Sofie Marien

University of Amsterdam, Department of Politics, Faculty Member

Followers

370

Following

Co-author

Public Views

Sofie Marien is Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands). Before joining the Political Science Department of the University of Amsterdam, she was a FWO postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Citizenship and Democracy at the University of Leuven (Belgium). Her research and teaching focus on topics within political sociology (trust, participation, public opinion research), political communication and research methods. Previously, her work has been published in among others European Journal of Political Research, European Sociological Review, Electoral Studies and Intelligence.

less

InterestsView All (9)

Uploads

Papers by Sofie Marien

De Politieke Vertegenwoordiging van Vrouwen in de Belgische Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers: een Historische Analyse (1971-2014)

From second-wave feminism onwards an increased political presence of women became a central deman... more From second-wave feminism onwards an increased political presence of women became a central demand of women’s movements. An increase of female MPs was expected to lead to a better reflection of women’s interests within public policy. A historical analysis of the representation of women’s interests (i.e. interests women have as a group e.g. equal pay, maternity leave) in parliament was conducted. The oral questions of MPs within parliament (‘de Kamer’) were studied within three periods: the 1971-1990 period with few female MPs; the 1990-2003 period with an increase in female MPs; the 2003-2014 period of stabilisation. Using the Eurovox keywords attached to the oral questions, relevant questions were identified via the parliamentary database and the registers (i.e. ‘zakenregister’) and analysed using the transcripts (‘integraal verslag’). The results of the historical analysis show that as more women entered parliament, women’s interests were more actively defended using these oral questions. MPs from diverse ideologies were active, resulting in a broad range of perspectives on women’s interests. However, the political context was clearly the driving force that facilitated (e.g. UN world conferences on women) or inhibited the representation of women’s interests (e.g. state reform).

Download

Voting for Women in Belgium’s Flexible List System

Proportional electoral systems tend to be more beneficial for women’s descriptive representation ... more Proportional electoral systems tend to be more beneficial for women’s descriptive representation than majority systems. However, within proportional systems the gender equality of election outcomes differs, highlighting the importance of studying the actual use of electoral provisions in PR-systems. Therefore, we investigate the determinants of voting for female candidates in Belgian’s local elections. This case is particularly interesting given the equal number of men and women on the candidate lists due to quota regulations, the possibility to cast multiple preference votes (lowering competition) and the high visibility of these local elections and its candidates. At the individual level, we find that women are more likely than men to vote for several women, yet same-sex voting is more common among men. Political sophisticated respondents vote more often on candidates of both sexes. Against our expectations, a left-wing orientation does not increase the likelihood to vote for women. At the electoral district level, a larger supply of women at the top list position increases the chance to vote for this top woman, but there is no spillover effect to women lower on the list. District magnitude affects the number of preferences votes but against expectations not the likelihood to vote for women.

Download

Economic Crisis and Levels of Political Participation in Europe, 2002-2010: The Role of Resources and Grievances

by Sofie Marien and Anna Kern

This article examines the effect of the recent economic crisis on political participation levels ... more This article examines the effect of the recent economic crisis on political participation levels in Europe. As the civic voluntarism model and grievances theory predict different effects of economic downturn on political participation, the crisis provides a unique
context to evaluate the explanatory power of these two theories. It is found that, when investigating a period of eight years (2002–2010), economic growth is positively associated with non-institutionalised political participation, which is in line with the civic voluntarism model. However, when focusing on the changes in political participation that occurred between 2008 and 2010 it is found that rising unemployment is associated with rising levels of non-institutionalised political participation, suggesting that grievance theory is especially useful in exceptionally negative conditions as suddenly imposed grievances can lead to various forms of protest behaviour. The article argues that these shock experiences can lead to momentary peak periods of mobilisation.

Marien, S. (2011). Measuring Political Trust Across Time and Space. In: Hooghe M., Zmerli S. (Eds.), Political Trust. Why Context Matters, Chapt. 2 (pp. 13-46). Colchester: ECPR Press.

Trust in political institutions is considered to be of crucial importance for the stability of de... more Trust in political institutions is considered to be of crucial importance for the stability of democratic political regimes, and as such the concept is widely used in empirical research. In this chapter I investigate the validity of the ‘institutional trust’-scale and present recent trends within institutional trust in Europe. The results are based on the four waves of the European Social Survey (ESS 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008).Trust in political institutions has been studied as a one-dimensional as well as a multidimensional concept. Using factor analysis, I investigate the validity of a one-factor measurement model of institutional trust. In a second part, I test the cross-cultural equivalence of institutional trust. Within comparative research institutional trust is studied extensively although it has not been investigated whether its meaning is the same across different countries and therefore whether it can be compared. In the last part of the chapter, I describe the trends in institutional trust and in satisfaction with government in Europe between 2002 and 2009.

Download

How to reach Members of Parliament? Citizens and Members of Parliament on the Effectiveness of Political Participation Repertoires

Non-institutionalised forms of political participation are on the rise in Western societies, but ... more Non-institutionalised forms of political participation are on the rise in Western societies, but thus far, we do not know all that much about their effectiveness. In this article we report on the perceived efficacy of non-institutionalised forms of political participation, among both citizens and Members of Parliament. We draw on data of the ‘PartiRep’ (Participation and Representation) project, including both population data (in Belgium) and a comparative survey among Members of Parliament in Belgium and seven other European countries. The results show that both citizens and politicians still perceive voting as the most effective form of political participation. Consumer boycotts and illegal activities, on the other hand, were considered to be least effective. There is a rather large gap between politicians and citizens, however, with regard to the perceived effectiveness of contacting politicians and signing petitions. This mismatch between the perceptions of citizens and professional politicians might have important consequences for the legitimacy of the political decision-making process.

