Dr Françoise Boucek, BA (Toronto), MSc, PhD (London: LSE)

Profile

Françoise taught European and comparative politics in the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary from 2003-18. She is associated with the School's Centre for European Research. She has also taught at the London School of Economics, the University of Witten Herdecke (Germany) and London Metropolitan University. She is a Research Associate at the LSE Public Policy Group where she worked as a Research Officer and managed the LSE Internships Programme in the early 2000s. She was for many years co-Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee in the School of Politics and International Relations at Queen Mary.

She gained her PhD in 2002 at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and MSc in European Politics in 1991 also in the LSE Government Department. Her doctoral thesis which won the 2002 LSE’s William Robson Memorial Prize, focused on the impact of factionalism on dominant political parties in Britain, Canada, Italy and Japan. Born and raised in France, she moved to London and then Canada in the 1970s. She worked in business and finance, notably as a researcher and financial analyst in Toronto where she gained her credentials from the Canadian Securities Institute. In the mid-1980s she took a career break to raise a family and return to higher education at the University of Toronto where she graduated with a BA in political  science in 1988.

Françoise regularly appears on national and international media to comment about French politics and elections including BBC News, Sky News, Euronews, Al-Jazeera; BBC 5Live Radio, LBC Radio, BBC Radio Wales; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Radio Canada (in French); TVP World; Australia's ABC; American NBC and ABC. Some of her interviews can be viewed here and here.  She has appeared in Japan's newspapers Asahi Shibun and Yomiuri Shimbun, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and Pravda and is a regular contributor to academic blogs EUROPP  and British Politics and Policy at LSE.

Research

Research Interests:

Comparative and European politics, political parties and party systems, party competition, single-party dominance in mature and emerging democracies, factionalism, party organisation and intra-party politics, coalitions and legislative bargaining, party cohesion and dissent in European parliaments, representative democracy, comparative electoral systems and electoral reform, European integration, euro scepticism, EU economic governance (notably the eurozone sovereign debt crisis and the theory of fiscal federalism), group behaviour and decisional dilemmas resulting from intra-group dissent, rational choice institutionalism, focus group research.

I am an expert on the comparative study of factionalism in political science, its measurement and impact on dominant political parties, the conceptualisation and measurement of party dominance, the relationship between one-party dominance and factionalism particularly in Britain, Canada, Italy and Japan – the topic of my monograph Factional Politics: How Dominant Parties Implode or Stabilize (Palgrave); the comparative study of dominant party systems and the relationship between one-party dominance and democracy in mature and emerging democracies – the topic of my co-edited volume Dominant Political Parties and Democracy: Concepts, Measures, Cases and Comparisons (Routledge) resulting from an ECPR collaborative project. 

Examples of research funding:

European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) funding for organising and co-directing two five-day workshops at the ECPR Joint Sessions in 2005 (University of Granada, Spain) and 2011 (University of St Gallen , Switzerland)

National Audit Office Report: Difficult forms: how government agencies interact with citizens (London: NAO) HC 1145 2002-03. ISBN: 0102923604) co-authored with Patrick Dunleavy, Helen Margetts, Simon Bastow, Françoise Boucek and Rosie Campbell

LSE’s William Robson Memorial Prize (£2,000) for outstanding doctoral thesis and publication of related articles.

Publications

Books

Françoise Boucek (2012) Factional Politics: How Dominant Parties Implode or Stabilize (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan)

Matthijs Bogaards and Françoise Boucek eds. (2010) Dominant Political Parties and Democracy: Concepts, Measures, Cases and Comparisons (Abingdon and New York: Routledge/ECPR Studies in European Political Science); includes a chapter by myself on 'The Factional Politics of Dominant Parties' (pp 117-139).

Academic Articles

Françoise Boucek (2017) 'Transforming the Republic'; The World Today June & July 2017 (Chatham House Royal Institute of International Affairs)

Françoise Boucek (2010) ‘The Least Worst Option? The Pros and Cons of Coalition Government’, The Political Studies Political Insight Vol.1 (2) 48-51 (Wiley-Blackwell)

Françoise Boucek (2010) ‘The Factional Politics of Dominant Parties: Evidence from Britain, Italy and Japan’ in Bogaards and Boucek eds. Dominant Parties and Democracy: Concepts, Measures, Cases and Comparisons (Routledge) 117-139

Françoise Boucek (2010) ‘The intra-party dimension of dominance’ in Bogaards and Boucek eds. (2010) Dominant Political Parties and Democracy: Concepts, Measures, Cases and Comparisons (Routledge) 109-115

Françoise Boucek (2009) ‘Rethinking Factionalism: Typologies, Intra-Party Dynamics and Three Faces of Factionalism’ Party Politics Vol. 15 (4) 455-485 (134 citations)

Patrick Dunleavy and Françoise Boucek (2003) ‘Constructing the Number of Parties’, Party Politics Vol. 9 (3) 291-315 (139 citations)

Françoise Boucek (2002) ‘The structure and dynamics of intra-party politics in Europe’ in Paul Webb and Paul Lewis eds. Perspectives on European Politics and Society Vol. 3 (3) 55-95 (28 citations)

