BAILLY Jessy
Contact details
Functions
Senior lecturer in political science - Institut Catholique de Paris
Doctorate in political science from Sciences Po Aix
Associate researcher at MESOPOLHIS/ CEVIPOL (Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Member of the editorial committee of Politics and Society
Evaluator/reviewer for Journal of European Integration / Social Movement Studies / Politique et Sociétés
Scientific presentation :
Jessy Bailly is a doctor in political science at MESOPOLHIS (Sciences Po Aix) and CEVIPOL (Université Libre de Bruxelles). Her thesis compared citizen debt audit collectives in France, Spain and Belgium. Using a relational sociology of six localised political configurations, she studied the work of activists in imposing an intermediary political role between the governors and the governed, in relation to institutionalised political worlds, namely the figure of the 'citizen-controller'. Her research interests lie in the sociology of collective action, the sociology of law and democratic theories and conceptions.
Her post-doctoral research focuses on the politics of citizen deliberation at the level of the European Union (EU), by comparing a number of schemes in which citizens are invited to discuss European issues after being selected by lottery. The aim is to produce a sociology of the EU's deliberative elites, and to question the 'democratic interest' of these elites. The project takes seriously the institutions' control of these deliberative mechanisms, and examines in depth the political uses of these mechanisms, and the conflict that exists between visions of what the EU's policy of citizen deliberation should be.
Training
- October 2018 - June 2022: PhD in political science under the supervision of Philippe ALDRIN (MESOPOLHIS/Sciences Po Aix) and François FORET (CEVIPOL/ULB)
Dissertation title: Citizen-controllers of public debt (France, Spain, Belgium, 2010s)
- Master 2 Comparative Political Expertise - Sciences Po Aix - Aix-en-Provence - 2017/2018
- Master 1 Comparative Political Expertise - Sciences Po Aix - Aix-en-Provence - 2016/2017
- IEP Diploma - Sciences Po Aix - Aix-en-Provence, 2018
Teaching experience
Institut Catholique de Paris (since 2024) :
– Licence : Sociologie politique, sociologie de l’action publique, sociologie des partis politiques, sociologie des mobilisations
- Co-director of the Master's degree Politiques et stratégies pour la transition écologique, teaching ecological thinking
- IEP Aix-en-Provence (2018-2019 and 2021-2022): visiting lecturer in political sociology of the European Union (M1), European communication (M2), introduction to political science (L1)
- Full-time A.T.E.R. in 2022/2023 (Introduction to political science, Governing and contesting, 'Political regimes and societies' lecture course, M1 and M2 seminars - European specialisation)
- Université Libre de Bruxelles (2019-2021): visiting lecturer in political sociology (L1) and research methodology (L2)
Academic work
Book(s)
- BAILLY Jessy, 2024, Citizen-controllers of public action (in Belgium, Spain, France, 2010)), Villeneuve-d'Ascq, Presses universitaires du Septentrion.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2026, Comment démocratiser l’Europe ? Une histoire élitaire de la démocratisation communautaire, Bordeaux, Presses universitaires de Bordeaux.
Contributions to collective works
- BAILLY Jessy, 2022, "Citizen Audit, in Guillaume Petit et al (eds.), Critical and interdisciplinary dictionary of participation, DicoPart (2nd edition), GIS Democracy and Participation.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2024, "Défendre des intérêts " citoyens " au-delà du lien représentatif : les ressorts d'une intermédiation symbolique", in BARRAULT-STELLA Lorenzo and MICHON Sébastien (eds.), Political intermediations. Reconfigurations of the ways in which political domination is exercised, Lausanne, Peter Lang, p. 153-179.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2024, "Randomly Selected European Citizens' Panels. Could random selection be detrimental to deliberation? in GRANDJEAN Geoffrey (ed.), Against sortition in politics? The Problem with Citizens' Assemblies, Exeter, Imprint Academic, p. 130-148.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2025, "Erving Goffman: the Analysis of Politics through the Microsociological Perspective", in COMAN Ramona, OLSSON Christian (dir.), Sitting on the Shoulders of Giants? A Retrospective View on Innovation in Political ScienceBrussels, Editions de l'ULB.
Editing of thematic issues for scientific journals
- Co-editor with Guillaume Courty of an issue on citizen control of public action, Sociological Insights.
- Co-editor with Xavier Leloup of an issue entitled "Socialisation et (dé)politisation de l'économie" (Socialisation and (de)politicisation of the economy), Social and Political Links.