Download

The impact of education on the development of political trust. Results from a five year panel study among late adolescents and young adults in Belgium

There is a strong ongoing debate about the impact of higher education experiences on political at... more There is a strong ongoing debate about the impact of higher education experiences on political attitudes and behaviours. While some authors assume a direct socialisation effect of educational experience, others have argued that education should be seen as a mere proxy variable for socio-economic status and pre-adult socialisation experiences. In this paper we use a five-year Belgian panel study (BPPS, 2006-2011, n= 1,634) that tracked respondents between the ages of 16 and 21. Using a hierarchical linear model of repeated measurements, we are able to demonstrate that differences with regard to political trust between future students and non-students are already present and stable at the age of 16. Significant determinants were school track and educational goal. The inclusion of actual educational status in the model (at age 21), however, rendered the relation with educational goal not significant. The results suggest that students already during secondary education anticipate for and acquire a value pattern that is congruent with their future status. Ultimately, however, this effect is dependent on the fact whether they actually enroll in higher education or not.

Download

The cognitive basis of trust. The relation between education, cognitive ability, and generalized and political trust

Previous research has established convincingly that there is a strong positive relation between ... more Previous research has established convincingly that there is a strong positive relation between
educational attainment and trust. There is less agreement however, about the precise
determinants of this relation. In this article, we assess how education is related to generalized
and political trust, controlling for cognitive ability and occupational prestige, based on the
results of the representative NELLS population survey in the Netherlands (n=1931). The
analysis confirms that education is strongly related to trust, but most of this association can be
explained by the intermediary mechanisms of cognitive ability and the occupational prestige
associated with the level of educational attainment. We close with some observations on how
the remaining direct relation between education and trust could be explained. (See: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289612001031)

School Experiences, Classroom Climate and Political Trust. A Two-Year Panel Study among Belgian Late Adolescents on the Impact of School Environment Characteristics on Political Trust

Trust in political institutions can be considered as an important prerequisite for the stability ... more Trust in political institutions can be considered as an important prerequisite for the stability of democratic political systems. Opinions differ, however, on how this attitude is shaped. Research among adolescents suggests that this age group already has quite stable levels of political trust, even before they can have had first-hand experiences with the functioning of political systems. Building on a two-year panel study among Belgian adolescents (n=3,632), we investigate the development of political trust between the ages of 16 and 18. As was already predicted by functionalist authors, experiences with an open classroom climate have strong and persistent positive effects on political trust, and this effect proves to be much stronger than the one from direct civic education classes. The information function of mass media and academic aspirations, too, have a strong effect on political trust.

The Origins of Generalized and Political Trust among Immigrant Minorities and the Majority Population in the Netherlands

European Sociological Review, 2013

In this study, we investigate whether differences in generalized and political trust levels betwe... more In this study, we investigate whether differences in generalized and political trust levels between immigrants and natives are related to immigrants' relatively disadvantaged socioeconomic positions in society. We compare trust levels for native Dutch respondents and Turkish and Moroccan minorities, based on the NELLS population survey (2009, n= 4,222).

Download

A Comparative Analysis of the Relation between Political Trust and Forms of Political Participation in Europe

In the literature, two competing claims can be found on the relationship between political trust ... more In the literature, two competing claims can be found on the relationship between political trust and political participation. While some authors argue that trust is a prerequisite for any form of participation to occur, others claim that distrust can be a motivating factor for participation in non-institutionalised forms of participation. The social movement literature suggests that political trust will only have these behavioural consequences if it is associated with sufficiently high levels of political efficacy. In this article, we rely on the results of the 2006 European Social Survey for an in-depth analysis of the relationship between political trust and participation in 25 countries. The multi-level regression shows that while political trust is positively associated with institutionalised participation, it is negatively associated with non-institutionalised participation. Moreover, the effect of political trust on institutionalised participation is dependent on self-confidence about one’s capability to understand politics.

Download

Is Online Participation Distinct from Offline Participation? A Latent Class Analysis of Participation Types and Their Stratification

The increased availability of the Internet has led to the emergence of new forms of political par... more The increased availability of the Internet has led to the emergence of new forms of political participation. Opinions differ, however, on whether this has led to a reinforcement of stratification patterns, or to the political mobilization of new groups in society. To address this question, we first examine whether online political participation is a distinctive type of participation and then examine the socio-demographic stratification patterns of the identified participation types. Based on a latent class analysis of a U.S. representative sample, it is ascertained that online activism is indeed a distinctive type of political participation since a distinct group of online activists is identified. A comparison of the stratification patterns of offline and online activists indicates that the mobilization thesis is strongly confirmed regarding age, and is also confirmed for gender; for SES, however, the findings suggest a reinforcement of traditional education and income inequalities in online political participation.

Download

The effect of electoral outcomes on political trust: A multi–level analysis of 23 countries

Competing theoretical claims exist in the literature on the effect of proportionality on politica... more Competing theoretical claims exist in the literature on the effect of proportionality on political trust. To date, empirical studies yielded mixed results. In this paper, we examine a curvilinear effect of the proportionality of election outcomes on political trust using data from the European Social Survey (2006–2009). The findings show that political trust is indeed highest in countries with very proportional as well as in countries with very disproportional election outcomes and lowest in countries that fall in between. Election outcomes that are more fully inclusive and those that provide more accountability can both lead to higher levels of political trust. Next to the proportionality of the translation of votes into seats, this study investigates a broad range of election outcomes that are associated with (dis)proportionality i.e. the effect of the number of parties in elections, parliament and government, voting for the winning or losing party under different levels of proportionality and the clarity of responsibility.

Download