GOVTRUST News & Events

As the GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence's researchers conduct and disseminate their research, we will post announcements and updates on new research insights, upcoming events and new opportunities here.

22 Sep 2023 | Koen Verhoest and Chesney Callens presented and discussed their work on principles of a dynamic, collaborative and crisis-resistant government organisation at the President's Council (Voorzitterscollege) of the Flemish government. The complex and transversal problems that the Flemish government is confronted with today require a dynamic, collaborative and crisis-resistant government. In recent years, Koen Verhoest and Chesney Callens have conducted research into the structure, culture, management and coordination of the Flemish government, with the aim of providing tools for strengthening a future-oriented Flemish government. 

22 Sep 2023 | New article by Jan Boon, Jan Wynen, Walter Daelemans, Jens Lemmens and Koen Verhoest on "Agencies on the parliamentary radar: Exploring the relations between media attention and parliamentary attention for public agencies using machine learning methods" in Public Administration.

• Abstract: The news media frame political debate about public agencies, and enable legislators with incomplete information to monitor and act upon agency (mal)performance. While studies show that the news media matters for parliamentary attention, the contingent nature of this relation has been understudied. Building on agenda-setting theory, this study theorizes that the effect of newspaper coverage is contingent on the sentiment of coverage, the majority vs. opposition role of legislators, and the locus (committee vs. plenaries) of parliamentary questions. Supervised machine learning methods allow to code sentiment towards agencies in newspapers and parliament, after which a balanced panel relates these data to the questioning behavior of legislators in parliament over time. Results show that media attention for public agencies precedes parliamentary attention. Sentiment matters, as positive media attention, was related to (positive) parliamentary attention in the same month. Negative media attention had broader and more enduring influences on parliamentary questioning behavior.
  

20 Sep 2023 | Patricia Popelier and colleagues ask for respect for the rule of law in De Standaard (in Dutch).

28 Aug 2023 | Patricia Popelier's opinion on the myth of the activist judges in De Standaard (in Dutch).

28 Aug 2023 | The TiGRE project released its White Paper. The White Paper provides a synthesis of the main TiGRE findings and develops scenarios and recommendations to maintain and restore trust in the area of regulatory governance. It is available for download here.

22 Aug 2023 | Patricia Popelier presented her work on "Democracy and Federalism: Foes or Friends?" at Constate’s annual conference on federalism (II Congresso Brasileiro de Federalismo e V Encontro Anual do CONSTATE) taking place in Recife, Brazil, from 21 to 23 August 2023. Thanks to Marcelo Labanca, this conference has become the highlight of Brazilian federalism scholarship, bringing together the entire Brazilian community as well as international scholars in legal scholarship and political science.

11 Aug 2023 | New article by Emmanuel Dockx and Koen Verhoest on "Dissecting the organization matters: Gauging the effect of unit-level and organization-level factors on perceived innovation outcomes" in Public Policy and Administration. 

• Abstract: Public sector innovation theory argues that the extent to which governments innovate is a question of factors such as capacity, collaboration, leadership, orientation, size, and autonomy. However, public sector organizations cannot be treated as uniform entities. Different units in an organization may have different challenges, networks, and exposure to innovation resources and pressures. Using multi-level survey data from Belgian federal and Flemish public sector managers (N=351), we provide important new knowledge to understand what characteristics and incentives at both levels (units and their organizations) should be promoted and leveraged to support managers’ perceived innovation outcomes.

24 Jul 2023 | New publication by Olivier Sempiga on "The impact of geopolitical risks on price variation and political trust in France: analyzing the Ukraine-Russia conflict" in The Journal of International Relations, Peace Studies, and Development.

• Abstract: Geopolitical risks (GPRs) have varied consequences over countries and over time. COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine are some of the recent GPRs. The conflict in Ukraine has had far-reaching economic consequences, not only for the countries directly involved in it but also for their trading partners and allies, and on the global economy in general. France, as one of Ukraine and Russia's major trading partners, has also felt the impact of the conflict on its economy. Using data from the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), the paper investigates the impact of GPRs caused by the war in Ukraine on price variation and citizen trust in France. The article conducts a multilinear regression analysis on datasets going back from immediately after the financial global crisis until the first quarter of 2023, with the war in Ukraine still ongoing. Results show that GPRs strongly affect the rise of prices of different products from oil products to food, beverages and other industry products, the association varying from strong to moderate. GPRs are also positively related to a reduction in citizen trust. The relationship between war and price, on the one hand, and the association between war and decrease in trust on the other, is confirmed by robustness checks.
  

