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Discover the latest news and updates about the Politics and Public Governance research group: new publications, activities and events, our members in the news,...

2026

17 Apr 2026 | New article on "Trust Me, I'm an Expert: Evaluating the Relation Between Expertise and Trust in Regulators", authored by Bastiaan Redert, Edoardo Guaschino, Ixchel Pérez-Durán, Yannis Papadopoulos, Koen Verhoest, and Juan Carlos Triviño-Salazar, published in Governance.

Abstract: Trust is central to research on regulatory governance, underpinning both the legitimacy and effectiveness of regulatory bodies. Yet, while its importance is often assumed, less is known about its organizational drivers. Departing from the idea that regulatory agencies are expert-based organizations within their fields, we argue that trust depends on the composition of regulators' staff, through the mechanisms of competence and goodwill. Using survey data from 1385 respondents across three policy sectors and six countries, combined with biographical information on regulators' staff, we examine how educational attainment and professional experience affect trust. Multilevel analyses show that – contrary to expectations about competence – educational attainment does not significantly influence trust, while prior private sector experience among regulatory staff tends to lower overall trust in regulators. However, this effect is conditioned by actor type: representatives of private interests display higher trust when regulators' staff have private sector experience, whereas public-interest actors trust regulators less. This demonstrates how shared professional backgrounds may signal mutual goodwill among some actors, but also raise concerns about impartiality and capture among others. The paper contributes to scholarship on regulatory legitimacy and organizational design by demonstrating how the expertise and professional backgrounds of regulators' staff shape the perceived trustworthiness of regulatory bodies by various stakeholders.

27 Mar 2026 | On 27 March 2026, Koen Verhoest had the pleasure of participating in a new systems exercise organised by NIDO, the Belgian federal government's Innovation Lab. The systems exercise focused on identifying leverage points for innovation within the federal public administration. New faces, new voices, and fresh intervention ideas enriched the discussion. It’s encouraging to see growing support for public sector innovation, and for the conditions needed to make it happen.

25 Mar 2026 | The ROBUST project has published a series of five policy briefs, building directly on the knowledge, experience, and dialogue shared throughout the project. The briefs are focused on the following ROBUST concepts:

"Advancing robust governance to tackle heightened turbulence"
"How governance hybrids foster robust crisis responses"
"Lifeworld Knowledge for Robust Crisis Governance" - Chiara Russo & Wouter Van Dooren
"Pathways to Robustness"
"Robust crisis responses through multilevel governance"

The policy briefs can be downloaded here: https://robust-crisis-governance.eu/policy-briefs/

24 Mar 2026 | New article titled "Strengthening Trust by Design: A QCA Study of Design Choices in Regulatory Regimes", authored by Koen Verhoest, Martino Maggetti, Bastiaan Redert, Dominika Latusek & Jacint Jordana, published in Regulation & Governance.

Abstract: How can the design of regulatory regimes foster trust in those regimes? In food safety, finance, and data protection regulation, regulatory frameworks have been reformed to restore trust after regulatory failures. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, this paper seeks to identify how key design choices—centralization of competencies in one versus multiple regulatory agencies, agency independence, mandated interactions, and rules perceived as appropriate—combine in fostering both trust in the regime itself and between its actors. Rule appropriateness is found to be a necessary condition for trust, while the combination of centralized regulatory competencies with dense information sharing is particularly effective in building regime trust. Alternatively, trust can emerge in regimes with multiple independent agencies under specific configurations. By integrating diverse data sources and adopting a cross-sectoral, cross-national approach, this paper provides a fine-grained understanding of how design elements shape trust, offering lessons to scholars and policymakers on crafting resilient and trusted regulatory frameworks.

19 Mar 2026 | New article titled "Overqualified Civil Servants, a Bargain or a Risk in a Turbulent Public Sector? Examining the Impact of Overqualification Within Teams on Trust in Change Management and Qualitative Job Insecurity", authored by Jan Wynen, Stéphanie Verlinden, Bjorn Kleizen, Danika Pieters & Koen Verhoest, published in Review of Public Personnel Administration.

Abstract: Public organizations regularly undergo reforms that create uncertainty for employees. Trust in change management, meaning employees believe leaders will handle reforms fairly, transparently and competently, is essential for coping with such changes. Team dynamics can weaken this trust. One important factor is overqualification, which occurs when employees have more skills or education than their job requires. Although sometimes viewed as an advantage, overqualification can also create frustration and doubt during reform. This study examines how the presence of overqualified employees in teams affects collective trust in change management and shapes perceptions of qualitative job insecurity, the feeling that valued aspects of work are under threat. Using data from a Belgian government agency, the findings show that teams with more overqualified employees report lower trust in change management, which increases qualitative job insecurity. The results highlight the paradox of overqualification and its implications for managing change.

18 Mar 2026 | New article titled "Being friends or being favored? The drivers of stakeholder trust in regulatory agencies", authored by Bastiaan Redert, Amber van Heerebeek, Libby Maman & Ixchel Pérez-Dúran, published in Journal of European Public Policy.

Abstract: Stakeholders play a key role in regulatory governance, yet their cooperation with regulators depends on mutual trust. This paper examines what drives stakeholders’ trust in regulators by contrasting two perspectives. The relationship-based trust perspective emphasizes that trust develops through transparent procedures, inclusive participation, and frequent interaction. The benefit-based trust perspective holds that trust arises when regulatory outcomes and enforcement align with stakeholders’ interests. Using survey data from 585 stakeholders across three sectors in eight European countries, combined with legal coding of 33 regulatory agencies, we estimate a multilevel model. We find strong support for the relationship-based perspective: participatory opportunities, transparency, and regular contacts significantly increase trust. At the same time, however, we also find evidence for the benefit-based perspective: stakeholders report greater trust when they believe the agency considers their interests, and economic stakeholders tend to have more trust when enforcement is favorable to them. Specifically, economic stakeholders tend to trust regulators more when regulations are perceived as favorable, including situations of perceived under-enforcement. The findings thus highlight that trust may strengthen among some stakeholders while gradually eroding among others.