Articles in peer-reviewed journals
- BAILLY Jessy, 2021, "An epidemic of complaints about COVID-19 in France, Spain and Belgium", Revue française des affaires sociales, special issue "Sécurité Sanitaire et réactions au Covid-19", edited by Daniel Benamouzig and Maurice-Pierre Planel, 2021/2, pp. 37-56. Now online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2022, "Les ressorts de l'annulationnisme", European Social Science Journal, special issue edited by Pierre de Saint-Phalle, Vol. 60(1), p. 205-220. Now online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2022, "Reframing the debt crisis in defence of social democracy", International Journal of Comparative PoliticsVol. 29(4), p. 47-76. On line.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2022, "Contester les finances publiques en justice, mais de quel droit? A comparison of citizen mobilisations in France and Spain", Law and Society, Vol. 112, p. 533-556. On line.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2023, "Les marges du dicible dans et hors d'un dispositif de participation instituée : les audits citoyens de la dette à Madrid", ShareholdingsVol. 34, pp. 285-309. Now online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2023, "The democratic quality of the Conference on the Future of Europe", The CEVIPOL Working papers, Vol. 1/2023, p. 2-35. On line.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2023, "Democratising the representative link: a political sociology of citizen-controllers", Politics and Society, Vol. 42(2), p. 159-186. On line.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2023, "Les secrétariats politiques: des acteurs discrets et discrétionnaires dans le travail politique du Comité des Régions", European policy, Vol. 78, p. 72-102. Now online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2023, "Légitimité et légalité de la dette publique. Une juridicisation sans judiciarisation du discours annulationniste", European policy, special issue "Contester ou ordonner les finances publiques par le droit", edited by Benjamin Lemoine and Damien Piron, Vol. 79, pp. 160-191. Now online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2024, "Beyond the federalist reading: Analysing conflict on a European deliberative online platform", Communication Research, Vol. 56, p. 21-46. Special issue "Les dispositifs institutionnels de délibération en ligne", edited by Rocio Annunziata and Stéphanie Wojcik. Now online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2024, "When activists speak law to powerholders: comparative insights", Social Movement Studies, Vol. 23(5), p. 607-622. Now online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2024, "Contester par les chiffres: analyse des collectifs d'audit citoyen de la dette en France, en Espagne et en Belgique", International reviews, Vol. 103, p. 113-137. Now online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2024, "L'imaginaire démocratique des élu-es et des gouvernant-es à l'épreuve d'une citoyenneté politique augmentée", Shareholdings, Vol. 37, p. 153-182. On line.
- BAILLY Jessy, RONDIAT Coline, AUGE Anaïs, REUCHAMPS Min, 2025, "Populism as a centrist strategy for disqualification. The use of "populism(s)/populist(s)" in Belgian, French and Spanish Parliaments", Parliamentary Affairs, Vol. 78(2), p. 425-450. Now online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2024, "De la nébuleuse réformatrice à l'institutionnalisation de la critique démocratique dans l'UE", Government and Public Action, Vol. 13(4), p. 105-128. Now online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2025, "The politics of public data and numbers in activism: Attitudes towards public numbers by citizen debt audit groups in Belgium, France and Spain", Social movement studies. On line.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2025, "The equivocality of the EU citizen turn: multiple conceptions of citizen deliberation, Politics & Policy, Vol. 53(3). Forthcoming
- BAILLY Jessy, 2026, "From the EU's Democratic Deficit to the Democratic Problematization of European Integration: An Alternative Perspective Based on Early Federalist Views", Journal of European Integration History, Vol. 2/2026.
- BAILLY Jessy, SHCHINOVA Nadezda, GASCO NUEVO Raül, ROGINSKY Sandrine, REUCHAMPS Min, 2026," Is populism really represented as a threat? An analysis of media discourse on populism in Belgium, France and Spain", Acta Politica. International Journal of Political Science. To be published online.
- BAILLY Jessy, 2026, « How Citizen Deliberation Can be Subverted by the Sponsoring Institution? When EU randomly selected citizens discuss the institutionalisation of a future European Citizens’ Assembly », Journal of Sortition, Vol. 2. A paraître.
Other publications
- BAILLY Jessy, 2021, "De l'opinion publique aux conceptions démocratiques: Aller saisir l'imaginaire démocratique des citoyens", International Yearbook of Constitutional Justice, Vol. 36, 2021, pp. 719-738.
