Opening the list: the presence of ‘candidates d’ouverture’ at the 2012 local elections in Wallonia

Dodeigne, Jérémy;Vandeleene, Audrey;Reuchamps, Min;Matagne, Geoffroy;Dandoy, Régis
(2013) 2013 annual conference of the Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (EPOP) specialist group of the Political Studies Association — Location: Lancaster University, Lacanster (13.September.2013)

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(en) In Belgium, the idea of ‘openness’ is a well spread notion in electoral political discourses and the 2012 local election in Wallonia is no exception to this trend. Despite a clear victory, it is indeed very common for local political leaders in Belgium to announce that they will open their majority to other lists. The idea of ‘openness’ is also part of the local electoral campaign in terms of recruitment: non-partisan candidates – who clearly want to distinguish themselves from the party – are recruited to figure on the lists as ‘independent candidates’. They are called ‘candidates d’ouverture’ as a sign of openness towards the civil society, the opposition, or dissidents from other political parties. Actually, these candidates are recruited for various reasons: there are sometimes used to demonstrate the citizen character of the list, to enhance the fact that the list ‘makes politics differently from established political parties’, to underline the local roots of the list, and sometimes the ‘candidates d’ouverture’ are simply used to complete vacancies on a list.
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Dodeigne, J., Vandeleene, A., Reuchamps, M., Matagne, G., & Dandoy, R. (2013). Opening the list: the presence of ‘candidates d’ouverture’ at the 2012 local elections in Wallonia. 2013 annual conference of the Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (EPOP) specialist group of the Political Studies Association, Lancaster University, Lacanster. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/92090