​17 Jul 2023 | Several GOVTRUST members presented their work at last week's 9th Biennial Conference of the ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance in Antwerp. Please find below a photo of (part of) the GOVTRUST team at the conference as well as an overview of all papers of GOVTRUST members at the conference.

• Explaining beneficiaries’ and regulatees’ trust in hybrid regulatory regimes: a conceptual framework –– Cassandra Willems, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• Policy learning in EU renewable energy: what learning, how effective, and why? –– Bernardo Rangoni, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• Varieties of ethics regulations in Westminster-style systems –– Susana Coroado, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• The trade-off between political trust and voice behaviour –– Erasmus Häggblom, Bjorn Kleizen & Wouter Van Dooren, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• Does independence increase trust in regulatory agencies? –– Tobias Bach, Universitetet i Oslo, Koen Verhoest, Universiteit Antwerpen, Martino Maggetti, Université de Lausanne, Jacint Jordana, Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) & Libby Maman, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  
• Does the Background of the Regulator Matter?  Representation, Critical Mass and Cultural Capture in Regulatory Bodies –– Ixchel Pérez-Durán, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Yannis Papadopoulos, Université de Lausanne, Bastiaan Redert, Universiteit Antwerpen & Juan Carlos Triviño Salazar, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
  
• Accountability, Expertise and Trust in Regulatory Agencies. Implications of representation: diversity within regulatory domains and actors –– Edoardo Guaschino, Université de Lausanne, Juan Carlos Triviño Salazar, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Ixchel Pérez-Durán, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Koen Verhoest, Universiteit Antwerpen & Bastiaan Redert, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• Strengthening Stakeholder Trust: The Impact of Regulatory Accountability –– Jana Gómez Díaz, Jacint Jordana, Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI), Moritz Kappler, Deutsche Hochschule für Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer (DHV), Martino Maggetti, Université de Lausanne, Libby Maman, Hebrew University of Jerusalem & Koen Verhoest, Universiteit Antwerpen
• How interactions and trust between stakeholders relate in European regulatory regimes –– Bastiaan Redert & Koen Verhoest, Universiteit Antwerpen
• What shall we talk about?: How differences in interest group type and language matter for gaining influence in regulatory rulemaking –– Rik Joosen, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• How Does the EU Reconcile Uniform Regulation with Legitimate Diversity? –– Bernardo Rangoni, Universiteit Antwerpen & Jonathan Zeitlin, University of Amsterdam
  
• Trust and watchfulness in regulatory intermediaries: drivers and effects –– David Levi-Faur, Hebrew University of Jerusalem & Koen Verhoest, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• Towards a New Compulsory Licensing Mechanism for the EU for the Next (Health) Crisis? A Comparative Analysis of the Effectiveness of Compulsory Licensing Mechanisms –– Esther van Zimmeren, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• From injury to injury: how administrative burdens spark secondary victimization crises, trust breakdowns and harmful psychosocial outcomes –– Bjorn Kleizen & Wouter Van Dooren, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• Politicisation as a trigger for change in legislation: the case of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) –– Elena Escalante Block, Universiteit Antwerpen & Claudio Matera, Universiteit Twente
  
• Trust-building Mechanisms in New Judicial Actors – A Case Study of the Unified Patent Court –– Esther Van Zimmeren, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• How multilevel governance structures and crisis mitigating measures impact political trust: a systematic literature review –– Jakob Frateur, Universiteit Antwerpen
• Knowing how it’s known: societal intelligence in crisis governance –– Chiara Russo, Universiteit Antwerpen
• How does the reputation of regulatory agencies affect citizens’ trust in the regulated companies? A panel study in the food safety sector –– Koen Verhoest, Universiteit Antwerpen, Jan Boon, Hasselt University, Jan Wynen, Universiteit Antwerpen & Steven De Vadder, Universiteit Antwerpen
  
• Platform-based mobility and regulatory challenges: Identifying the gaps in the passenger rights protection framework –– Hai Anh Le, Esther van Zimmeren & Wouter Verheyen, Universiteit Antwerpen
• Conceptualizing the implementation of decisions on environmental conflicts beyond the nation state –– Andreas Corcaci, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
  