10 Mar 2026 | New article titled "Breaking open the dichotomy between goal-based and rule-based regulation: a discretion index for evaluating regulatee discretion", authored by Nathan Herrebosch, Cassandra Willems & Patricia Popelier, published in The Theory and Practice of Legislation.

Abstract: In recent decades, the call for regulatory innovation has increasingly become louder. Practitioners and academics press for more flexibility, less complexity, less regulatory burden, and more freedom and room for innovation for regulatees. One of the tools that is seen as potentially responding to these needs, is goal-based regulation (GBR). GBR describes the goal that regulatees should achieve, without specifying how they must achieve it. This is usually contrasted with rule-based regulation (RBR), which prescribes detailed instruments and behaviours. An important distinction between the two is how much discretion regulatees have on how to reach the regulatory goal: with GBR, regulatees have a lot of discretion, with RBR they have little discretion. While GBR has already received quite some scholarly attention over the last few years, much research on GBR only discusses ‘goal-based regulation’ as if it were a homogeneous phenomenon. However, most regulation is not purely goal-based or rule-based but rather takes some hybrid form. Hybrid forms of regulation leave some elements to the discretion of regulatees and restrict others. This paper aims to find a method for evaluating the discretion that regulation grants to regulatees in a way that allows us to identify various forms and degrees of GBR. It does so by combining insights from existing literature with a rule design analysis of Flemish environmental and welfare regulation. The result is a ‘discretion index’ that can be applied to determine how much discretion the regulation in any regulatory regime leaves to a particular regulatee. It allows for the categorisation of ‘hybrids’ as fundamentally GBR or RBR. And it enables the systematic mapping of developments and the identification of strategies for modulating GBR without losing its advantages.

3 Mar 2026 | New article titled "Gaining trust through consultation? How intergovernmental interactions influences citizens’ political trust in times of crisis", authored by Jakob Frateur, Patricia Popelier, Peter Bursens & Susana Duarte Coroado, published in Territory, Politics, Governance.

Abstract: This paper looks at the effect of intergovernmental relations on citizens’ trust in government during crises, as it is an important determinant of a successful crisis response. We use original survey data of 6000 citizens, obtained in six unitary and multilevel EU member states. We find, among other results, that citizens who express low trust in a certain level of government to take a restrictive or supportive crisis measure, are inclined to trust that level of government more when it has taken the measure after consulting other government levels. On the contrary, for citizens who already highly trust a government to manage a crisis, trust in that government declines after consultation.

26 Feb 2026 | New article titled "Keep your principals close, but your stakeholders closer: how agencies use stakeholders to bolster their authority", authored by Rik Joosen, Koen Verhoest, Bastiaan Redert and Peter Bursens, published in Journal of European Public Policy

Abstract: Regulatory agencies provide input in the policymaking efforts of their executive principals. While doing so, agencies test the political waters for proposed policies and collect insights by consulting with stakeholders in developing their proposals to principals. Engaging with stakeholders may give agencies the tools to improve the input they provide and enhance agencies’ authority in the eyes of the principals that rely on them.This paper assesses how agencies’ engagement with stakeholders affects their authority, specifically when convincing principals of their policy advice. We focus on the procedure of developing EU Implementing and Delegated Acts. We study whether 1) the kind of stakeholders that EU agencies have involved in developing their drafts and 2) how agencies’ signalled responsiveness towards stakeholders affects how quickly the European Commission takes their drafts on board. Furthermore, 3) we show whether politicisation changes these effects.Our study contributes to the literature on (EU) agency authority and reputation as we show whether ties with a broader stakeholder audience provide agencies with the tools to enhance de facto policymaking power. Furthermore, we contribute to the study of stakeholder engagement by showing what kind of engagement with stakeholders benefits public actors most.

23 Feb 2026 | New article on "Designing inclusive co-creation: a conjoint analysis of citizen preferences", authored by Loes Reijnders, Koen Verhoest, Wouter van Dooren and Laurien Coenen, published in Public Management Review.

Abstract: This study contributes to the growing literature on inclusivity and underrepresentation in co-creation by employing a conjoint experiment with Belgian citizens (N = 1,119) on four design characteristics: participation channel, level, impact, and phase. The channel appeared to be the most influential characteristic, and highlights the positive effect of hybrid participation channels, local governance levels, and the co-deciding phase for the general population. The subgroup analysis exhibited that those with low political interest and low motivation expressed stronger preferences for digital participation compared to their counterparts. Individuals with lower levels of education demonstrated a stronger preference for analogue participation than their counterparts.

10 Feb 2026 | New article on "Bias perceptions and trust in public service institutions", authored by Erika J. van Elsas, Maurits J. Meijers & Take Sipma, published in Journal of European Public Policy.

Abstract: The legitimacy of public service institutions hinges on their impartial nature. However, actors such as judges, scientists and police officers have been accused of either left- or right-wing bias around the world. This study examines the relationship between public perceptions of ideological bias among different types of public service professionals and levels of trust in their respective institutions. To this end, we collected original survey data in five European countries (Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Poland, and the Netherlands) measuring citizen perceptions of ideological bias (left or right) among the actors of six public service institutions: scientists, teachers, journalists, judges, police officers and civil servants. We find that bias perceptions are widespread and are linked to lower levels of trust in institutions in two distinct ways. In a stacked cross-institutional analysis with respondent fixed effects, higher perceived absolute bias and greater perceived ideological distance both correspond to lower levels of trust, with the latter pattern appearing more robust across countries and institutions. We conclude that while citizen attentiveness to actual biases can function as a healthy corrective, bias perceptions may also reflect an undesirable politicisation of institutions, with detrimental effects for the legitimacy of liberal democracy and its institutions.

