Book Reviews by Emilien Paulis
Conference Presentations by Emilien Paulis
The mobilizing effects of social networks have attracted a growing attention in political science... more The mobilizing effects of social networks have attracted a growing attention in political science. Many theoretical and empirical studies stressed the role that peers can play on triggering or hindering political participation (Burt &). Nonetheless, these contributions have not always relied on the full analytical power of the Social Network Analysis (SNA) toolbox to investigate the role of personal networks in mobilizing individuals in politics. They are rather generally quite static and integrates network indicators in basic statistical regressions. Moreover, they tend to focus on electoral participation and do not emphasize other, less conventional forms of participation. Therefore, based on data collected via an online panel survey, this paper is a first analytical attempt to apply a specific class of network statistical models called AutoLogistic Actor-Attribute (ALAAM) in order to account for the structural effects of social networks on political participation. We show that social network structure does indeed affect the diffusion of political participation.
The massive and extensive nature of the "party on the ground" implies that it does not constitute... more The massive and extensive nature of the "party on the ground" implies that it does not constitute a homogeneous entity. Parties integrate members who do not especially share the same attitudinal features and especially do not display the same level of satisfaction regarding how their party functions or orientates ideological lines. As the literature on intra-party cohesion has less explored the cohesive nature of this organizational face, this paper investigates how party membership social cohesion might translate into party cohesion at the local level. Framed in a Social Network Analysis (SNA) framework, we ask whether the embeddedness of a party member in the social network of the local branch (s)he belongs to (indicator = network centrality [IV]) conditions his/her satisfactory attitudes toward the party and his/her perception of conflict within the party [DV]. Using individual data (N=117) collected via a party membership survey led in 2016 in 7 Brussels' local branches (Belgium), the empirical results show that network centrality affects differently three forms of satisfaction (organizational, social and ideological), whereas perceptions of conflict are not significantly influenced by party members' positions in the social network structure. We observed also contrasts between parties and according to members' profiles. More globally, the paper intends to illustrate the potential usefulness of SNA to refine the analysis of unity and cohesion within parties.
The mobilizing effects of political discussion networks have attracted a growing attention in pol... more The mobilizing effects of political discussion networks have attracted a growing attention in political science, as many studies stressed the role that discussion partners can play on political participation. Based on data collected via an online survey among a sample quota of 2,800 Belgian citizens, the analysis conducted in this paper relies on political discussion networks characteristics (structure and composition) to explain the citizens' probability to take part both in online and offline political activities. While traditional determinants are globally confirmed, our results demonstrate a major effect of network size (absolute number of political discussion partners), but also an effect of network participation (number of political discussion partners who are politically active citizens). Our results support also that disagreement in political discussion network can have both positive and negative leverage on the probability of political participation. All things being equal, political disagreement may spur political participation. Nonetheless, if the disagreement rises as long as the size of the network grows, this may imply the opposite relation and a demobilizing effect. The potential impact of social homophily and network political attitudes needs further investigations.
Large-scale surveys are the most common sources of data for political scientists who study politi... more Large-scale surveys are the most common sources of data for political scientists who study political behavior. However, these surveys have often heavily focused on individuals and ignored their environment, i.e. the social and political networks of respondents. There are some exceptions to this, which imported network measurements from Social Network Analysis in national election survey. Based on this type of data, scholars emphasized how voting and election behavior is influenced by the peers that citizens talk politics with. This paper capitalizes on this perspective and first proposes to innovate in Belgian election survey by implementing one specific network battery of questions: name-generator of political discussants. Second, to support that it might help to find out new explanatory tracks, the second part exposes empirical results of a research that measured and analyzed the effect of political discussion networks (IV) on political participation (DV) in Belgium. The latter relied on an online panel survey of Belgian citizens (N=2,800) to generate data both on networks and participation. We show that the investigation of networks may definitely constitute a methodological innovation, but also potentially a theoretical one, by allowing to go beyond traditional socio-demographic and attitudinal explanations of political choices.
Based on an original dataset containing membership figures for 397 parties in 31 countries over a... more Based on an original dataset containing membership figures for 397 parties in 31 countries over a period from 1945 to 2014, this paper developed a party-based explanatory model of the differences in membership levels and changes over time. It
examines the effect party age, vote share, governmental participation, and number of competing parties. Our results confirm that membership ratios are overall decreasing, but they introduce nuances across party families. Moreover, our results show that parties with larger shares of the votes and parties in power get larger membership ratios, and that parties gaining votes tend to increase their membership ratios. The model found more contrasted results for party age, with only newer parties associated with membership increase. Finally, the number of competing parties does not influence individual parties’ membership ratios per se, but a diminution of the competition means higher M/E ratios for the remaining parties. These findings
question dominant views on party membership trends and call for further investigations at the party level, especially regarding the link between election and membership cycles.
