6/17/2023 0 Comments Het gaia project 2012Political salience is the degree to which citizens are concerned about a particular political issue and how this may influence their voting behaviour (Wlezien, 2005). It then provides a comparative analysis of the manifestos in both countries to provide further insight into different theoretical perspectives which influence policy-making (Vogeler, 2019). This research analyses the political manifestos in the Netherlands and Belgium. In a 2016 European Commission Eurobarometer survey, 70% of respondents in the Netherlands and 53% in Belgium considered it a duty to respect all animals (European Commission, 2016). Furthermore, they were founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952, which developed into the EU under the Maastricht Treaty in 1992. The Netherlands and Belgium, which formed the United Kingdom of the Netherlands until 1830, share a common border and important parts of their history and culture. Footnote 2 Both countries follow a multiparty political system, in which parties compete and are elected to govern under a proportional representation system. This research investigates the political salience of animal protection Footnote 1 by analysing political manifestos in the Netherlands (2012–2021) and Belgium (2010–2019). The EU protects animals through legal directives and regulations in its areas of competence, though member states can implement more stringent animal welfare standards. Article 13 of Title II on the functioning of the EU (The Lisbon Treaty) recognises that animals are sentient and mandates member states to pay full regard to the welfare of animals in the formulation and implementation of policy in agriculture, fisheries, transport, internal market, research, and technological development (European Commission, 2007). Furthermore, EU citizens keep 65 million dogs, 99 million cats, and 7 million horses (McCulloch, 2018). This research provides the first academic analysis of animal protection policies in political manifestos in the Netherlands and Belgium.Īcross the European Union (EU) around 4.7 billion animals are used in agriculture and 11 million in research. In both the Netherlands and Belgium, left-wing parties had more progressive policy statements, whilst right-wing parties prioritised economic prosperity over animal protection. In Belgium, wildlife/biodiversity statements stressed the protection of local species Dutch statements were strongly linked to agriculture. Dutch parties and those in the Walloon region of Belgium focused on farmed animal health and unnecessary suffering Flemish parties stressed intensive agriculture and animal welfare. Farmed animal welfare and wildlife/biodiversity were the most salient issues, although the focus in countries and regions differed. Quantitative analysis reveals that in both the Netherlands and Belgium, animal protection became more salient during successive elections, with the total number of positive statements increasing and the total number of negative statements decreasing. It analyses over 2600 statements on animal protection in Dutch (2012–2021) and Belgian (2010–2019) party manifestos across three consecutive national elections. This research analyses the political salience of animal protection in the Netherlands and Belgium. Issue salience can be measured by assessing references to animal protection in party political manifestos. Political salience refers to the extent to which citizens are concerned about political issues. EU laws protect animal welfare and conservation, and member states can implement more stringent legislation. Article 13 of the EU Treaty of Lisbon recognises animals as sentient beings. The Netherlands and Belgium are European Union (EU) states with a shared border and cultural similarities.
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