5 Feb 2026 | Petra Meier co-edited The Oxford Handbook of Belgian Politics, together with Min Reuchamps, Marleen Brans, and Emilie van Haute. The book systematically embeds research on the Belgian case in comparative international perspective and offers a comprehensive overview of the literature on most facets of Belgian politics. Furthermore, it identifies avenues for future research for scholars in specific fields, beyond the Belgian case. The volume brings together leading Belgian and international scholars and achieves a great diversity in terms of institutional affiliations, language, gender, seniority, or field of expertise.

3 Feb 2026 | The ROBUST Closing Conference brought together policymakers, researchers, and civil society to share insights from the EU-funded ROBUST project and explore how robust governance systems can adapt and respond to emerging and future crises. Participants had the opportunity to engage in strategic discussions on anticipating risk, strengthening preparedness, and building long-term capacity.

During the event, a shared diagnosis emerged: Turbulence is no longer exceptional, but structural. Governance must catch up.

Overlapping crises - health, security, climate, displacement - place continuous pressure on public governance, narrowing decision-making to short-term crisis management and risking democratic backsliding. However, turbulence itself is not necessarily the problem. Societies can operate, and sometimes even thrive, under high turbulence.The research presented recommendations in several cross-cutting directions for how governance systems could be strengthened to cope better:

Multi-level governance. Crises are experienced first at local level, yet decisions are often taken elsewhere. Early involvement of local actors and continuous coordination across levels emerge as key conditions for effective responses.
Hybrid governance approaches. Robust crisis responses rely on combining instruments and decision-making modes - hierarchy, market, and networks - in ways that remain compatible with democratic principles. No single pathway is sufficient on its own.
Societal intelligence. Structured knowledge interfaces that bring together expert, political, and experiential knowledge help governance systems learn during crises and adapt as situations evolve.
Robustness is context-dependent, but not context-bound. Comparative work shows there are multiple pathways to robustness, requiring local tailoring while sharing common enablers - particularly collaboration and continuous learning.

Find more about robust governance and the ROBUST project.

18 Jan 2026 | New article on "EU-level crisis governance: hybrid patterns in times of crisis", authored by Eva Peeters, Susana Duarte Coroado, Steven Nõmmik, Koen Verhoest & Tiina Randma-Liiv, published in International Journal of Public Sector Management.

Abstract: Purpose - Amidst the backdrop of a poly-crisis and increasing turbulence, this research addresses the pressing need to understand the dynamics of crisis decision making within the European Union. The COVID-19 pandemic's transboundary nature revealed unprecedented adaptability within EU member states and institutions. Design/methodology/approach - Using the lens of hybrid governance, the study examines decision-making in three key policy areas affected by the pandemic: restrictions on travel, vaccine procurement and the Recovery and Resilience Facility. By adopting a process tracing approach based on desk research and semi-structured interviews with senior EU officials, the article investigates the patterns and dynamics of hybrid governance observed during the crisis. Findings - The findings reveal how mixes of governance ideal-types evolved to address varying levels of crisis complexity and urgency, leading to a common pattern of hybrid compositions across cases. Originality/value - The research provides new insights into how the hybrid governance occurs in EU crisis decision-making, shedding light on the dynamic tensions and synergies between different governance mechanisms in times of unprecedented uncertainty.

15 Jan 2026 | New article on "When elites defend democracy, do citizens listen? How elites alert citizens to democratic recession", authored by Joep van Lit, Maurits J. Meijers & Carolien van Ham, published in Democratization.

Abstract: In response to global trends of democratic recession, scholarship has increased its attention to defenders of democracy and actors who resist autocratization. In many cases, democratic defence is initiated by political elites. However, as of yet, it remains unclear whether all elites can effectively alert citizens that democracy is in danger, and whether some elites are better positioned than others. In this article, we argue that elite democratic defenders’ effectiveness in alerting citizens about democratic recession depends on their independence from the political process (political impartiality) and knowledge about the democratic system and what actions are likely to undermine it (embedded knowledge). Using a within-subject factorial survey-experiment, fielded in the United Kingdom (n = 3.986), we test the effectiveness of different elite actors in alerting citizens to democratic recession. We find strong support for our hypotheses, showing that elite democratic defenders are effective if they are perceived to be politically impartial and perceived to have embedded knowledge. These findings highlight the importance of elite credibility and also show important avenues for elites to bolster and strengthen their effectiveness in countering autocratization.

2025

17 Dec 2025 | New publication - We are proud to announce the publication of the third edition of Performance Management in the Public Sector by Wouter Van Dooren, Geert Bouckaert, and John Halligan (Routledge, 2026). This fully revised edition provides a comprehensive exploration of performance management in the public sector, incorporating nearly 200 new references from the latest decade of performance management research. Moving beyond the traditional New Public Management paradigm, the book critically examines how performance measurement, incorporation, and use can be purposefully designed to enhance public management and governance. With a strong didactical focus, it offers guidance on designing performance management systems that align with contemporary challenges and policy needs. The book continues to bridge theory and practice, drawing on comparative insights and real-world cases from across administrative systems. The third edition further consolidates the book’s position as a core reference for students, researchers, and professionals seeking to design functional performance management systems.

30 Sep 2025 | New publication "Generative Content Analysis for Policy Research: Comparing LLM Reliability in Analyzing Institutional AI Discourse" published in IEEE Conference Proceedings for the 2025 25th International Conference on Control Systems and Computer Science (CSCS), authored by Cosima Rughiniș, Ștefania Matei, and Andreas Corcaci.

