Comparative Territorial Politics in Multilevel States: Citizens, Voters, and Political Actors

The political interplay between the central state and different forms of sub-state levels of government has been increasingly theorised and empirically analysed in the last couple of years. For example, recent research takes a close look at citizens’ and voters’ reactions and assignments of responsibilities regarding political elites’ handling of the pandemic. 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. This Section aims to explain and interpret the latest developments in territorial politics and policies of multilevel countries. Suggested Panel topics: 1. Voters’ Behaviour in Sub-National Politics Chair: Katrin Praprotnik (Graz) Discussant: Arjan Schakel (Bergen) Political scientists have devoted much effort to understanding 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. This Panel seeks to close this gap by zooming into the sub-national layer of multilevel states. It 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. Political Actors’ Behaviour in Sub-National Politics Chair: Martin Gross (Munich) Discussant: Katrin Praprotnik (Graz) Our understanding of political elites’ behaviour, their decision-making strategies, and how they implement specific policies, is still mainly retrieved from theoretical and empirical insights from (supra)national politics. We still know comparatively little about political behaviour at the sub-national level. This Panel seeks to enhance our understanding of sub-national political behaviour, and invites Papers focusing on legislative voting, policymaking, and the political preferences of political actors at the sub-national level. 3. Position-taking and issue salience in multi-level systems Chair: Svenja Krauss (Vienna) Discussant: Martin Gross (Munich) This Panel invites theoretical and empirical contributions on political parties’ strategies in the electoral, parliamentary, and governmental arena in federal or regionalised states. Multilevel government provides opportunities for the study of parties’ position-taking and issue saliency strategies to gain votes, obtain offices, and implement preferred policies at different levels, as well as for the analysis of similarities and differences between party strategies at the national and sub-state levels. This Panel seeks Papers addressing parties’ positions, their emphasis of specific policy issues, their impact on the territorial integrity of countries, as well as their influence on policies country-wide and across regions. 4. Public Opinion Towards Devolution and Federalism Chair: Arjan Schakel (Bergen) Discussant: Katrin Praprotnik (Graz) While political decentralisation is a process that has been undertaken in a wide range of countries, there exists a considerable gap in our knowledge regarding citizens’ attitudes towards territorial scales of political life. This Panel seeks Papers that further our understanding of multilevel governance by assessing citizens’ attitudes towards different facets of decentralisation. 5. Policy Analysis at the Sub-National Level Chair: Iris Reus (Erlangen-Nuremberg) Discussant: Arjan Schakel (Bergen) The study of policy analysis has advanced strikingly in recent years. We would like to bring these recent developments to multilevel states, which includes both analyses at the sub-national level and between governance levels. In the federal context, policymakers operate in a tensional environment between (often) harmonising policies within the federation and using the room for manoeuvre for their own policy solutions, including policy innovations. Thus, we welcome a wide range of Papers analysing public policies in different fields below the national level. Papers should focus on political processes and policy-decisions, including actors from politicians and institutions to interest groups or the media. 6. The EU and Sub-National Politics Chair: Katrin Praprotnik (Graz) Discussant: Martin Gross (Munich) 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. Papers dealing with political actors’ strategies in emphasising EU issues and topics across the various political layers of multilevel states are particularly welcome. 7. Multilevel government and governmental responses to the Covid-19 crisis Chair: Arjan Schakel (Bergen) Discussant: Martin Gross (Munich) Governmental responses to manage and mitigate the Covic-19 pandemic has involved multiple tiers of government, from the local to the global level. However, the extent to which sub-national governments have played a role in the decision-making and implementation of Covid-19 policies varies hugely between countries. The pandemic provides a unique opportunity to explore the causes and consequences of multilevel governance during periods of crisis. This Panel invites Paper proposals that explore the role of local and regional governments during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the impact of intergovernmental relations between sub-national and national governments on governmental responses. This half-open Panel is suggested by the Europe Horizon LEGITMULT project. 8. Legitimate crisis governance in a multilevel context Chair: Peter Bursens (Antwerpen) Discussant: Kutsal Yesilkagit (Leiden) The Covid-19 pandemic – like other crises – challenged governments to formulate policies and take measures that are both effective in outcome (achieving policy goals) and legitimate in process (ensuring democratic decision-making). Governments were forced to consider trade-offs in terms of, but not exclusively related to, protecting all citizens, guaranteeing participation and human rights, maintaining trust and warranting economic and financial sustainability. These challenges are hard to reconcile, especially in a multilevel context where measures had to be taken by local, regional, national, European and global authorities. This Panel seeks contributions that address the relation between multilevel government, crisis management and legitimacy. Papers can address conceptual explorations of the link between two or three of these dimensions, illustrated by empirical evidence from the Covid-19 pandemic or other crisis. This half-open Panel is suggested by the Europe Horizon LEGITMULT project.