14 Jul 2023 | From 12 to 14 July 2023, the GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence hosted the 9th Biennial Conference of the ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance in Antwerp. The Biennial Conference is the leading interdisciplinary conference on regulation and regulatory governance in Europe, attracting researchers from all over the globe working in a wide range of disciplines. This year's conference theme was: "Regulatory Governance in Times of Turbulence, Disruptive Technologies and Crises of Trust". Overall, the conference was an astounding success with an excellent group of 200 academics in the field of regulatory governance. Thanks to the unwavering commitment, insightful contributions, and active participation from all participants, we were able to create a stimulating and enriching environment. We are already looking forward to future collaborations and opportunities to reconvene.

12 Jul 2023 | As the H2020 TiGRE project comes to an end, its major findings and their practical implications for policy are presented in the TiGRE Final Video Book. The Video Book comprises 7 chapters with a total of 31 short clips, covering the main findings of the TiGRE project and their practical implications for policy. The videos were recorded during the TiGRE 8th Consortium Meeting on 22 March 2023 at the University of Antwerp (except for the Chapter VI video clips).

12 Jul 2023 | The Horizon Europe-funded LEGITIMULT project, of which GOVTRUST/UAntwerp is a core partner, has published its first deliverables. A total of five literature reviews are a great resource for academics and policy-makers to have an overview of the following topics: legitimate crisis governance; rule of law and democratic participation; non-discrimination; trust; and economic sustainability. The literature review paper on 'Legitimate Crisis Governance and Trust' is authored by the UAntwerp team, including Jakob Frateur, Peter Bursens, Susana Duarte Coroado, and Patricia Popelier.

6 Jul 2023 | We received funding for the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence STRATEGO (EU Erasmus+ funding). Over the next three years, the STRATEGO team can create synergies in education, research and outreach under the theme “Sustainability and Trust in EU Multilevel Governance”. Find out more about the STRATEGO Centre and the team here.

Dat betekent dat we in de komende drie jaren synergiën kunnen creëren op gebied van onderwijs, onderzoek en outreach onder de thema-vlag “Sustainability and Trust in EU Multilevel Governance” (STRATEGO).

1 Jul 2023 | Andreas Corcaci officially joined the GOVTRUST team in July 2023. He kicked off his MSCA postdoctoral fellowship on "ENVIMP - Environmental resolution mechanisms beyond the nation state. A comparative analysis of the implementation of court judgements and managerial agreements". Welcome!

28 Jun 2023 | Koen Verhoest, Bjorn Kleizen and Erasmus Häggblom attended the 2023 Public Management Research Conference (PMRC), taking place 27-30 June 2023 at Utrecht University (Netherlands). Prof. Verhoest and his co-authors presented two papers on how a good reputation of a regulatory agency increases citizens' confidence in regulated companies and how the formal independence of regulatory agencies does or does not lead to more confidence. Both Bjorn Kleizen and Erasmus Häggblom presented papers on trust-related topics.

27 Jun 2023 | Prof. Anthony M. Bertelli (Pennsylvania State University, US and Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI), Spain) and dr. Silvia Cannas (IBEI, Spain) visited the GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence and presented their work in a lunch seminar on "Administrative Law as a Network of Principles".

23 Jun 2023 | On June 23rd, dr. Dominika Proszowska was awarded the Prof. Konopacki Best PhD Thesis Award by the Polish Association for European Studies. Her dissertation “How People Trust Their Governments? Trends, Patterns and Determinants of Trust Differentiation in Multilevel Polities” received 1st prize as the best European Studies PhD dissertation defended in years 2021 and 2022. In their assessments, the committee members considered, among others, the novelty of the research, its scientific relevance and excellence. The award ceremony will take place in September 2023 during the 4th European Studies Conference in Cracow, Poland. Read the thesis summary here. Download the online version of the full thesis here. Congratulations on an outstanding achievement, Dominika!

8 Jun 2023 | New article by Bjorn Kleizen, Wouter Van Dooren, Koen Verhoest and Evrim Tan on "Do citizens trust trustworthy artificial intelligence? Experimental evidence on the limits of ethical AI measures in government", published in Government Information Quarterly.