Abstract: This study examines the methodological implications of using large language models (LLMs) as research assistants in coding and qualitative content analysis. We compared how ChatGPT-4o and Gemini 2.0 perform when independently coding and extracting content from university generative AI policies according to a framework of ten "vocabularies of AI competence." Our dataset comprised official AI guidelines from 33 leading global universities. Quantitative analysis of inter-coder reliability indicated significant variation across conceptual categories, with high convergence for vocabularies related to academic integrity and information accuracy, but divergence in detecting other concepts such as AI dependency. Qualitative comparisons of extraction outputs demonstrated methodological trade-offs between models, with ChatGPT-4o providing fewer but contextually richer extractions versus Gemini 2.0's more numerous but briefer quotations. These findings have important considerations for researchers employing LLMs in qualitative analysis: domain-specific reliability assessment, complementary multi-model approaches to balance analytical depth and breadth, and acknowledgment of model-dependent dataset composition.

25 Sep 2025 | New article on "Trust during crisis: unveiling the role of perceived procedural transparency", authored by Susana Coroado and Jakob Frateur, published in Public Managment Review.

Abstract: This article investigates how citizens’ perceptions of procedural transparency impact political trust during crises, using COVID-19 as a test case. It focuses on individual perceptions rather than actual government transparency, emphasizing the decision-making process over the inputs or outputs of decisions. The study aims to contribute to the debate by examining the extent to which citizens value decision-making transparency during crises, how they have perceived transparency during crisis management, and the latter’s impact on political trust by employing a survey of six European countries. The findings suggest a strong relationship between procedural transparency and trust, with citizens ranking transparency as the key value in crisis management.

17 Sep 2025 | The Politics and Public Governance Research Group and the Chair of Crisis Governance, in collaboration with the GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence, at the University of Antwerp have held a seminar on Networks in Public Administration and Policy with esteemed guest Prof. Naim Kapucu (University of Central Florida). In his engaging lecture, Prof. Kapucu has discussed how public administration questions can be tackled through network approaches. Particularly inspiring were the example of how to construct an Affiliation Network and the insights into systemic resilience.

2 Sep 2025 | New article on "Estrangement, embodiment and entanglement: Putting agonistic planning into practice through Urban Drama Labs", authored by Cecilie Sachs Olsen, Krzysztof Janas, Lisa De Roeck, Barbara Koole, Cato Janssen, Merlijn van Hulst and Celine Motzfeldt Loades, published in Urban Studies.

Abstract: This paper explores how agonistic conflict can be made productive for urban governance by means of applied theatre. Discussing the development and implementation of Urban Drama Labs in the cities of Drammen (Norway), Gdynia (Poland), Tilburg (the Netherlands) and Genk (Belgium), the paper introduces three analytic principles for understanding the potential of applied theatre to put agonistic planning into practice: estrangement enables new perspectives on the conflict at hand by defamiliarising what is taken for granted; embodiment foregrounds the role of multiple senses, emotions and affect to stir engagement in conflictual situations; and entanglement moves beyond static oppositions by foregrounding how interests, roles and identities are woven together. While acknowledging the challenges of integrating Urban Drama Labs in planning in terms of navigating tensions between contingency and predictability, trust and control in procedural settings, the paper proposes new pathways for advancing agonistic approaches in participatory urban governance.

30 Jul 2025 | New open access article on "Advancing Robust Governance in Turbulent Times: The Role of Multi-Level Governance, Hybrid Governance, and Negotiated Societal Intelligence", authored by Jacob Torfing, Tina Bentzen, Tiziana Caponio, Susana Coroado, Scott Douglas, Steven Nõmmik, Tiina Randma-Liiv, Chiara Russo, Eva Sørensen, and Koen Verhoest, published in Public Administration.

Abstract: New research argues that robust governance based on flexible adaptation and proactive innovation is needed in order to uphold core public functions, purposes, and values in times of societal turbulence. However, we have limited knowledge of the conditions for enhancing robust governance. To fill that knowledge gap, we ask: How can multi-level governance, hybrid governance, and societal intelligence contribute to the development of robust responses to the proliferation of complex and turbulent problems? To answer this pertinent question, we draw on relevant literatures to conceptualize each of the three governance factors and develop a set of theoretically derived conjectures about their impact on robust governance. We also discuss the combined effects of the three governance factors as well as the limits to robust governance. Finally, we draw some lessons for practitioners and sketch out an agenda for further research.

17 Jul 2025 | We are proud to share that our colleague Rik Joosen was awarded a prestigious Veni Grant by NWO (Dutch Research Council) for groundbreaking research on the role of interest groups in regulatory compliance. The grant will fund four years of research and will be conducted at the Institute of Public Administration at Leiden University (Netherlands). We congratulate Rik on this outstanding achievement and look forward to the exciting research that will follow!

Project summary: Interest groups play a key role in how companies relate to laws and regulations, for instance by giving them advice or even by stimulating a certain approach to compliance. Choosing the right strategy requires interest groups to balance the support from the companies they represent with support from citizens and policymakers who want them to commit to societal goals. This project assesses how interest groups navigate this balancing act. The results show in what way interest groups try to affect how their members relate to laws and regulations and under what conditions interest groups pursue different strategies with that aim.

30 Jun 2025 | We are delighted to announce that Louis Meuleman has joined the Politics & Public Governance research group as a guest professor. Dr. Meuleman has a PhD in public administration and an MSc in environmental biology. He brings a unique blend of academic insight and high-level policy experience in (sustainability) governance and metagovernance, public administration reform and sustainability transitions. Until recently, Louis worked at the European Commission, DG Environment, in Brussels, as coordinator Environmental Implementation Review and European Semester. Besides being guest professor at PPG of UAntwerpen, he continues to play a pivotal role in shaping sustainable governance globally, through positions as Vice Chair of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA), Chair of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency (EEA), Chair of Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future, visiting professor KU Leuven (BE), research fellow at Wageningen University (NL), Member of the Board of the Club of Rome EU Chapter, and Director of Public Strategy for Sustainable Development (PS4SD). His influential book, Metagovernance for Sustainability: A Framework for Implementing the SDGs (Routledge, 2018), tests the hypothesis that the implementation of sustainable development, and in particular the 2015 SDGs, requires tailor-made metagovernance or ‘governance of governance’ and offers a framework for the design and management of SDG implementation. At PPG, we are honoured to welcome Dr. Louis Meuleman to the team and look forward to the valuable expertise and international perspective he brings!

