This research line concerns changes in the fabric of government. More precisely it deals with how the multi-layered nature of contemporary government affects intergovernmental relations, political legitimacy and accountability, the interaction and balance between the executive and the legislative branch of government, the role and position of sub-national authorities in a wider European context, the implications of multi-layeredness and segmentation in policy fields traditionally strongly tied to central state institutions (such as welfare state politics), the adaptation of political parties, interest groups and bureaucracies.
Key publications
- Beyers, Jan, Tom Donas and Bert Fraussen (2015) No Place Like Home? Explaining Venue Selection of Regional Offices in Brussels. Journal of European Public Policy DOI: 10.1080/13501763.2014.977335.
- Sinardet, Dave and Peter Bursens (2014) Democratic legitimacy in multilevel political systems: The role of politicization at the polity-wide level in the EU and Belgium. Acta Politica 49 (4): 246-65.
- Beyers, Jan and Peter Bursens (2013) How Europe Shapes the Nature of the Belgian Federation: Differentiated EU Impact Triggers Both Co-operation and Decentralization. Regional and Federal Studies 23(3): 271-91.