• Abstract: This study examines the impact of ethical AI information on citizens' trust in and policy support for governmental AI projects. Unlike previous work on direct users of AI, this study focuses on the general public. Two online survey experiments presented participants with information on six types of ethical AI measures: legal compliance, ethics-by-design measures, data-gathering limitations, human-in-the-loop, non-discrimination, and technical robustness. Results reveal that general ethical AI information has little to no effect on trust, perceived trustworthiness or policy support among citizens. Prior attitudes and experiences, including privacy concerns, trust in government, and trust in AI, instead form good predictors. These findings suggest that short-term communication efforts on ethical AI practices have minimal impact. The findings suggest that a more long-term, comprehensive approach is necessary to building trust in governmental AI projects, addressing citizens' underlying concerns and experiences. As governments' use of AI becomes more ubiquitous, understanding citizen responses is crucial for fostering trust, perceived trustworthiness and policy support for AI-based policies and initiatives.

2 Jun 2023 | Dominika Proszowska, together with co-authors Giedo Jansen and Bas Denters, received an honourable mention from Acta Politica for their paper "On their own turf? The level-specificity of political trust in multilevel political systems". Acta Politica awards a yearly prize to recognise the best contribution published in the journal. A jury consisting of the two editors-in-chief and five members of the journal's advisory board met in May to deliberate and make a final decision on the winners, who have just been announced in the context of the Politicologenetmaal Conference in Leuven. Congratulations!

• Abstract: Although the debate on roots of political trust is ongoing, many scholars agree on the relevance of such political factors as political/ideological distance between citizens and incumbents, political responsiveness and perceptions of performance. Less clear is to what extent such trust evaluations are generalized or specific for the three main political arenas in the European multilevel governance system (EU, national, local). With new data from the Netherlands, we demonstrate that trust in local, national and EU governments (1) is largely level-specific (i.e. is based on citizens’ perceptions of incumbents at a particular governance level) (2) and—at all three levels—is explained by level-specific political factors. This shows that political trust is a subjectively rational evaluation and that citizens develop meaningful political orientations vis-à-vis governments at different levels. Therefore, trust spillovers may be less relevant for explaining political trust in multilevel governance than assumed in previous research as executive governments at local, national and EU levels are judged “on their own turf”.

30 May 2023 | Koen Verhoest and Peter Bursens will again be involved in the second edition of the Public Governance and Leadership development programme (GoLD) of the Belgian federal government. GoLD is a development programme of the FPS Policy & Support (BOSA) and aims to prepare civil servants for the public leadership and governance of tomorrow. GoLD is a 20-day training for 20 participants who follow an intensive 10-month program on governance and public leadership. It offers a varied programme, focusing on both an academic perspective and a practical focus. The first edition of the development programme ended a few weeks ago and we can already look forward to the second edition. UAntwerp's Politics & Public Governance research group (Koen Verhoest and Peter Bursens) is a partner in an interuniversity team that developed the GoLD programme, together with KU Leuven Public Governance Institute, ULB Institut Européen de Management Public, Ghent University, UCLouvain Institut de Sciences Politiques Louvain-Europe, and Université de Liège (Spiral) and supported by FPS Policy and Support.

24 May 2023 | Wouter Van Dooren on the Flemish government's consultancy assignments in Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch).

24 May 2023 | Koen Verhoest was nominated as member of the Advisory Group for the OECD's evaluation of Belgium's COVID-19 policy. At the federal government's request, there will be an independent audit of Belgium's crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke and Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden have called in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to carry out an independent evaluation of the COVID-19 policy in Belgium. With this evaluation comes a thorough analysis of Belgian policy in the areas of risk prevention, crisis management, health, education, economic and fiscal affairs, labour market and social affairs. In order to gather insights from the academic and evaluation community, the OECD has proposed establishing an Advisory Group to provide advisory feedback at key points in the evaluation process. All members of the Advisory Group will be asked to participate in meetings and provide input and comments to the OECD at various key points in the evaluation process.

22 May 2023 | Bernardo Rangoni is excited to announce his new book, titled "Experimentalist Governance: From Architectures to Outcomes", to be published in Oxford University Press. The book is scheduled to be actually published on 31 July 2023, but can already be pre-ordered.