17 Jun 2025 | Visiting researcher Sen Lin presented his work in a PPG x GOVTRUST x STRATEGO research seminar. Sen Lin is one of the visiting researchers supported by the STRATEGO Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence. From May until November 2025, he is hosted by the Politics & Public Governance research group and the GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence under the supervision of prof. Koen Verhoest. In the PPG x STRATEGO research seminar, Sen presented his research on "Trust and distrust in government: The interactive effect on public service coproduction".

Abstract: Citizens’ trust in government is critical for public service coproduction. However, previous studies show conflicting results of the relationship between trust in government and coproduction willingness. This study proposes that the issue may be caused by different understandings of “trust in government”. It adopts a dualistic perspective on trust and distrust to explore how trust/distrust in government and their interplay affect coproduction willingness. Based on four typical coproduction scenarios in urban governance, this study collected 2394 valid responses from urban residents in China via an online survey. The results indicate that trust in government shows a significantly positive relationship with coproduction willingness in all scenarios. By contrast, distrust in government also shows a positive relationship with coproduction willingness, but the impact is slighter than that of trust. Moreover, the positive impact of trust on coproduction willingness decreases as the level of distrust increases. Distrust does not undermine the role of high trust; rather, it can to some extent serve as an alternative motivation for low-trust citizens to coproduce, thereby narrowing the gap in coproduction willingness between low-trust and high-trust citizen. The findings provide a nuanced understanding of the relationship between (dis)trust in government and coproduction willingness and help explain why some citizens, even without distrusting the government, are still unwilling to participate in coproduction. Based on citizens’ levels of trust and distrust, a typology of coproducer is developed to inform future research.

16 Jun 2025 | New article on "Trust in multilevel governance settings: examining the congruence hypothesis for actors in regulatory regimes", authored by Martino Maggetti, Koen Verhoest, Jarle Trondal, Dominika Proszowska & Rahel Schomaker, published in Journal of European Public Policy - available in open access.

Abstract: This article focuses on trust dynamics across levels of governance in European regulatory regimes, making three contributions. First, it theorises trust relationships in multilevel political orders, by extending and adapting the congruence hypothesis originally developed to explain citizens’ trust in European Union (EU) institutions. Second, it outlines a novel dataset derived from an original survey collected in nine European countries and three sectors: data protection, finance, and food safety. This unique dataset enables an in-depth examination of previously underexplored multilevel trust dynamics of regime actors and the investigation of hypotheses regarding the underlying mechanisms. Third, our findings empirically validate the congruence hypothesis: the perceived trustworthiness of core national regulatory agencies is positively associated with trust in EU-level bodies. Furthermore, our study shows that congruence dynamics are stronger for central regime actors compared to peripheral ones. Sectoral patterns are also highlighted: As expected, congruence dynamics are weaker in recently established regulatory regimes, such as data protection, compared to more institutionalised sectors like finance and food safety. Lastly, congruence is notably stronger for actors from non-EU countries, aligning with our expectations regarding the influential role of heuristics.

6 Jun 2025 | Bastiaan Redert presented at the TEPSA Academy & Skills Lab 2025 in Brussels on “EU Equality and Anti-Discrimination Policy”. Bastiaan Redert led a session on "Navigating LGBTQ+ rights protection in times of increased hostility". The Trans European Policy Studies Association, or TEPSA, is the first European affairs research network. Via their pan-European network comprising 49 leading research institutes in 37 European countries, they bridge the gap between research, policy-making, and citizens.

30 May 2025 | Peter Bursens contributed to the 3rd IGCOORD Training School on "Formal and Informal Intergovernmental Relations", taking place 27-30 May at the Institute for Comparative Federalism, Eurac Research in Bolzano, Italy. Peter's session was titled "Vertical coordination in federal systems applied to domestic EU coordination". IGCOORD is a COST Action that aims to generate new insights on how to organise and optimise institutions and processes of intergovernmental coordination. Peter Bursens is Management Committee member of IGCOORD, representing Belgium.

28 May 2025 | New article on "Trust in nursing home services within weak regulatory regimes: the role of information, control and participation", authored by Ixchel Pérez-Durán and Koen Verhoest, published in Public Management Review - available in open access.

Abstract: What conditions contribute to building trust in services with high levels of opacity, information asymmetries, and vulnerable users? This study examines trust in nursing home service providers through a survey conducted in December 2022, targeting direct relatives of nursing home residents in Spain (n = 1,009). The study shows that the provision of substantive information, vertical control by public authorities, and active involvement of the residents’ relatives positively affect trust and its dimensions (benevolence, integrity, and competence). Greater involvement of families and authorities in overseeing these services can be seen as constructive collaboration that strengthens trust, rather than adversarial surveillance.

27 May 2025 | New article titled "Is That a Threat? How Types of Stakeholder and Reputational Threat Matter for Gaining Influence in Regulatory Rulemaking", authored by Rik Joosen in Regulation & Governance - available in open access.

Abstract: This paper assesses what type of comments are most useful to what type of stakeholder in gaining influence during public consultations. Theoretically, the paper approaches stakeholders' consultation comments as reputational threats from key audiences that the agency needs to respond to. Different types of threats are expected to carry different weights depending on the type of stakeholders. The analysis is based on a dataset of 73,283 consultation comments left by stakeholders in EASA rulemaking consultations. The findings indicate that it matters what interests pose what kind of threat in regulatory rulemaking. Certain group types become more influential while others lose out when making specific kinds of threats. This extends our understanding of how stakeholders gain influence and what reputational threats are seen as credible by regulatory agencies.

