Does ideology matter in local politics? Analyzing local party manifestos in Belgium

In comparative political science considerable debate remains on the role of ideology in local politics and, more specifically, whether the local political conflict can be structured along a “national” left-right dimension. A growing battery of empirical research underpins the relevance of left and right at the local level, but these studies are often conducted in the American context, in larger cities and from the perspective of the voters. In order to close these gaps in the literature this paper addresses the shape of the local political conflict by analyzing local party manifestos in Flande... Mehr ...