• Description: What does non-hierarchical governance mean? Under what conditions are actors more likely to engage in non-hierarchical processes? Which trajectories best capture their long-term evolution? Through which mechanisms do they overcome gridlock?
  To respond to these questions at the heart of regulatory governance, the book develops an analytical framework that draws on contemporary debates but seeks to overcome their limitations. Notably, it offers a definition of non-hierarchical (experimentalist) governance that goes beyond institutional structures, giving due attention to actors' choices and strategies. It shows that contrary to expectations, functional and political pressures were more influential than distributions of legal power, and bolstered one another. Strong functional demands and political opposition affect actors' de facto capacity of using powers that, de jure, might be in their own hands. Indeed, actors can use non-hierarchical governance to aid learning as well as the creation of political support. Conversely, they may override legal constraints and impose their views on others, if they are equipped with confidence and powerful reform coalitions beforehand. The book also challenges conservative views that non-hierarchical governance is doomed to wither away, showing that, on the contrary, it is often self-reinforcing. Finally, the book shows that far from being mutually exclusive, positive (shadow of hierarchy) and negative (penalty default) mechanisms typically combine to avoid gridlock.
  The book examines when, how, and why non-hierarchical institutions affect policy processes and outcomes by analysing five crucial domains (electricity, gas, communications, finance, and pharmaceuticals) in the European Union. It combines temporal, cross-sectoral, and within-case comparisons with process-tracing to show the conditions, trajectories, and mechanisms of non-hierarchical governance.

17 May 2023 | Ria Janvier regularly provides expertise on pension-related topics in the media.

• On the Belgian pension system, 15 May 2023 in Gazet van Antwerpen (in Dutch)
• On the pension framework, 27 April 2023 in www.apache.be (in Dutch)
• On the pensions of members of parliament, 20 April 2023 in De Tijd (in Dutch)
• On the pension scheme in parliament, 19 April 2023 in De Tijd (in Dutch)

12 May 2023 | The partners in the LEGITIMULT project consortium gathered in Bergen for a 2-day meeting to exchange views and discuss the developments of the project. Each partner presented their WP and engaged in constructive and rich discussions to prepare for the next steps in the research. 

The consortium partners are:

• Eurac Research, Italy (coordinator)
  
• University of Bergen, Norway
  
• Leiden University, the Nederlands
  
• Institute for Ethnic Studies (IES / Inštitut za narodnostna vprašanja – INV), Slovenia
  
• University of Antwerp, Belgium
  
• National Distance Education University (UNED), Spain
  
• Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
  
• University of Zagreb, Croatia
  
• International IDEA, Sweden
  
• University of Fribourg, Switzerland
  
• The Forum of Federations, Canada

21 April 2023 | Karolien Poels on vaccine confidence among children in Het Kwartier, podcast VRTNWS (in Dutch).

20 Apr 2023 | New book chapter on "Investing in Sustainable Development Goals: Opportunities for Private and Public Institutions to Solve Wicked Problems that Characterize a VUCA World", authored by Olivier Sempiga and Luc Van Liedekerke in the edited volume 'Investment Strategies - New Advances and Challenges'.

• Abstract: We live in a world full of global challenges, such as global warming, the COVID-19 pandemic, and only recently the Russia-Ukraine crisis, all of which confirm that we live in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. Most of these challenges are considered to be wicked problems. For many decades, wicked problems have been viewed as difficult, even impossible to solve. This chapter examines how institutions can navigate the VUCA world through investing in SDG so as to solve wicked problems. The chapter argues that adopting socially responsible investment as a strategy allows both private and public organizations to improve economic, social, and environmental performance; and is a fine way of investing in SDG, which could be a long-term solution to wicked problems. Using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), the chapter examines the relationship between SDG investment and climate change solutions at the local level. Results show a significant effect of investment in SDGs on a solution to wicked problems like climate change. The chapter concludes that the difficulty or impossibility of solving global challenges is likely to be caused by a lack of investment in the SDGs.

​17 Apr 2023 | New article by Bernardo Rangoni on The Experimentalist Future of Regulation: Digital and Pharmaceutical Regulation in the European Union in Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche (in Italian).