Françoise Boucek (2003) ‘The structure and dynamics of intra-party politics in Europe’ in Paul Webb and Paul Lewis eds. Pan-European Perspectives on Party Politics (Brill: Leiden, Boston, Köln) pp 55-95 (28 citations Google Scholar)

Françoise Boucek (1998) ‘Electoral and parliamentary aspects of dominant party systems’ in Paul Pennings and Jan Erik Lane eds. Comparing Party System Change (Routledge: London and New York), 103-124. (37 citations)

Françoise Boucek (1993) ‘Developments in post-war French political economy: the continuing decline of dirigisme?’ in J. Sheldrake and P. Webb eds. State and Market: Aspects of Modern European Development (Dartmouth: Aldershot, Brookfield USA, Hong Kong,

Other Academic Publications and Blogs

Françoise Boucek (March 2022) 'France Presidential Election 2022: Macron's re-election gets a boost from the war in Ukraine' PSA Blog

Françoise Boucek (2 Feb 2022) 'Why it's still all to play for in the French presidential election' EUROPP

Françoise Boucek (18 June 2021) ‘What to expect from the 2021 French regional elections’ EUROPP also in the PSA Blog

Françoise Boucek (9 Nov 2020) ‘Explaining Tory factionalism: why Johnson’s Conservative majority has proved more vulnerable than expected’ British Politics and Policy at LSE

Françoise Boucek (29 March 2017) 'Put Le Pen and Macron to one side - it's the June legislative elections that will decide how France is governed EUROPP European Politics and Policy

Françoise Boucek (26 Nov 2016) 'Fillon vs Juppé: What differences are there between French centre-right's candidates?' EUROPP European Politics and Policy

Françoise Boucek (2 April 2015) Sarkozy's French local election victory sets the stage for the run up to the next presidential election' EUROPP European Politics and Policy

Françoise Boucek (30 Sept 2014) Sarkozy's Return to Politics Political Insight, Political Studies Association Blog

Françoise Boucek (15 April 2013), ‘Thatcher sowed disunity in the Conservative Party, the repercussions of which are still felt today’, British Politics and Policy http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/archives/32670

Françoise Boucek (22 Nov 2012) ‘The UMP’s disputed leadership election could have important implications for democratic politics in France’, EUROPP European Politics and Policy http://bit.ly/RWxMBX

Françoise Boucek (9 Oct 2012) ‘David Cameron is applying lessons from his party’s history in the Conservatives’ “Euro War”, EUROPP European Politics and Policy http://bit.ly/VJpBfS

Françoise Boucek (4 May 2012) ‘After an inconclusive debate, on the final day of the French presidential election campaign, Hollande is still ahead’, EUROPP European Politics and Policy http://bit.ly/JwzPVv

Françoise Boucek (11 April 2012), ‘The French elections are too close to call. Watch out left and right!’ EUROPP European Politics and Policy http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/04/11/french-elections-too-close-to-cal/

Françoise Boucek (12 Jan 2012) ‘Canada’s constitutional war with Quebec over its sovereignty suggests that any campaign for Scottish independence will be long and attritional’, British Politics and Policy http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/archives/19621

Françoise Boucek (9 May 2011), ‘Alex Salmond would be wise to study Quebec’s travels down the road to independence. So far that road has led nowhere’, British Politics and Policy http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/archives/10117

Françoise Boucek (22 Oct 2010), ‘Can Anglo-French military cooperation fill the gaps of the Strategic Defence Review? British Politics and Policy

Françoise Boucek (14 Sept 2010), ‘Once you recognize that coalition government is a European norm, and is likely to endure in the UK, further changes in British party politics look quite feasible’, British Politics and Policy

Françoise Boucek (13 May 2010), ‘Is Britain becoming another European consensus democracy?, British Politics and Policy

Françoise Boucek (26 April 2010) ‘The Conservatives’ arguments against electoral reform’, British Politics and Policy

Selected Book Reviews

Françoise Boucek (29 Jul 2012) French Presidential Elections (2012) by Michael S. Lewis-Beck, Richard Nadeau and Eric Béranger (Palgrave Macmillan) EUROPP Book Reviews

Farrell David M. and Roger Scully (2007) Representing Europe’s Citizens? Electoral Institutions and the Failures of Parliamentary Representation, (Oxford University Press) in Journal of Common Market Studies, June 2008 (46) 3.

Sabine Saurugger ed. (2003) Les Modes de Représentation dans l’Union Européenne (Paris: l’Harmattan) in Journal of Common Market Studies 42(5) Dec. 2004.

