Cover Page
The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/38275 holds various files of this Leiden University dissertation
Author: Vonno, Cynthia M.C. van
Title: Achieving party unity : a sequential approach to why MPs act in concert
Issue Date: 2016-03-02
Acknowledgments
“Stop your messing around, be er think of your future...” At some point during the second year of my PhD, a er a mee ng with my supervisor about my conference plans, The Specials’ 1979 ska-version of the song A Message to You, Rudy got stuck in my head.
It has been there on and off ever since, although I have taken the liberty of changing the lyrics to “A message from you, Rudy”. I hereby would like to start by thanking my supervisor Rudy Andeweg for his invaluable insights, advice, guidance and pa ence.
My PhD posi on was embedded in the interna onal Par Rep-project, an Interuni- versity A rac on Pole (IAP) funded by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO) and coordinated by Kris Deschouwer at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. I am grateful for the funding I received as a member of this project that made my research possible. The Par- Rep MP survey is a crucial source of data for the analyses in this disserta on, and thus I am indebted to all who helped draw up the ques onnaires and collect the data. The 1972, 1979, 1990 and 2001 Dutch Parliamentary Studies were financed by the Dutch Na- onal Science Founda on (Nederlandse Organisa e voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO). The 2006 Dutch Parliamentary Study was financed by the Dutch government’s ad- visory Council on Public Administra on (Raad voor het openbaar bestuur, ROB). I thank Rudy Andeweg and Jacques Thomassen for sharing these datasets with me. Finally, I am grateful to Tom Louwerse and Simon Otjes for asking me to join their Dutch Parliamen- tary Vote Dataset project and le ng me use the data.
I am also indebted to the Ins tute of Poli cal Science in Leiden for the facili es and (financial) resources that made the comple on of this project possible. I very much en- joy working as an academic — not only as a researcher, but also as a teacher and mem- ber of the Ins tute. Special men ons go to Niels van Willigen, who ini ally showed me the ropes, and Joop van Holsteyn, who has been my sounding board. I also thank my colleagues who, over the years, helped me with my work, but in par cular those also shared their PhD-experience with me: Femke Avtalyon-Bakker, Bart-Jan Heine, Luzia Helfer, Jessica Kroezen, Floris Mansveld-Beck, Tim Mickler, Fransje Molenaar, Simon Ot- jes and Benjamin Pohl. I am specially grateful that I got to know Tom Louwerse, Jannine van de Maat, Veerle van Doeveren and Wouter Veenendaal; I shared with you not only an experience, but also a friendship.
I have also had the honor of working with a number of scholars from outside of Leiden. Of those who I met through the Par Rep-project, my coauthors Reut Itzkovitch- Malka, Reuven Hazan, and Sam Depauw, deserve special men on. A key moment in my
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research career was the 2010 ECPR Summer School on Parliaments at the University of Bamberg. The hosts, Thomas Saalfeld and Shane Mar n, brought together a selec on of established scholars from whom I learned so much. I also became a part of a group of young researcher, some of who I occasionally s ll run into at conferences. It was at this Summer School that I was again made aware of how lucky I am to have Rudy Andeweg as my supervisor — I became immensely popular, among established and young scholars alike, when they found out I was his student.
Last but not least, I thank my family and friends who distracted me, supported me, and took an interest in my work. I am especially grateful for those who, purposely or not, did not always ask me how my disserta on was going or when it would be finished.
Finally, I thank Jochem for his unwavering op mism, encouragements and support.
Curriculum Vitae
Cynthia Maria Cornelia van Vonno (Alphen aan de Rijn, 1984) spent her youth in Taiwan, Qatar, Brazil and Puerto Rico where she a ended interna onal schools. Upon return to the Netherlands, she obtained her pre-university Interna onal Baccalaureate Diploma at the Rijnlands Lyceum Oegstgeest (2000-2002). A er comple ng the propaedeuse year at the University College Utrecht (2002-2003), she switched to Leiden University, where she acquired a Bachelor in Poli cal Science (2003-2006), followed by a Master of Philosophy (Research Master) in Poli cal Science Ins tu ons and Ins tu onal Analysis (2006-2008). Cynthia worked as a teaching assistant and research assistant both during and a er her studies (2007-2009). She conducted her PhD research at the Poli cal Sci- ence Ins tute, first as a part of a PhD appointment (2009-2012), and later alongside a (part- me) Teaching Instructor contract. She has been a Lecturer in Poli cal Science and Interna onal Rela ons since 2014.
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