Clémentine Escalas and Sem van der Tang win Political Science bachelor’s thesis prizes 2026
Two Political Science bachelor students will look back on this year’s graduation ceremony with particular satisfaction: Clémentine Escalas and Sem van der Tang. Their theses were awarded for their originality, social relevance and academic quality. Congratulations!
International Relations and Organisations thesis prize
Since 2020, the Political Science bachelor programme in The Hague annually awards its own thesis prize. This year, the jury consisted of Petr Kopecký, Rebecca Ploof and Yuan Yi Zhu. They faced the challenge of picking the best thesis from a shortlist of seventeen theses, nominated by the instructors of the so-called IRO bachelor projects.
After careful review, the jury agreed on a winner: Clémentine Escalas’ thesis The Art of Authenticity: How Female Politicians Strategically Perform Authenticity Under Gendered Constraints, supervised by Davila Gordillo.
‘An important and interesting question’
Escalas, according to the jurors, tackles an ‘important and interesting question’: how female politicians strategically construct authenticity under gendered constraints. The Art of Authenticity ‘demonstrates theoretical ambition, methodological rigor, and a high degree of analytical maturity. The literature on political authenticity, gendered political communication, and social media into is successfully integrated into a coherent analytical framework.’ The thesis, furthermore, is ‘well-organised and superbly presented’.
Van den Berg Prize (Politicologie and Internationale Politiek)
This year, four students in the Dutch-taught Political Science bachelor programmes were nominated for the Van den Bergprize. Jury members Joop van den Berg, Femke Bakker, Stefan Cetkovic and student-member Hidde Heijerman faced the difficult task to pick a winner. After careful consideration Sem van der Tang was awared the honour. His thesis, ‘Kiezers niet uitsluiten, partijen wel uitsluiten’: hoe de benadering van gevestigde partijen ten opzichte van populistisch radicaalrechtse partijen de voorkeurscoalities van kiezers beïnvloedt, best meets the criteria (original and clearly formulated research question, theoretical depth, methodological quality and readability).
‘Provocative and topical’
According to the jury, Van der Tang has chosen a ‘provocative and topical’ subject: how does the stance of established parties towards the Dutch politica party PVV influence voters’ coalition preferences? In his thesis, he clearly explains how and why people vote for this populist, radical-right party.
‘Van der Tang’s findings’, according to the jury report, ‘reveal a great deal about the current political landscape. The connection that he establishes is convincing. With a clear research design, including a robust methodological approach, Van der Tang argues in a lucid analysis that voters largely adopt the stance of their own party: those who vote for a party that rules out cooperation with the PVV or positions itself far from the PVV are less likely to want the PVV in government, and this holds true regardless of how politically interested someone is. It is worth noting that Van der Tang remains critical in his analyses, including of his own research.’