• Abstract: For decades, strategies granting discretion to ‘lower-level actors’ to propose solutions themselves had become preferred to conventional command and control – the hierarchical imposition and enforcement of stable rules. Yet after the 2008 financial crisis, also these alternatives (e.g., principles-based regulation) are under pressure. Which strategy prevails today, and why? By comparing two crucial yet different cases, the article finds that, in both EU digital and pharmaceutical regulation, the dominant strategy is experimentalist. This emphasises not only discretion but also regular revisions based on review of implementation experience. It is driven by uncertainty about the best solutions, as perceived by the relevant actors. Since uncertainty pervades most contemporary policy challenges, the future of regulation and public policy more broadly is thus likely to be experimentalist.
  

28 Mar 2023 | Ria Janvier on the independence and neutrality of civil servants and their statutory employment in the Flemish government in VRT NWS and Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch).

24 Mar 2023 | Esther van Zimmeren talks about the connection between trust and the legal profession in an interview for the TrustTalk podcast. Listen to the interview on the TrustTalk podcast platform or on any of your favorite podcast platforms.​

23 Mar 2023 | TiGRE 2nd Stakeholder Forum meeting & "TiGRE White Paper" workshop (​Hybrid event: Brussels and online). On 23 March 2023, the TiGRE project organised its second Stakeholder Forum meeting in order to present the key research findings from our studies of trust relationships in governance. The meeting included three panel sessions, which gave insights into specificities and evidence gathered for each sector under scrutiny in TiGRE: Food Safety, Finance and Data Protection. The panel sessions gathered various practitioners and stakeholders whose inputs and feedback were collected during lively round tables.
The Stakeholder Forum meeting was followed by a two-hours public workshop entitled "TiGRE White Paper". During the workshop, participants had the opportunity to discuss and reflect upon the innovative policy design and tools developed within the TiGRE project, i.e. criteria, indicators and early warning mechanisms for detecting weak signals of decreasing trust, as well as scenarios on consequences of decreasing trust. In addition, to networking opportunities within TiGRE consortium and with other attendees, the stakeholders' inputs were valuable for refining the TiGRE White Paper which will integrate the research findings and be published in the second half of 2023.
The presentation slides are now available for download: https://www.tigre-project.eu/second-stakeholder-forum/

22 Mar 2023 | The TiGRE consortium had its 8th Consortium Meeting on 22 March 2023, hosted by GOVTRUST at the University of Antwerp! In addition to planning the final steps over the last six months in TiGRE, the consortium partners discussed how to integrate the key project results in scientific publications, policy briefs, white paper etc. in order to maximise outreach and impact of research on trust. In line with this strategy, most of the participants contributed to the video shooting which ran parallel to the scientific meeting. A set of short videos will be produced presenting the key results of the project, main challenges, use for practitioners and other stakeholders, next steps after TiGRE etc. Videos will be released soon: stay tuned!

18 Mar 2023 | Karolien Poels on 'boredom' and reaching for the smartphone in De Standaard (in Dutch).

17 Mar 2023 | Ria Janvier about the maximum pensions in Belgium in Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch).

15 Mar 2023 | Peter Bursens on Flanders and Europe in Knack (in Dutch).

7 Mar 2023 | Patricia Popelier critically reflects on the legislative proposal to overrule the activist judge in a column in Jubel (in Dutch).

3 Mar 2023 | Ria Janvier on maximum pensions in Belgium in Het Laatste Nieuws and Het Belang van Limburg (in Dutch).

1 Mar 2023 | Karolien Poels about smiling on the catwalk in De Standaard (in Dutch).

28 Feb 2023 | Patricia Popelier on N-VA's proposal for parliament to overrule the Constitutional Court in De Standaard (in Dutch).

14 Feb 2023 | Koen Verhoest will participate as an international expert in the Advisory Group on methodology and implementation of the OECD Trust Survey.  

1 Feb 2023 | New article by Chesney Callens and Koen Verhoest on "Unlocking the process of collaborative innovation - Combining mechanisms of divergence and convergence" in Public Management Review.

• Abstract: In recent years, collaborative innovation of public services has become a growing research field. However, how collaborative arrangements lead to innovation remains quite unclear. We propose that collaborative innovation is dependent on processes of divergence and convergence, which are enhanced by four conditions of collaborative innovation: diversity of ideas and perspectives, learning through interaction, consensus building, and implementation commitment. The combination of these conditions is explored through qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in 19 European eHealth partnerships. The results suggest a combined effect of these conditions on service innovativeness, which rejects contemporary views on the dichotomous nature of divergence and convergence.
  

