Research Colloquium

Alex Rivard, PhD Candidate of Political Science, University of British Columbia

Abstract – This presentation is an early version of what will be two chapters of Alex Rivard’s dissertation. He is very much looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions! The quantitative study of secessionist parties has become increasingly popular in recent years (Massetti 2009; Massetti and Schakel 2015, 2016; Sorens 2005; to name but a few). These works range from the effects of the economy (Hierro and Queralt 2020; Massetti and Schakel 2015), political strategy via the study of party manifestos (Alonso et al. 2013; Basile 2015, 2016), and the interaction between established parties and ‘niche’ regional parties (Meguid 2008; Pogorelis et al. 2005; Zons 2015). While the extant work is illuminating, we still know relatively little about the structures of independence-seeking party success. In fact, most of the referenced literature provides very little in terms of descriptive statistics—statistics which demonstrate the increasing success of secessionist parties across Western Europe and North America. This work is an early look at the structures of secessionist success and employs a unique database which accounts for all regional and national elections in 29 regions across Western Europe and North America. It argues that secessionist parties have been increasingly successful well into the contemporary era, that they average roughly a quarter of the regional vote and do not demonstrate signs of slowing down. This paper also employs survival analysis via a Cox proportional hazards model to estimate the likelihood of secessionist party emergence in both subnational and national elections. It is, to our knowledge, the first such time an analysis like this has been conducted. Ultimately, this presentation argues that secessionist parties obviously vary in strength and support but viable secessionist parties ought to no longer be considered risible ‘niche parties’ with obscure policy demands. Instead, they can, and do, yield considerable regional power.

Kurt Huebner, University of British Columbia, Jean Monnet for European Integration and Global Political Economy

Henrik Jacobsen, University of British Columbia, PHD Student, Department of Political Science

The ‘Frugal Four’ and the Fiscal Policy Regime(s) of the EU during the corona-crisis: From austerity to mutual spending? Abstract: Covid-19 has triggered levels of fiscal activity in Europe not seen anymore since World War II and has reinforced the question of financial solidarity inside the EU, first thrown into sharp relief during the Euro-crisis (2009-2014). However, there are significant differences between EU-members in terms of their national preferences for the extent of financial solidarity and the conditions attached to it. In this paper, we explore the reasons for the formation of these ‘fiscal policy camps’. We find that traditional approaches based on political partisanship or geographical distributions (e.g. a frugal North vs a spending-spree South) offer little insight for explaining the positions of national governments on fiscal policy preferences. Instead we suggest that domestic political pressures – more precisely the extent to which incumbent governments are under pressure from Eurosceptic parties – is a central driver of a government’s preferences for fiscal policy in the EU. Finally, we reflect upon whether the coronacrisis may mean an end to the era of austerity politics that has had an ideational dominance over fiscal policies during the last two decades.

• Daniela Fuhrmann, University of Zurich, Title: Margery Kempe: The Benefits of Being Late
• Kailey Rocker, PhD Candidate of Anthropology (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Title: Telling the Truth through Mise-en-scene: The Art of Translating the Recent Past in Post-Socialist Albania
• Salta Zhumatova, University of British Columbia
• Philip Resnick, University of British Columbia
• Hilal Kina, PhD Candidate of Anthropology, University of British Columbia
  

• Kelsey Norman, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow (Political Science, UBC): “Migration Diplomacy in the Mediterranean Region: Before and After the 2015 ‘Crisis'”
• Ian Beacock, IES Visiting Scholar (Ph.D. Candidate in History, Stanford): “Democratic Emotions & the Unravelling of the Weimar Republic, 1918–1933”
• Şule Yaylacı, Postdoctoral Fellow (Sociology, UBC): “Trust in Civil Wars: Wartime Transformations of Social Trust”
• Başak Kale, Associate Professor (International Relations, Middle East Technical University): “Syrian Refugees in Turkey: Understanding and Analysing High Social Acceptance and Reluctant Social Cohesion”
• Sara Pavan, Postdoctoral Fellow (Political Science, UBC): “The state and immigrant civil society: friends or foes?”
• Heidi Tworek, Assistant Professor (History, UBC): “News from Germany: The Competition to Control World Communications,1900-1945”
• Camille Desmares, Ph.D. Student (Political Science, UBC): “Naturalization Policy and Politics of Belonging in France (1945-1975)”
  

• Sara Pavan: “Going Political: Integration Policies, Group Resources and the Opportunities for Immigrants’ Political Voice”
• Conrad King: “The Politics of Subsystems: Agenda Management and Policy Change in Education”
• Antje Ellermann: “Political Insulation and the Comparative Politics of Immigration”
• Jonathan Hall: “Intersectionality, Altruism and War”
• Caroline Schultz: “The implementation of access policies – immigration offices and the work permit for asylum-seekers and ‘tolerated’ persons in Germany”
• Chase Foster: “The Politics of Delegation: Competition Law and State Development in the European Union and United States”
• Şule Yaylacı: “Variations in the Salience of Ethnic Identity in Civil War”