Webb Paul, David Farrell and Ian Holliday eds. (2002)Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, in Political Studies Review Vol. 1(3) Sept.2003 (Blackwell)

Heywood Paul, Erik Jones and Martin Rhodes eds. (2002) Developments in West European Politics 2 (Palgrave), in Political Studies Review 1 (2), 244-255 April 2003

Mulé Rosa (2001) Political Parties, Games and Redistribution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) in Party Politics, Vol. 8 (2) 369-371 May 2002

Newell James ed. (2003) The Italian General Election of 2001: Berlusconi’s victory, (Manchester University Press) Political Studies Review Vol. 1(3) September 2003

Selected  Academic Conference Papers

Click on tab: 'Public Engagement'

Research Reports for Government Organisations

Patrick Dunleavy, Helen Margetts, Simon Bastow, Françoise Boucek and Rosie Campbell (2003) Report commissioned by the National Audit Office Difficult forms: how government agencies interact with citizens (London: NAO) HC 1145 2002-03. ISBN: 0102923604)

This includes a practical guide on ‘Improving and reviewing government forms’ and a ‘Report on Ten Focus Groups’. I was Team Leader responsible for all aspects of planning, organising and running 13 focus groups in different parts of the UK.

Data collection for quantitative survey of ministerial resignations published as Keith Dowding and Patrick Dumont (2009), The selection of ministers in Europe: hiring and firing (Routledge).

Public Engagement

• The Political Studies Association (PSA) Specialist Group on French Politics and Elections: Françoise is group Co-Convenor with Emily St Denny and Rainbow Murray.
• European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) Françoise has been very involved in ECPR activities notably as:
  • Co-Director of Workshop No 20: ‘Cohesion, Dissent and Partisan Politics in European Legislatures’ (co-Director in absentia: Prof Daniela Giannetti) at ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops 12-18 April 2011 at the University of St Gallen (Switzerland)
  • Co-Director of Workshop "Dominant Parties and Democracy" with Prof Matthijs Bogaards, 14-19 April 2005 at the University of Granada (Spain)
  • Chair of an eight-panel Section No 52: ‘The Organisation of Conflict inside Political Parties’ (co-chair: Prof Richard Katz) at ECPR General Conference, Potsdam (Germany) 10-12 Sept 2009 including chairing a Panel on ‘Factionalism and Intra-party Conflict’
  • She has also presented research papers at many ECPR general conferences including in Montreal (2015) Bordeaux (2013), Potsdam (2009), Pisa (2007), Budapest (2005) and Marburg (2003).
• The Romney Street Group and members of the Athenaeum (18 January 2022) Françoise gave a talk titled ‘France's 2022 Presidential Election: Is Macron still a bulwark of centrism against extremism?
• Monocle 24 Foreign Desk On 2 October 2021, Françoise participated in a radio roundtable discussion with host Andrew Mueller and Quentin Peel about ‘Coalition Politics: the highs and lows’ about the strengths and weaknesses of coalition-building following Germany’s federal election and coalition negotiations.
• Chatham House Royal Institute of International Affairs (8 May 2017) Invited Guest Speaker for panel discussion French Presidential Election: What next for France and Europe with Lord Peter Ricketts, Former UK Ambassador to France (2012-16); Jonathan Fenby, Author, History of Modern France and Dr Susan Collard, University of Sussex.
• The London School of Economics European Institute (14 March 2017) Françoise was invited Guest Speaker for The French presidential election: implications for France and Europe with Professor Christian Lequesne, Sciences Po Paris and John Peel, The Economist, chaired by Professor Sarah Hobolt
• The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation  (London) hosted the launch of Francoise's book Factional Politics: How Dominant Parties Implode or Stabilize (Palgrave) podcast (5 Feb 2013)
• Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) Annual Conference (16-19 April 2015). Françoise was Chair and Discussant for Panel 8-19: Euro-skepticism and populism in the European Parliament
• Lewes Speakers Festival (UK), 14 July 2012: Françoise chaired a panel discussion about ‘The future of French society after the May 2012 elections’ with broadcaster Jonathan Meades, authors and journalists Jonathan Fenby and Theodore Dalrymple
• University of Michigan (USA) Center for Southeast Asian Studies (9-10 May 2014); Françoise was invited to participate in this symposium on ‘Dominant Party Systems Conference’. She was Chair and Discussant and presented a research paper titled 'The maintenance and decline of dominant party systems in the developed world: inter- and intra-party interpretations'
• Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) Centre d'Etudes de la Vie Politique  (CEVIPOL) Brussels (Belgium) Research Seminar Series (25 Nov 2011); Françoise presented findings from her forthcoming book Factional Politics: How Dominant Parties Implode or Stabilize (Palgrave) to faculty of CEVIPOL
• Al-Jazeera (London studios) Election Night coverage ( May 2012) Françoise provided running comments on the results of the second round of France's presidential election 2012 won by François Hollande.
• Françoise regularly appears on national and international television and radio to comment about French politics and elections (and about UK politics for French media). Many of her interviews can be viewed on YouTube and Google Videos.
• Françoise has also commented on the referendum for  Scottish independence in comparison with Quebec including in a long  interview for BBC Radio Wales (22 January 2012) Download the interview (26mb, MP3)
• The National Audit Office: Difficult forms: how government agencies interact with citizens (London: NAO) HC 1145 2002-03. ISBN: 0102923604) report co-authored with Patrick Dunleavy, Helen Margetts, Simon Bastow, Françoise Boucek and Rosie Campbell. This includes a practical guide on ‘Improving and reviewing government forms’ and a ‘Report on Ten Focus Groups’ for which Françoise was Team Leader responsible for all aspects of planning, organising and running 13 focus groups in different parts of the UK.