Political Communication Dissertation Award. \nInstitutionalizing citizen deliberation in Belgium: Who participates? What do participants make of it? And what does the broader public think?\nby Christoph Niessen \nTo regain public trust in governance\, decision-makers around the world make increasing use of new forms of citizen participation that aim at giving citizens a greater say in policy-making. Among these so-called ‘democratic innovations’\, deliberative mini-publics (DMPs) – i.e. gatherings of lay-citizens deliberating before formulating policy recommendations – have received particular attention. In response to criticisms about the limited institutional connection and follow-up of ad hoc DMPs\, some political institutions even went as far as to institutionalise DMPs\, i.e. to embed them within regular political institutions\, such as parliament. Proponents hope that this institutionalisation will make DMPs politically more consequential and\, in turn\, let them be seen by both participants and the broader public as credible means of participation. The verdict on whether these hopes hold\, however\, is still out. In this talk\, I use empirical evidence collected among the participants and the broader citizenry for three Belgian cases of institutionalised citizen deliberation: the Mixed Deliberative Committees in the Regions of Brussels and Wallonia\, as well as the Permanent Citizens’ Dialogue in East Belgium. I use this evidence to answer three questions: (1) Who participates in institutionalised citizen deliberation? (2) What effect does institutionalised citizen deliberation have on participants? (3) What does the broader citizenry think of institutionalised citizen deliberation? \nBio\nChristoph Niessen is a postdoctoral researcher in comparative politics\, working on the institutionalisation and public reception of democratic innovations\, as well as on multi-level governance and on the determinants of sub-state autonomy demands and conferral.
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-book-launch-cambridge-elements-on-gender-and-politics/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270121T080000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270121T160000
DTSTAMP:20261008T150556Z
CREATED:20261008T150556Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261008T150556Z
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SUMMARY:Conference ABSP-VPW-BrIAS: Belgium: The State of the Federation + Seminar by Joke Matthieu
DESCRIPTION:Belgium: The State of the Federation\nProgramme TBD soon. \nDo Voting Advice Applications Make Better Citizens? From Political Knowledge to Vote Choice: Evidence from “De Stemtest” and “De Jongerenstemtest” during the 2024 Elections\nby Joke Matthieu \nVoting Advice Applications (VAAs) have become one of the most widely used information tools in election campaigns. Their democratic promise is considerable: VAAs are expected to inform voters\, mobilize them\, and help them vote in line with their preferences. Yet whether they deliver on these promises remains debated. This BrIAS talk brings together a series of studies on two real-world VAAs used during the 2024 Belgian elections: “De Stemtest” and the youth-oriented “De Jongerenstemtest”. Drawing on randomized experiments embedded in the YouVoice panel study of young citizens aged 16–30\, complemented by panel data on natural VAA use during the campaign\, it examines the influence on party position knowledge\, ideological knowledge\, turnout motivation\, internal political efficacy\, and party preferences. The findings show that VAAs can strengthen young voters’ political knowledge and engagement\, particularly when the tool is tailored to a young audience\, with some indications that less politically sophisticated users benefit most. The BrIAS talk concludes by discussing what these results imply for the democratic value of VAAs and for their design. \nBio\nJoke Matthieu is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Democratic Futures (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and the M2P research group (University of Antwerp). Her research interests include inequalities in political socialization processes and more general research on political behavior. She has published recently in the European Journal of Political Research\, Politics and Gender\, Political Behavior\, and West European Politics. 
URL:https://brias.be/event/conference-absp-vpw-brias-belgium-the-state-of-the-federation-seminar-by-joke-matthieu/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270121T160000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270121T200000
DTSTAMP:20261012T082410Z
CREATED:20260724T121515Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261012T082410Z
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SUMMARY:Opening Ceremony 2027
DESCRIPTION:  \n \nClick on the image to RSVP. Alternative link here. \nProgramme\n\n\n\n16:00–16:15\nWelcome speeches\, BrIAS directors and university authorities\nProf. Em. Frank Deconinck\, BrIAS co-director\, VUB\nProf. Serge Jaumain\, BrIAS co-director\, ULB\n\n\n16:15–16:30\nWelcome speeches\, Vice-Rectors\nProf. Marius Gilbert\, Vice-Rector of research and valorisation\, and vice-rector for culture and scientific mediation\, ULB\nProf. Pieter Ballon\, Vice-Rector of research\, VUB\n\n\n16:30–17:15\nRoudtable democratic solutions\n\n\n17:15–17:30\nInterlude\n\n\n17:30–17:45\nWelcome speech\, programme directors\nProf. Silvia Erzeel\, VUB\nProf. Emilie van Haute\, ULB\n\n\n17:45\nReception\n\n\n\n 
URL:https://brias.be/event/opening-ceremony-2027/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270125T093000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270125T123000
DTSTAMP:20260724T121516Z
CREATED:20260724T121516Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260724T121516Z
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SUMMARY:Junior Scholar Event: writing session
DESCRIPTION:More Details TBD soon. This event may be subject to modifications in schedule and content.