13 May 2025 | New book chapter on "EU competition policy", authored by Bernardo Rangoni and Mark Thatcher as part of the Handbook of European Union Governance.

Abstract: This chapter argues that dominant characterisations of EU competition policy - whether emphasizing the neo-liberal centralization of powers that allegedly forecloses industrial policy or, conversely, the under-enforcement of these powers - overlook the gradual emergence of an ‘experimentalist’ architecture. We trace the development of this architecture - which co-exists with legally concentrated powers - in the vital case of state aid, beginning with the adoption of a Temporary Framework for state aid measures in 2008 and culminating in its latest transformation into the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework in 2023. We suggest that these state aid frameworks are temporary in name only. The rapid succession of distinct ‘temporary’ frameworks can be interpreted asreflect the gradual institutionalization of an experimentalist architecture - one that is recursively revised in response to unpredictable and rapidly unfolding crises. Furthermore, we argue that this architecture has served as a means for advancing key industrial policy goals, notably supporting Europe's small and medium-sized enterpreses and the long-term objective of the green transition. We conclude by offering wider implications for EU competition policy - a core part of the EU's economic governance, and a prime example for broader debates about European integration and policymaking.

10 May 2025 | Andreas Corcaci participated in the EUSA (European Union Studies Association) conference, taking place 8-10 May 2025 in Philadelphia. He chaired the panel 'European and International Environmental Governance in the Nexus of Openness and Global Challenges'. In the panel, he presented results of his MSCA project and how concept structures and temporal configurational analysis can help make sense of the complex processes underlying reactions to decisions on environmental obligations beyond the nation state. As part of another panel on 'Politicizing and contesting European integration', he also presented methodological work on how time can be integrated into concept structures formally as a basis for temporally sensitive social research.

22 April 2025 | New article about "How the European Union reconciles uniform regulation with legitimate diversity: towards a tighter experimentalist governance architecture", authored by Jonathan Zeitlin and Bernardo Rangoni in Journal of European Public Policy - available in open access.

Abstract: Across multiple policy domains, the EU increasingly faces the challenge of balancing uniform regulation in integrated markets with accommodating legitimate diversity among member states. Such uniform rules are crucial to preventing regulatory arbitrage, ensuring a level playing field, and fostering market integration. But diverse socio-economic conditions, institutional frameworks, and political preferences across member states demand adaptability in implementing these rules to maintain social acceptance. These contrasting pressures challenge familiar approaches to accommodating diversity such as differentiated integration, differentiated implementation, and experimentalist governance. In this paper, drawing on comparative analysis of four key regulatory domains – electricity, banking, pharmaceuticals, and competition – we argue that the EU is finding a promising solution to this widespread dilemma through a more tightly integrated experimentalist governance architecture, combining synchronic uniformity with diachronic revisability: uniform rules are applied across the EU, yet are developed and revised based on inclusive review of local implementation. This paper contributes to broader debates on EU governance by highlighting the advantages of this tighter experimentalist architecture over other approaches, showing how it ensures that uniform rules are also socially acceptable.

12 April 2025 | New article on "How to explain citizens’ declined political trust during the COVID-19 pandemic: a time-series qualitative comparative analysis (TsQCA)", authored by Jakob Frateur, Peter Bursens, Patricia Popelier & Susana Coroado (as part of the LEGITIMULTproject), published in Comparative European Politics - available in open access.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic gave a new impetus to the study of citizens’ political trust in times of crisis. Especially because trust is seen as an important precondition for citizens’ compliance with crisis measures, research into the determinants of citizens’ political trust became highly relevant. Contrary to trust research during previous crises, existing studies mostly focused on the beginning of the pandemic, when political trust increased in (almost) all EU countries, and less so on what happened after. Recently, this changed, and the aftermath of the increase gained more interest, but such research remains scarce and is mainly based on single country studies at the citizen level. We contribute to the existing literature by studying the decline in political trust between the summer of 2020 and the winter of 2021, when the pandemic peaked again. Through time-series qualitative comparative analysis, we study the (combinations of) conditions under which trust decreased in 28 European countries, including the increase over time in policy stringency and mortality, at the presence/absence of contestation and at the general level of trust in a country as conditions. We present three solution paths to explain the decline in trust which we study further in five in-depth case studies.

28 Mar 2025 | New article titled "Engineering representation in multilevel democracies: The Belgian case illustrating reflections on bicameral systems", authored by Jakob Frateur, Petra Meier and Peter Bursens, published in Gestión y Análisis de Políticas Públicas.

Abstract: Objectives: In federal systems both the people as a whole (demos) and the statespeople (demoi) need to be represented, be it in a unicameral or bicameral set-up. In Belgium, this is increasingly debated, to the extent that the abolition of the second chamber is on the political agenda. What are the theoretical and empirical alternatives to organize representation in federal systems, and to what extent can they be applied to the Belgian federation? While literature on federal systems and most federations search for a more optimal representation of the demoi, Belgium is confronted with the opposite challenge: how to guarantee the representation of the demos in a set-up that favours representation of the demoi. Methodology: This is a theoretical and reflective text based on federalism theory and insights from, among others, EU studies. Results: In this article we argue that the solution to balance this representation can be both unicameral and bicameral. The crux in either is a change in the election of the parliamentarians representing the demos. This could be achieved by electing a part of the Chamber of Representatives through a nationwide, federal circumscription. Conclusions: The main take-away is the need to pay more attention to the representation of the demos at the federal level, especially in multi-level governance systems characterized by devolving tendencies.

14 March 2025 | New article titled "Blue Nature-Based Solutions in marine and coastal EU policies: Challenges, recommendations and policy opportunities throughout the policy cycle", authored by Lise Frehen, Gianluca Ferraro and Pierre Failler published in Marine Policy.