1 Feb 2023 | The GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence is proud to host the 2023 Biennial Conference of the ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance in Antwerp on 12-14 July 2023. Check out the call for panels and papers and submit your proposal by March 15th, 2023 via the event webpage: https://ecpr.eu/Events/227​

30 Jan 2023 | Patricia Popelier discusses the implementation of 'extra-legal' state reforms in VRT News' "Terzake" and Radio 1's "De Ochtend" (in Dutch).

30 Jan 2023 | Ria Janvier talks about the payment of pensions in a radio interview with VRT Radio 1's "De Wereld Vandaag" (in Dutch).

26 Jan 2023 | Bas Redert and Rik Joosen received funding for a BOF Small Project on "The EU Principal Agent Authority (EUPAA) dataset". Congrats!

26 Jan 2023 | Bjorn Kleizen received funding for a BOF Small Project on "Time to give up? Establishing a survey panel on how accumulations of interactions with government affect psychosocial well-being and citizen decisions to give up during procedures". Congrats!

20 Jan 2023 | New paper by Bernardo Rangoni and Mark Thatcher on "Re-Politicising Merger Policy: Regulating Foreign Takeovers in Britain and Italy" in the EIQ Discussion Paper Series at LSE.

• Abstract: While much attention has been given to ‘de-politicisation’, its reversal through ‘re-politicisation’ is also possible. We examine ‘institutional re-politicisation’ - increases in the formal powers and discretion of elected politicians’ - in hard cases - policies for regulating Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions (CBMAs), focusing specifically on Britain and Italy. While existing explanations of increased powers and discretion for elected politicians to block or shape overseas takeovers focus on economic vulnerabilities created by the Covid pandemic and security concerns vis-à-vis China, using process tracing and comparison we show that, in both countries, the change of tide towards re-politicisation actually begun earlier. We find that it followed specificCBMAs in sectors such as chocolate and dairy products that were contested by political parties from the Right and Left and producer interests, who shared arguments about defending national culture and heritage. The cases suggest there is considerable scope for re-politicisation thanks to a wide coalition that shares arguments based on defending national identity.

3 Jan 2023 | Bernardo Rangoni officially joined the GOVTRUST team in December 2022. He kicked off his MSCA postdoctoral fellowship on "REGTRUST - How Nature of Regulation and Levels of Trust Affect Each Other Over Time: The Case of Financial Regulation in the EU". In line with this project, he recently published two articles in Governance:

• Thatcher, M., Sweet, A. S., & Rangoni, B. (2023). Reversing delegation? Politicization, de-delegation, and non-majoritarian institutions. Governance, 36(1), 5-22. DOI: 10.1111/gove.12709
  
• Rangoni, B., & Thatcher, M. (2023). National de-delegation in multi-level settings: Independent regulatory agencies in Europe. Governance, 36(1), 81-103. DOI: 10.1111/gove.12722
  

3 Jan 2023 | New book chapter by Stéphanie De Somer and Jasper Van Steenbergen on "Can any civil servant be required to 'be Switzerland'? An analysis based on fundamental rights and freedoms" (publication in Dutch: Kan elke ambtenaar worden verplicht om 'Zwitserland te zijn'? Een analyse vanuit de fundamentele rechten en vrijheden). The chapter is part of the book "Reflections on laicity", edited by Pierre Nihoul, Bernadette Renauld and Jan Theunis.

• Abstract: This chapter approaches the neutrality of public servants from the point of view of civil and political rights. The authors highlight some recent developments in European and national case law from the point of view of the right not to be discriminated against and freedom of religion. However, special attention is paid to a fundamental right that has hitherto received less attention in this context: freedom of expression. The duty of discretion and the duty of loyalty that rest on civil servants mean a certain limitation of that fundamental right. In their contribution, the authors examine what the judiciary can teach us about this difficult balancing act.

2 Jan 2023 | Season's Greetings - From all of us at GOVTRUST, we send our warmest wishes for a happy holiday season. May your new year be filled with joy, success and trust! To stay up to date with the latest GOVTRUST news in 2023, you can check out this webpage, follow the GOVTRUST LinkedIn page or subscribe to the GOVTRUST Newsletter.