Areas of research
Political sociology
Action publique
Social movements, protests and collective action
Democratic theories and concepts
European institutions and democratic reform
Uses of populism in public debate / critical analysis of 'populology
Sociology of law
Mastery of qualitative methods and multivariate analysis
Productions
International conferences
- 21-23 May 2025, "L'OCDE au diapason de la démocratie délibérative locale", in the workshop "Pouvoirs locaux et participation citoyenne", directed by Geoffrey Grandjean, Vincent Aerts, Caroline Patsias, Loïc Perrin, 62nd Congress of the Société québécoise de science politique, Montreal, UQAM 21-23 May 2025.
- (with Min Reuchamps), 1 February 2024: "Is Populism a New Cleavage in Parliaments? Insights from three Western European Countries", Belgium: The State of the Federation, coordinated by the Association belge francophone de science politique and Vereniging voor Politieke Wetenschappen, Université de Liège, Liège.
- 31 January - 2 February 2024, "Une mise en abîme de la participation citoyenne institutionnelle européenne : lorsque des citoyens tirés au sort délibèrent sur les conditions d'institutionnalisation de panels citoyens délibératifs", thematic section on "Les impacts et capacité d'influence des outils participatifs et expérimentaux sur la gouvernance et les politiques publiques", Triennial Conference of the Association belge francophone de science politique, Université de Liège, Liège.
- 4-8 September 2023, "The meaning of citizen deliberation is not unambiguous: insights from EU deliberative experiments", thematic session: "Debating Democracy in/and Europe", ECPR General Conference, Charles University, Prague.
- 26-27 January 2023 "When International Organisations address a radical claim for socio-economic justice: Epistemic captures of the illegitimate debt issue", International Colloquium "The Capture of Critical Voices: How International Organizations Tame Social Protest", Université Paris I/Sorbonne, Paris.
- 23-25 November 2022, "L'institutionnalisation d'une assemblée citoyenne à l'épreuve de l'Eurocratie", Colloque du GIS Démocratie et Participation, MSH Paris Nord, Saint-Denis.
- 4 November 2022, "Le tirage au sort dans le cadre des panels citoyens européens: la délibération sacrifiée sur l'autel de la représentativité?", Colloquium "Contre le tirage au sort en politique", Université de Liège, Liège (Belgique).
- 30 April-2 April 2022, "International Organizations and the "illegitimate" debt issue: when IOs deal with a radical claim for socio-economic justice", Panel - The co-option of critical voices, coordinated by Olivier Nay (Université Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne), ISA 2022 Annual Convention, Nashville (Tennessee), United States - 31 August-3 September 2021, "The Political Economy of Activists", Research Network - Social Movements, 15th Conference of the European Sociological Association 2021, Barcelona, Spain.
- 7-9 July 2021, "Un enfoque antagonista sobre el municipalismo: La "Red Municipalista contra la Deuda Ilegitima y los Recortes" contra el Ministro Montoro", Grupo de Trabajo 2.3 Lo común y el municipalismo: muros y puentes entre prácticas sociales e institucionalidad pública, coordinated by Anaïs Varo Barranco (Universitat de Girona), XV Congreso de la Asociación Española de Ciencia Política y de Administración.
- 7-9 April 2021, "Legitimising the idea of 'illegitimate debt': the construction of a heterodox politico-economic doctrine", Section Thématique 20 - Contester ou ordonner les finances publiques par le droit - Le déplacement des politiques monétaires, financières et budgétaires sur le terrain juridique, coordinated by Benjamin Lemoine (Université Paris Dauphine) and Damien Piron (Université Catholique de Louvain), Congress of the Belgian Political Science Association, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.
- 25 August 2020 "Comparing Social Movement's legal mobilization in three European Countries", Section 41 "Law and Courts", Panel "Legal Mobilization: Patterns and Consequences", Chaired by Cordula Tibi Weber (German Institute of Global and Area Studies), Katarina Sipulova (Masaryk University), European Consortium of Political Research, Virtual Event.
- 14-16 November 2019, "Local finances put to the test of democracy? Les expériences d'audit citoyen" à Grenoble et en Catalogne", Colloquium of the GIS Démocratie et Participation, MSH Paris Nord, Saint-Denis.
- 4 July 2019, "L'audit citoyen des finances locales : inclusion participative ou participation exclusive de nouveaux représentants "citoyens" ?", Section Thématique n°10 - Sociologie des intermédiaires politiques entre gouvernants et gouvernés, Lorenzo Barrault-Stella (CRESPPA-CSU) et Sébastien Michon (Université de Strasbourg - SAGE), Congrès de l'Association Française de Science Politique 2019, Sciences Po Bordeaux, Bordeaux.
