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Hardly a week goes by without reports of elected officials—often depicted as ‘populists’—having used vitriolic language and viciously attacked their opponents. In a context of ‘restyling of politics’, the style of political actors is presented as increasingly emotional and confrontational. Some scholars have argued that these styles directly challenge the democratic functioning of our modern societies. Yet, in the absence of longitudinal studies, such claims remain trivial intuitions and anecdotes that are as old as politics. Do the styles of modern politicians constitute new trends or reflect old habits? What are the factors constraining or favouring certain styles? Against a form of nostalgia for ‘good old times’, this project critically challenges the idea that emotive and confrontational styles are necessarily threats for our contemporary democracies. The central claim of this project is that not all hostility is equal. Conflicts are the democracy’s lifeblood allowing—and even requiring—heated disagreements, including sometimes uncivil and nasty interactions between political adversaries. By contrast, styles founded upon violence and intolerance must be considered as incompatible with the functioning of our pluralistic democracies: such styles transform political adversaries into enemies to be destroyed.  

How - and how much - do citizens’ assemblies matter for contemporary European democracies? The Citizen Impact project investigates whether these deliberative forums are symbolic “window dressing” or drivers of real change in policymaking, public debate, and civil society.ERC Starting Grant, 2024–2028 (Grant Agreement No. 101077920)

The F.R.S.-FNRS has just published the results of its various 2024 calls. Equipment calls, research credits and projects, FRIA doctoral grants and Mandant d'Impulsion Scientifique (MIS), there are many instruments to support fundamental research. Find out more about UNamur's results.

In recent decades, electoral reforms have strengthened the individual dimension of elected representatives in proportional representation (PR) electoral systems. This general trend towards the "personalization of political life" is leading researchers to study its effects on intra-partisan competition.

Since 1979, the powers of the European Parliament (EP) have expanded considerably. However, the EP's ability to make full use of its decision-making capacity also depends on the profile of the MEPs who sit there. It is therefore important to examine the relationship between the political background of MEPs and their legislative behavior.

"A social-democratic phoenix? The trajectories of social democracy after the eurozone crisis."

The Democratic Transformations Cluster studies how political systems are evolving in response to major contemporary shifts — from the structural fractures emerging out of capitalist crises to the upheavals of the Anthropocene and the technological revolutions transforming communication.Its research addresses crucial questions such as climate governance, the evolution of party politics, minority representation, new forms of protest, political personalization, and new modes of citizen participation. These themes also invite reflection on the philosophical foundations of modern democracies.

The Territorial and Socio-Environmental Transformation cluster brings together researchers who seek to understand and support—even stimulate—the transformations that human societies must undertake in the face of major contemporary challenges.

The transformation of our societies is affecting the construction of our lives and life courses. These are traversed by a dual movement of de-standardization and de-institutionalization, leading to a gradual detachment from social roles, but also to a rise in social, cultural and gender uncertainties and inequalities. The "Transitions and Ages of Life" cluster studies the way in which these life courses are recomposed according to new social constraints and normative imperatives. It thus focuses on the fragility of populations at any age of life, and also on the repercussions of political devices and measures on the construction of life courses.This cluster brings together researchers from different disciplinary backgrounds who analyze both the normative transformations affecting life courses and life-age transitions..

The Chair is dedicated to the study of security, from both traditional and critical approaches. Its axis of rotation is the analysis of safety performance - at cultural, organizational and technological levels - and its relationship to social order. Here, safety is approached primarily from a transdisciplinary angle. This localization of safety, at the intersection of several disciplinary influences, directly structures the theoretical and methodological orientations of the studies conducted within the Chair.

Image Democratic Transformations Cluster See content Image Territorial and Environmental Transformations Division See content Image Pole Transitions and Ages of Life See content Image Center for Vulnerabilities and Societies (V&S) See content Image Tocqueville Chair See content

For more than 30 years, the Department of Flexible Scheduling at the Faculty of Economics, Management, Communication, and Political Science (EMCP) at the University of Namur has been helping adults returning to school to acquire new skills. In 2023, the Department launched a brand-new program: a Master's degree specializing in sustainable development management and economics. This one-year program addresses environmental and societal challenges by training professionals to support the ecological and economic transition.