Abstract: The paper focuses on the use of Nature-based solutions (NBS) in European marine and coastal governance – also called marine or blue NBS. Such solutions appear to be promising tools to deal with interdependent challenges such as climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and restoration, and sustainable development. Numerous research projects have demonstrated their utility and investigated the best ways to implement them. In addition, NBS are supported by international networks and agreements, and advocated by actors active at the international and European Union (EU) levels. However, blue NBS are mostly absent from EU policies (directives and regulations) and national, regional and local implementation of those policies. In this paper, barriers to the uptake of NBS at each step of the policy cycle are investigated: agenda-setting, policy formulation, decision-making, policy implementation, and policy evaluation. Policy recommendations and related EU policy opportunities for each of these steps are then presented.

12 March 2025 | Dominika Proszowska on vaccines and vaccine hesitancy 5 years after pandemic in an article in Euractiv.

11 March 2025 | Visiting researcher Federico presented his work in a PPG x STRATEGO research seminar. Federico Cuomo is one of the visiting researchers supported by the STRATEGO Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence. In February and March 2024, he is hosted by the Politics & Public Governance research group under the supervision of prof. Wouter Van Dooren. In the PPG x STRATEGO research seminar, Federico presented a draft book chapter with the preliminary title "How can localities foster robust governance? The case of school closures in Estonia, Belgium, and Italy". The chapter is written together with Wouter Van Dooren and Chiara Russo (UAntwerpen) and several other researchers in the framework of the EU-funded ROBUST project.

Abstract: As national governments were trying to contain the spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, many European countries implemented school closures as part of emergency response strategies. Whether taken through the consultation of epidemiology experts or a more diverse set of actors, this decision had considerable consequences both for the children – and their cognitive and social skills, mental and physical health – and their parents. While the magnitude of such crisis ramifications is partly still unknown as we witness children born during the pandemic now starting their formal education trajectories, it is clear that it is within the local level that we can recognize the most robust efforts to mitigate context vulnerability and preserve children’s wellbeing. More specifically, this chapter argues that it is within multi-layered networked localities that we can observe inspiring examples of how to adapt and innovate in the face of the turbulence brought forward by school closures. We understand multi-layered networked localities as clearly delineated geographical areas where it is possible to observe the interactions of crisis responses from the local, national, and international level (Torfing et al., 2021). It is indeed through established policy field networks, actors’ variety and openness, and adaptation and innovation of tools, that the consequences on children’s well-being were limited and counterbalanced. Employing illustrations from three European countries – Estonia, Belgium, and Italy – this research underlines the essential role of localities in robust crisis governance. This also implies moving beyond the focus on the local government, to encompass the whole range of interconnected crisis responses implemented in a certain geographical area by a multitude of actors working together towards the same goal: uphold key public functions, goals and values – such as quality education and children’s wellbeing – by transforming the delivery of public services.

8 March 2025 | Professor Petra Meier talks in 'Het Nieuwblad' about the increasing trend of microfeminism.

28 Feb 2025 | New article titled "Financialization beyond partnerships: Real estate investment trusts in elderly care", authored by Simon Demuynck and Prof. Dr. Wouter Van Dooren published in International Review of Administrative Sciences.

Abstract: The financial services sector plays an increasing role in the public management of social services. Yet, in contrast to well-studied arrangements such as public–private partnerships and social impact bonds, the ways in which the public sector drives financialization beyond these partnerships remain underexplored. We study the involvement of the financial industry in providing real estate for public services. Our case involves real estate investment trust (REIT) engagement with elderly care in Flanders, Belgium. We analyzed 68 annual reports by REITs and conducted 43 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. We show that the participation of REITs in social services is increasing significantly. Public governance mechanisms are fueling this form of financialization rather than slowing it down. The result is a form of state-led financialization with little critical scrutiny.

20 Feb 2025 | Prof. Dr. Petra Meier has recently become a member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts (KVAB). This is an association consisting of artists, business leaders and scientists and it entails a lifetime membership. Members join one of the following four classes: Natural sciences, Arts, Technical Sciences and Human Sciences. Petra Meier belongs to that latter class.

24 Jan 2025 | Prof. Dr. Petra Meier has been awarded the Francqui Chair at UCLouvain, Belgium. The Francqui Chair is a recognition for academics from other universities who excel in their field. The holder gives a series of lectures, shares their expertise, and stimulates academic collaboration. The mission of the Francqui Foundation is to promote excellence in the disinterested fundamental research by fostering higher education and scientific advancement in Belgium. The Francqui Chair, existing since 1933, is one of the cornerstone initiatives of the Foundation. This Chair encourages collaboration and exchanges between (mostly Belgian) universities. This, in turn, enriches academic environments, advances academic excellence and interdisciplinary research, and also contributes to strengthening the different universities’ reputations.
As part of the Francqui Chair, Petra Meier will teach a lecture series. The inaugural lecture is titled "Démocratie et pouvoir de la représentation", and will take place on Wednesday 12 February 2025, 11h00 at Aula Magna, Foyer royal in Louvain-la-Neuve. More information about the lecture series.

24 Jan 2025 | Prof. Dr. Koen Verhoest presented and discussed his research within the Horizon Europe TIGRE project on "Trust and Distrust in Governance and Regulation in Europe" in a KUDoS Seminar on 24 January 2025. KUDoS is the Kozminski University Doctoral School, part of Kozminski University in Warsaw, Poland. The seminar explored challenges in researching trust across sectors like financial regulation, food safety, and data protection, combining innovative methods such as surveys, social network analysis, interviews, and legal coding. The session sparked lively discussions, with participants asking numerous questions and sharing thoughtful comments. The level of engagement was truly remarkable, and it showcased the depth of interest in this critical topic. Following the seminar, participants had the opportunity to network, exchange ideas, and continue the conversations in a more informal setting. The seminar was made possible thanks to the NAWA - Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange, who supported the initiative.

