Comparative Territorial Politics: Citizens, Elites, and Institutions in Multilevel States

The political relations between central and sub-state levels of government are key to understanding the stability of multilevel states. Dissatisfaction towards central institutions and politicians from citizens and elites at the regional-level can lead to important political and social crises, such as the current one in Catalonia. Sub-state grievances can also results in strong support for nationalist movements, such as the recent surges in Scotland and Corsica. Often decentralization is promoted to acquiesced regionalist demands and enhance the probability of building an effective relationship between the central and sub-state levels of government. While such arrangements have been relatively successful in countries such as Germany and Italy, the current crisis in Ethiopia demonstrates that decentralization, without satisfying certain the grievances of sub-state – and even central government – actors, cannot automatically avoid a national unity crisis. Territorial politics is about the effects of the territorial structure of the state on issues such as citizens’ attitudes towards multilevel government, voting behaviour and accountability, public policy, and the distribution of resources between levels and across territorial units. The aims of this section are to explain and interpret the latest developments in territorial politics and policies of multilevel countries. To do so, we encourage a pluralism of academic disciplines, theoretical approaches and methodological tools. Suggested panel topics 1. Voters’ Behaviour in Sub-National Politics Chair: Katrin Praprotnik, Danube-University of Krems Political scientists have devoted much effort to understand the behaviour of voters. The great bulk of evidence, however, stems from shedding light on electoral campaigns and voting behaviour at the national level. Despite some notable exceptions, the conclusion that sub-national electoral politics has been largely neglected still stands. The present panel seeks to close this gap by zooming into the sub-national layer of multilevel states and invites papers focusing on topics of partisanship and vote choice at the regional and local level. We encourage the submission of comparative papers as well as single case studies. 2. Elites’ Behaviour in Sub-National Politics: Understanding Policymaking in Multilevel States Chair: Martin Gross, LMU Munich Researchers have shown a growing interest in understanding the behaviour of political elites; specifically regarding their decisional process to support, or not, specific policies and the manner in which they might differ from their citizenry. This growing scholarship has so far focused on national level politicians, living an important gap regarding the political decision-making process at sub-state levels. The present panel seeks to our understanding of sub-national politicians and invites papers focusing on legislative voting, policymaking, and the political preferences of political elites. We encourage the submission of comparative papers as well as single case studies. 3. Party Competition in Multilevel States Chair: Élodie Fabre, Queen’s University Belfast This panel invites theoretical and empirical contributions on political parties and party competition in federal or regionalised states. Multilevel government provides opportunities for the study of party organisation and party competition at different levels as well as for the analysis of similarities and differences between parties at the national and sub-state levels. Papers can address the organisation and mobilisation of parties, their impact on the territorial integrity of countries, as well as their influence on policies country-wide and across regions. We encourage the submission of comparative papers as well as single case studies. 4. Public Opinion Towards Devolution and Federalism Chair: Arjan Schakel, University of Bergen While political decentralisation is a process that has been undertaken in a wide range of countries, even becoming a main element of political discourse in some cases, there exists a considerable gap in our knowledge regarding citizens’ attitudes towards territorial scales of political life. This panel will assemble papers that further our understanding of multilevel governance by assessing citizens’ attitudes towards different facets of decentralisation. We encourage the submission of comparative papers as well as single case studies. 5. Federalism and Conflict Management in Divided Societies Chair: Mike Medeiros, University of Amsterdam The coexistence of distinct national groups within a state poses distinct challenges to its institutions, and even to its territorial integrity. The strengthening of regional identities and autonomist demands can render governance in multinational states challenging. This panel welcomes papers that discuss the management and accommodation of territorial differences in multinational countries. This panel encourages the submission of comparative papers as well as single case studies. 6. Secessionist Movements: Explaining Discourse and Strategy Chair: Open Secessionist movements have become more prominent in the public debate around the glove over the last few years. This panel aims at discussing to what extent there are similarities and differences among secessionist movements. This panel invites contributions, if possible with a comparative angle, to shed light on the motivations driving secessionism, on the type of domestic and international strategies adopted to promote political self-determination, and on the discourses and communication styles used by secessionist parties and leaders. 7. State Restructuring: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives Chair: Open This panel invites papers that address administrative and political restructuring in multilevel countries. It welcomes papers treating state restructuring both as an independent and a dependent variable, i.e. exploring the determinants of state restructuring and/or its consequences. The panel is open to papers seeking to make a primarily theoretical contribution as well as to papers focusing on empirical analysis. Papers adopting a comparative perspective are especially encouraged but case studies are also welcome, as are different methodological approaches. 8. The EU and Sub-National Politics Chair: Open This panel invites submissions which tackle the interaction between the processes of deepening integration and regionalisation in Europe from a plurality of viewpoints and using a variety of methods ranging from qualitative case studies to large-n analyses. Areas of interest and relevance to the panel are related to, for example, the formation, aggregation and expression of regional interests within the EU political system, the implementation of EU legislation and programmes at the sub-national level and how regional players seek to influence the EU (policies) and its emerging constitutional order.