Book Chapters by Emilien Paulis
Du parti libéral au MR. 170 and de libéralisme en Belgique, Dec 8, 2016
Papers by Emilien Paulis
European Journal of Social Psychology, 2020
Using an ego-centered network approach, we examine across two studies whether and how injunctive ... more Using an ego-centered network approach, we examine across two studies whether and how injunctive network norms-behaviors that are approved by alters-are related to majority members' decisions to participate in helping actions supporting migrants. We hypothesize that the more people perceive their personal social networks as positive toward humanitarian actions for migrants, the more they consider their opinions on migration issues as self-defining, and the more they are willing to mobilize in helping behaviors. With a name generator approach, we collected personal social network data among majority members of Belgian, mobilized volunteers (Study 1, N=204) and Swiss, non-mobilized participants (Study 2, N=247). Results demonstrate the impact of injunctive network norms in promoting and maintaining helping actions for migrants, and the role of self-defining attitudes. Overall, the results highlight the importance of injunctive norms within personal social networks on participation in intergroup helping behaviors.
Politique. Revue belge d'analyse et de débat, 2018
European Political Science, Jan 10, 2018
Assessments of party decline and decline of traditional forms of political participation often re... more Assessments of party decline and decline of traditional forms of political participation often rely on the argument of party membership decline. Most studies analysing trends in party membership over time focus on aggregate country-level data at a few points in time. While they allow grasping general membership trends, they are not without shortcomings. This article presents the Members and Activists of Political Parties (MAPP) dataset related to the MAPP project. The dataset makes a large amount of data on party membership available to the larger public. The dataset provides 6,307 party membership data observations (M) covering 397 parties in 31 countries, mostly between 1945 and 2014. The article discusses the existing literature and data on party membership trends, how membership trends have been assessed so far, and the potential added value of the MAPP dataset.
Drafts by Emilien Paulis
Political participation is a flourishing field of research in social sciences, generating many de... more Political participation is a flourishing field of research in social sciences, generating many debates and complex explanatory models. The latter generally emphasized micro-/macro-level factors and dealt both with traditional/alternative forms of participation. They greatly contributed to our knowledge of who gets involved, why, and under which context. Yet, we know much less about the process of engagement/recruitment, i.e. the triggers of participation or the factors turning potential participators into politically active agents. Capitalizing on network theory and methodology, many social scientists have extensively integrated network explanations and analyses to account for the triggering of political behaviors undertaken by citizens, providing relational insights for a phenomenon that was deeply analyzed as individual undertaking despite its collective nature. The session welcomes theoretical/methodological/empirical contributions interested in the relationship between social networks and political participation of all kind. We also invite papers examining the role of (social)media within the interplay between networks and participation.
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Book Reviews by Emilien Paulis
Conference Presentations by Emilien Paulis
examines the effect party age, vote share, governmental participation, and number of competing parties. Our results confirm that membership ratios are overall decreasing, but they introduce nuances across party families. Moreover, our results show that parties with larger shares of the votes and parties in power get larger membership ratios, and that parties gaining votes tend to increase their membership ratios. The model found more contrasted results for party age, with only newer parties associated with membership increase. Finally, the number of competing parties does not influence individual parties’ membership ratios per se, but a diminution of the competition means higher M/E ratios for the remaining parties. These findings
question dominant views on party membership trends and call for further investigations at the party level, especially regarding the link between election and membership cycles.
Book Chapters by Emilien Paulis
Papers by Emilien Paulis
Drafts by Emilien Paulis
examines the effect party age, vote share, governmental participation, and number of competing parties. Our results confirm that membership ratios are overall decreasing, but they introduce nuances across party families. Moreover, our results show that parties with larger shares of the votes and parties in power get larger membership ratios, and that parties gaining votes tend to increase their membership ratios. The model found more contrasted results for party age, with only newer parties associated with membership increase. Finally, the number of competing parties does not influence individual parties’ membership ratios per se, but a diminution of the competition means higher M/E ratios for the remaining parties. These findings
question dominant views on party membership trends and call for further investigations at the party level, especially regarding the link between election and membership cycles.