About the Journal

Journal History

PLC was founded in 2019 by the VPW and ABSP (and founding editor Prof. Nicolas Bouteca) as the continuation of the Dutch- and French-language political science journal Res Publica (archive at openjournal.ugent.be/rp and Boom Bestuurskunde), which was active from 1959 to 2018.

From 2019 until 2024, PLC was published and distributed as both an online and physical journal by the Eleven imprint of Boom. From 2025 onwards, PLC will be published by Radboud University Press.

After Prof. Nicolas Bouteca (Ghent University) stepped down as editor-in-chief in 2020, Prof. Min Reuchamps (UCLouvain) and Prof. Luana Russo (Maastricht University) became PLC’s editors-in-chief until 2024. From July 1, 2024 onwards dr. Maurits Meijers (Radboud University) and dr. Audrey Vandeleene (ULB) are the new editors-in-chief.

Journal audience

The primary readership of Politics of the Low Countries (PLC) includes political scientists, political sociologists, and public administration scholars with a regional focus on the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The journal serves a specialized yet diverse audience. Its target group includes researchers working on the politics of the Low Countries, as well as scholars from broader fields who are interested in comparative politics, regional political systems, and the societal impact of political developments in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The journal also attracts international scholars engaged in area studies, especially those focusing on Western Europe. Beyond the academic sphere, the PLC section the State of the Profession is designed to appeal to practitioners, providing insights into contemporary political trends and issues pertaining to the academic profession in the Benelux region. By offering a mix of peer-reviewed articles, research notes, and critical reviews of PhD dissertations, PLC engages a wide range of academic readers while fostering collaboration between scholars across the Low Countries and beyond. This broad yet focused readership is key to the journal’s mission of advancing political science research with a regional emphasis on the Low Countries, while remaining accessible to a global academic audience.

 

Aims & Scope

 

Politics of the Low Countries (PLC) is an academic Diamond Open Access journal dedicated to publishing high-quality political science research with a regional focus on Belgium, the Netherlands, and/or Luxembourg. As the official journal of the Flemish (VPW), Francophone Belgian (ABSP), Luxembourg (LuxPol), and Dutch (NKPW) political science associations, PLC serves as a key platform for scholars interested in the politics and governance of the Benelux region. The journal's mission is to advance the understanding of political dynamics within these countries, contributing to both the scientific field and societal discussions on key regional issues.

PLC covers all major subfields of political science, including comparative politics, political sociology, public administration, and international relations, while emphasizing themes that are central to the Benelux region. Key topics of interest include electoral politics, political parties, governance and public policy, European integration, political institutions, and regionalism. In addition, the journal encourages submissions that connect political developments in the Low Countries to broader international or comparative debates, situating local research within a global context.

 

PLC publishes a range of article types to engage a diverse readership. The core of the journal consists of peer-reviewed research articles that offer original empirical or theoretical contributions. Special issues, which bring together teams of scholars from across the Low Countries and abroad, provide comprehensive perspectives on important research questions. The journal also features Research Notes, which present methodological contributions or descriptive analyses of some political phenomena, and Literature Reviews, which critically assess emerging political science debates or recent publications on a specific question.

To support early career researchers (ECRs), the journal includes a PhD Review section. Here, recently defended dissertations are summarized by the author and reviewed by a peer, providing valuable feedback and increasing visibility for doctoral work in the region. The State of the Profession section offers a platform for scholars to reflect on developments affecting the political science discipline in the Benelux countries.

With a commitment to rigorous academic standards and diamond open access, PLC aims to be the leading outlet for political science research on the Low Countries, serving both academic and practitioner audiences.