Equality, representativeness and citizen-government relations

Investigating trust in government raises the question: trust by whom? Although Western governments attempt to ensure that all citizens can trust their government by ensuring equality before the law and full representation, individual or groups of citizens in practice frequently feel estranged, marginalized or excluded in their interactions with governments. Research under this theme not only examines citizen-government relations in general, but also incorporates research into representativeness, fundamental rights and equality and (non)-discrimination.

• Callens, C., Verhoest, K., Klijn, E. H., Nõmmik, S., Pina, V., & Brogaard, L. (2023). How service users envision their engagement in processes of collaborative innovation: A Q-methodological study on user involvement in eHealth collaborations. Public Policy and Administration, 09520767231170298. https://doi.org/10.1177/09520767231170298
• Waeterloos, C., Walrave, M., & Ponnet, K. (2023). Social media as an exit strategy? The role of attitudes of discontent in explaining non-electoral political participation among Belgian young adults. Acta Politica. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-023-00297-4
  
• Bursens, P., De Vadder, S., Glavina, M., Popelier, P., van Zimmeren, E., Verhoest, K., Beutels, P., & Pepermans, K. (2022). Vertrouwen in de overheid tijdens de COVID-19-pandemie. Een vergelijking tussen meerdere overheidsniveaus. Vlaams Tijdschrift voor Overheidsmanagement, 2022-1, 45-60.
  
• Popelier, P., Kleizen, B., Declerck, C., Glavina, M., & Van Dooren, W. (2021). Covid-19 en exit-maatregelen: Een surveyexperiment over de percepties van burgers over overheidsmaatregelen na de piek van de eerste Covid-19 golf. GOVTRUST Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp. https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/govtrust/projects/bof-covid19/report1/
  
• Waeterloos, C., De Meulenaere, J., Walrave, M., & Ponnet, K. (2021). Tackling COVID-19 from below: Civic participation among online neighbourhood network users during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online Information Review, 45(4), 777-794. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-08-2020-0379
  
• Wolf, E. E. A., & Van Dooren, W. (2021). Fatal remedies. How dealing with policy conflict can backfire in a context of trust-erosion. Governance, 34(4), 1097-1114. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12630​
  
• Popelier, P. (2020). COVID-19 legislation in Belgium at the crossroads of a political and a health crisis. Theory and Practice of Legislation.

• Democratic Innovations and Scale: How Population Size Affects Direct and Deliberative Citizen Participation – 2023-2026 – FWO Junior postdoctoral fellowship – Christoph Niessen, Petra Meier​
  
• Queer Interest Groups in the EU: Explaining Organization and Strategic Interaction in Hostile Contexts (QUEST) – 2023-2024 – BOF Opvangmandaat FWO postdoc – Bastiaan Redert, Petra Meier
• Education for Citizenship and Democratic Thinking in Crisis Times – 2023-2025 – BOF SEP Fostering EU FP & FWO SBO projects – Noel Clycq, Peter Bursens, David Gijbels, Vincent Donche
• Conflict in Transformations (CONTRA) – 2022 2025 – ERA-NET Cofund, JPI Urban Europe – Wouter Van Dooren, Esther van Zimmeren, Tom Coppens, Pascal Gielen
  
• ​Co-creating Inclusive Intersectional Democratic Spaces Across Europe (CCINDLE) – 2022-2026 – EU Horizon Europe HORIZON-CL2-2021-DEMOCRACY-01-03 – Petra Meier (partner)
• Never waste a good crisis: Using COVID-19 to restore citizen trust in public institutions (COVITRU) – 2022-2023 – BOF Opvangmandaat MSCA postdoc – Olivier Sempiga, Jan Wynen
• Does performance reporting of public performance strengthen the trust and voice of citizens? An experimental study – 2021 2025 – FWO Senior research project fundamental research – Wouter Van Dooren, Bjorn Kleizen
  
• Using Twitter as a public communication strategy: Can 140 characters reduce the Performance-Satisfaction Gap in the public sector? – 2019-2022 – Koen Verhoest, Wouter Van Dooren & Jan Wynen