URL:https://brias.be/event/junior-scholar-event-writing-session/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270128T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20270128T140000
DTSTAMP:20261005T100112Z
CREATED:20260724T121516Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261005T100112Z
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SUMMARY:Thursday seminar: Raul Magni-Berton & Clara Egger + Yasemin Uluşahin
DESCRIPTION:Book launch: Direct Democracy Institutions in a Globalized World. The New Democratic Frontier\nby Raul Magni-Berton and Clara Egger \nThis book titled Direct Democracy Institutions in a Globalized World. The New Democratic Frontier challenges the idea that representative democracy is the pinnacle of political development and redefines its conceptual boundaries. The authors argue that when citizens can directly initiate and veto constitutional changes\, democracy enters a new phase – direct democracy – as a distinct political system. Using original data and comparisons across six countries and 15 U.S. states\, the book shows that direct democracies foster legitimacy\, stability and engagement. Combining historical\, institutional and empirical insights\, the book reframes democracy’s future and offers a timely guide for expanding citizen power in the 21st century. This book is of key interest to scholars and students of democratic regimes\, reform and democratization and\, more broadly\, comparative politics.  \nBio\nRaul Magni-Berton est professeur de sciences politiques à l’Université catholique de Lille\, et titulaire de la Chaire Démocratie directe comparée. Il travaille dans le champs de l’économie politique et la politique comparée\, dans des thématiques autour de la démocratie\, la violence politique\, les droits politiques. Récemment\, ses recherches et son activité au sein de la société civile se sont concentrées sur la démocratie directe et la subsidiarité ascendante.    \nClara Egger is Assistant Professor of Global Governance at Erasmus University Rotterdam\, where she works on crisis governance and (de) democratization processes. She coordinates the Horizon Europe project TWIN4DEM\, which explores how computational methods can help understand and safeguard democratic institutions. Her research combines comparative work on direct democracy with research on international and crisis governance\, using an international political economy approach.  \nWhose Voice to Believe When Authorities Disagree? Misinformation\, Populism and Conspiracy Mentality \nby Yasemin Uluşahin \nWhat happens when authorities tell us different things on critical issues such as our health? Today\, there is rarely a single voice telling citizens what to do and how to react. More often\, multiple voices with claims to authority enter the public sphere at once\, each presenting itself as acting in the public interest\, and citizens must decide whom to trust. This is what happened in September 2025\, when President Trump stated at a White House press conference that Tylenol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy is linked to autism\, a claim quickly contested by obstetricians. In Study 1 (N = 444)\, US adults placed the two voices\, Trump and scientists\, relative to one another\, which we call relative categorisation. In two pre-registered experiments\, we tried to shift that placement by changing how distant scientists seemed from ordinary people (Study 2\, N = 382) or the institutional setting they spoke from (Study 3\, N = 188). Relative categorisation was the strongest predictor of belief that Tylenol is safe\, explaining close to half the variance (R² = .48\, .44 and .42)\, regardless of political orientation or 2024 vote. Populist attitudes were common across the political spectrum but predicted belief only weakly (R² = .03)\, and most of the link with conspiracy mentality disappeared once categorisation was taken into account. Our manipulations made people feel closer to scientists\, but trust and belief did not change. Populism and conspiracy thinking both describe a contest between the people and the elite\, yet they do not say who belongs in each camp. Our findings suggest that who citizens categorise as part of “the elite” is central to whom they choose to believe.  \nBio\nYasemin Uluşahin is a FNRS Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Université libre de Bruxelles\, affiliated with the Center for Social and Cultural Psychology (CeSCuP). She received her PhD in Social and Political Psychology from the University of St Andrews.Her research examines how social identities and shared representations shape belief formation and political engagement. She is particularly interested in intergroup relations\, leadership processes\, conspiracy beliefs\, and populism. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods\, she investigates how group dynamics and identity leadership influence trust in information and engagement with political discourse.
URL:https://brias.be/event/thursday-seminar-book-launch-direct-democracy-institutions-in-a-globalized-world-the-new-democratic-frontier/
LOCATION:BrIAS\, Boulevard Général Jacques 210\, Ixelles\, Brussels\, 1050\, Belgium
CATEGORIES:Programme Events
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