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The research programme 'Political Economy and Transnational Governance' examines the drivers, dynamics, and consequences of global market integration and its profound impacts on governance within and beyond nation-states.
Political Economy and Transnational Governance

By bringing together political scientists specialising in political economy, public policy, and international relations, the programme seeks to address significant political issues, such as fostering equitable, democratic, and peaceful relations. For instance, research within the programme evaluates the development of various forms of capitalism and welfare reforms, and explores how global economic activities influence national policies and political institutions.

Another key focus is on transnational governance, investigating how regional developments, like EU integration, affect national and subnational politics, and how supranational governance, such as private financial regulation, impacts different governance levels.

The programme aims to describe, explain, and evaluate these transnational transformations to contribute to understanding and improving contemporary political and economic life.

Our projects
  • ClimateFiGS: Understanding the Allocation of Climate Finance in the Global South

    The growing impact of climate change presents stark disparities, with wealthy nations emitting most CO2 while poorer nations bear the brunt. To address this, wealthy nations pledged $100 billion annually in climate finance for vulnerable countries. Yet, little is known about its impact in the Global South.

    ClimateFiGS aims to fill this gap by analyzing how climate finance is allocated and spent, considering leaders' characteristics and priorities. By creating new global data and studying African countries, ClimateFiGS sheds light on decision-making dynamics and aims to mitigate the most devastating impacts of climate change on the world's most vulnerable.

    Funded by: ERC Starting Grant

    Project period: 1 April 2024 - 30 March 2029

    Dr. R.D. (Ruth) Carlitz

    Project leader

    R.W. (Wangui) Kagumba

    PhD candidate

  • Protecting people and planet through supply chain legislation?

    Governments of an increasing number of countries are currently developing legislation that holds firms accountable for labor, environmental and human rights conditions in their supply chains. This research analyzes through big data the relationships between firms in supply chains to evaluate the extent to which firms required to comply with such laws are able to make the required improvement in their supply chains. In addition, the project examines the effect of existing laws on supply chains: do firms commit to undo labor, environmental or human rights abuses at supplying producers, or do they distance themselves from these producers? 

    Funded by: NWO SSH Open Competition (Dutch Research Council)

    Project period: 1 Feb 2024 - 30 jan 2028

    Dr. L.W. (Luc) Fransen

    Project leader

  • RegulAite: EU Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in the Shadow of Global Interdependence

    Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform society in both good ways and bad. That makes its effective regulation a paramount challenge of our time.

    The RegulAite project investigates such regulation in the European Union, focussing on the global political and economic force field in which it unfolds. As a domain of innovation, AI spans the globe. Meanwhile, these technologies are dominated by the United States and China, at a time when geopolitical tensions are rising. RegulAite studies how the EU can navigate the global AI landscape such that its rules are effective and aligned with public objectives.

    Funded by: NWO Vici (Dutch Research Council)

    Project period: 1 Sept 2022 - 31 Aug 2027

    Prof. dr. D.K. (Daniel) Mügge

    Project leader

  • POPNET-SSH: Population Scale Network Analysis for Social Sciences and Humanities

    POPNET is a novel digital infrastructure and research community with the aim of unlocking longitudinal social network data on the entire population of the Netherlands for academic research purposes. It enables new exciting research in an anonymized as well as ethically and legally responsible manner. This research may lead to actionable insights into key issues including segregation, substantive social change, and UN sustainable development goals such as reducing inequality.

    Funded by: Platform Digitale Infrastructuur Social Sciences & Humanities (PDI-SSH)

    Project period: 1 Jan 2021 - 31 Dec 2025

    Project team

    Prof. E.M. (Eelke) Heemskerk

    Project leader

    Prof. T. (Tobias) Blanke

    Project partner

  • Elections, Violence, and Parties

    Countries around the world now hold elections, but are often unable or unwilling to guarantee free, fair and peaceful elections. Violence regularly precedes, accompanies, or succeeds elections, undermining democracy and people’s trust in electoral processes. While scholars and practitioners have made important progress in identifying the conditions that make elections violent, we do not have a good understanding of how violence plays out on the ground: Who engages in violence, who is targeted with violence, and when and where is violence most common? 

    To answer these questions, the Elections, Violence, and Parties (EVaP) project presents new theory and evidence on the nature, organization, and consequences of electoral violence. We attribute a central role to political parties as important actors linking politicians and citizens.  The project examines the conditions under which party organizations themselves perpetrate violence, or when they jointly produce violence with other non-state actors such as ethnic leaders, religious organizations, gangs, or militias. We also explore how violence influences its targets — we ask if violence increases or decreases turnout, polarization, and ethnic attachment?  

    Funded by: ERC Starting Grant

    Project period: 1 June 2020 - 31 May 2025

    Project team

    Prof. dr. U.E. (Ursula) Daxecker

    Project leader

    N. (Noyonika) Das

    PhD candidate

    M.A. (Maureen) Fubara

    PhD candidate

    Dr. N.V. (Neeraj) Prasad

    Research fellow

PETGOV management board

Dr. J. (Julia) Bader

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Programme group: Political Economy and Transnational Governance

Dr. R.M. (Rosa) Sanchez Salgado

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Programme group: Political Economy and Transnational Governance

Prof. E.M. (Eelke) Heemskerk

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Programme group: Political Economy and Transnational Governance