21 January | New article titled "Does the Background of the Regulator Matter? The Role of Expertise and Diversity on the Perceived Competence of Regulatory Bodies", authored by Ixchel Perez-Duran, Yannis Papadopoulos, Bastiaan Redert, and Juan Carlos Triviño-Salazar published (open access) in Regulation & Governance.

Abstract: This paper examines expertise and professional diversity within new (agencies and central banks) and traditional (ministries) regulatory bodies (RBs) and assesses their effect on the perceived competence of RBs. In particular, we address the following research questions: To what extent do members of RBs have expertise and display diversity in terms of their professional trajectories? How do expertise and professional diversity affect the perceived competence of RBs? By using two empirical sources of data, this article provides core information on the educational and professional profiles of RBs staff. In addition, the paper provides evidence that both professional diversity and expertise among RBs do not have a significant effect on their perceived competence by regime actors. However, the study also suggests that regime actors that are more closely aligned to the professional trajectory of RB members (i.e., other regulators and members of the executive branch) tend to have a more positive perception of the competence of RBs. Conversely, societal actors tend to be more critical toward RBs, suggesting that a lack of a shared language creates a greater distance from the regulators.

13 January | Prof. dr. Hans Bruyninckx talks in an article of 'Trends' about the consequences of climate change and how both national and international politics should deal with it.

2024

19 December | Prof. dr. Ria Janvier explains in 'Het Laatste Nieuws' the seven new measures on pensions that will come into force in 2025.

9 December | Prof. dr. Ria Janvier is interviewed by 'De Morgen' about future pension reforms by the next Belgian federal government and their consequences.

3 December | New article titled "How do elite core actors assess trust in national and EU authorities? The varying role of generalised trust at diferent governmental levels", authored by dr. Moritz Kappler, prof. dr. Rahel Schomaker, dr. Edoardo Guaschino and prof. dr. Koen Verhoest, published in Comparative European Politics.

Abstract: In this paper, we position generalised trust as central to the debate on elites’ assessments of trust in EU multi-level governance. We leverage one of the most influential factors in explaining political trust in single-government studies to understand variations in trust towards political authorities at various levels. Departing from existing studies, we hypothesise the dual nature of generalised trust: while it influences how individuals assess their trust in political authorities, its impact varies depending on different degrees of perceived similarity of these authorities at either the national or the EU level. To test our hypotheses, we conducted an elite vignette experiment involving 567 decision-makers from public and private stakeholders within regulatory regimes in eight countries. The results reveal a significant positive effect of generalised trust on political trust when evaluating a national-level regulatory agency. However, trust assessments of EU-level regulatory agencies appear to be largely unaffected by generalised trust levels. Furthermore, we observed notable differences in trust assessment between private and public stakeholders, reinforcing our argument that similarity and community belonging underlie the influence of generalised trust on political trust. Our study suggests that EU-level political authorities may derive less benefit from high levels of generalised trust, compared to national political authorities. However, in instances where generalised trust is low, political authorities at the EU level have comparatively more opportunities to cultivate trust in them.

29 November | Prof. dr. Marijn Hoijtink is in a podcast of BNR where she talks about the use of AI in warfare.

22 November | Prof. dr. Hans Bruyninckx publishes an article in newspaper 'De Morgen'. In this, he explains four gaps of the climate conference in Baku and emphasises which ethical principles should be central in such climate conferences.

15 November | New article titled "A reputational perspective on structural reforms: How media reputations are related to the structural reform likelihood of public agencies", authored by prof. dr. Jan Boon, prof. dr. Jan Wynen, prof. dr. Koen Verhoest, prof. dr. Walter Daelemans and dr. Jens Lemmens, published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.

Abstract: Despite recurrent observations that media reputations of agencies matter to understand their reform experiences, no studies have theorized and tested the role of sentiment. This study uses novel and advanced BERT language models to detect attributions of responsibility for positive/negative outcomes in media coverage towards 14 Flemish (Belgian) agencies between 2000-2015 through supervised machine learning, and connects these data to the Belgian State Administration Database on the structural reforms these agencies experienced. Our results reflect an inverted U-shaped relationship: more negative reputations increase the reform likelihood of agencies, yet up to a certain point at which the reform likelihood drops again. Variations in positive and neutral reputational signals do not impact the reform likelihood of agencies. Our study contributes to understanding the role of reputation as an antecedent of structural reforms. Complementing and enriching existing perspectives, the paper shows how the sentiment in reputational signals accumulates and informs political-administrative decision-makers to engage in structural reforms.

4 November | New article titled "Performing policy conflict: A dramaturgical analysis of public participation in contentious urban planning projects", authored by Lisa De Roeck and prof. dr. Wouter Van Dooren, published in Policy Sciences.

Abstract: Whether endemic or overt, conflict is an intrinsic part of policymaking. Public participation promises to give a place to those conflicts in a more inclusive and productive way. Previous research has primarily focused on the substance and discourse of conflict, studying what conflicts are about and how actors give meaning to conflicts. Less attention has been given to how conflicts are enacted and performed when citizens and the state meet. Using a dramaturgical approach, this paper explores how the performances, staging practices, and scenography of public participation influence policy conflicts. The research concentrates on two contentious urban projects in the Belgian city of Genk, employing ethnographic observation of participatory moments to expose the performative elements of participation. The analysis uncovers the artifacts and communicative methods that narrow the conflict scope, determine the micro-politics of the participatory meetings, and influence whose voices are heard. Using a dramaturgical analysis framework sheds light on some underexplored, micro-level dynamics of participatory efforts that may limit the scope of policy conflict. Understanding these micro-mechanisms is essential for a more inclusive and equitable urban transformation policy.