Study days
- 17 May 2024, "Reflecting on the space between fields: the case of deliberative reformers in the European Union", Seminar on Pierre Bourdieu, co-organised by Philippe Aldrin (MESOPOLHIS/Sciences Po Aix) and Cyriac Gousset (LaSPP/IEP de Toulouse), at Sciences Po Aix, Aix-en-Provence.
- 15 May 2023, "The Conference on the Future of Europe and the demand for a redistributive EU", Eurolab Scientific Interest Group, Aix-en-Provence Law University.
- 14 September 2022, "Le tournant citoyenniste de l'Union européenne : une opportunité pour des consultants en participation citoyenne ?", Colloquium: Les terrains publics du consulting : métiers, modèles et usages européens, organised by the Groupe de Recherche sur l'Union européenne of the Association française de science politique, Paris.
- 21 May 2021, "Division du travail politique et économie politique : deux concepts pour saisir l'épaisseur des rapports sociaux à la démocratie", Rendez-vous des Thésards sur la démocratie représentative, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels.
- 25-27 November 2020, "Les marges du dicible dans et hors d'un dispositif de participation instituée : les "audits citoyens" à Madrid", Journées Doctorales du GIS Démocratie et Participation, La Rochelle.
- 23 October 2020, "De l'opinion publique aux conceptions démocratiques: saisir les préférences démocratiques d'acteurs sociaux", Université d'Automne de l'Institut Louis Favoreu, Aix- en-Provence.
- 22 September 2020, "Democratic conceptions, division of political labour and political economy", Doctoriales du CHERPA, Sciences Po Aix, Aix-en-Provence.
- 24 September 2019, "Mettre l'audit citoyen en droit: l'enrôlement du droit pour soutenir un dispositif d'action militant", Doctoriales du CHERPA, Sciences Po Aix, Aix-en-Provence.
- 27 June 2019, "Convier la "société civile locale" à Bruxelles : l'exemple du Réseau Municipaliste contre la Dette Illégitime au Parlement européen", Study day of the Groupement de recherche sur l'UE (AFSP), Université Saint-Louis, Brussels.
Other
- 26 May 2020, "Citoyens contrôleurs et rapports à la moralisation", Invitation to the SPIRAL Seminar, University of Liège.
Promoting research
- 17 December 2024 : "Representative democracy cannot be reduced to its electoral aspect"., Critical Opinion Analysis.
- 11 July 2022: " Review: the return to the order of debt. On Democracy disciplined by debt by Benjamin Lemoine (2022) ", The life of ideas.
- 1st July 2022, "Spain's far right between politics and justice, Critical Opinion Analysis.
- 18 February 2021, The European Parliament as an arena for social criticism", Un Œil sur la Cité, 18/02/2021,
- 13 January 2021, "The European Committee of the Regions in Covid-19 timesThe Conversation France
- 6 April 2020, "When attacking the state goes viralThe Conversation France
Organisation of scientific events
– 2025-2026: Coordinateur avec David Copello (ICP/FDL) d’un séminaire sur les « grands mots du politique » à l’Institut Catholique de Paris (séances sur « le populisme », la « géopolitique », la « paix », l’ « antidémocratie », la « domination charismatique »).
- 5-7 July 2022, Co-ordinator of the Thematic Section "European politics and its scholars", 2022 Congress of the French Political Science Association, Lille.
- June 2021 "Terrains proches, familiers et ordinaires: les voies de la 'facilité'?", Colloquium co-organised with FAURE Lucas (CHERPA), PROBOEUF Pauline (OSC), VALARCHER Marion (OSC), at Sciences Po Aix.
- 19-December 2019, "Itinéraire de Recherche - Frédéric Sawicki", co-organised with Marion DI MEO, Claire DUPUY and Vanille LABORDE, CHERPA, Sciences Po Aix, Aix-en- Provence.
- 23-27 September 2019, "Doctoriales", Doctoral Week for doctoral students, co-organised with Marion DI MEO, Nourane GAD, Laurence DUFRESNE- AUBERTIN and Audrey FREYERMUTH, CHERPA, Sciences Po Aix, Aix-en-Provence.
- February-June 2019, "Ateliers Doctoraux", co-organisation of Ateliers Doctoraux for CHERPA doctoral students, with HO-PUN-CHEUNG Elise, Sciences Po Aix, Aix-en- Provence.
Involvement in research groups / collective research :
- On the relationship between law and economics (with Benjamin Lemoine, Damien Piron);
- On the epistemic capture and co-option of social criticism by institutions (with Olivier Nay);
- On the use of the word populism in public arenas in Belgium, France and Spain (with Min Reuchamps, Sandrine Roginsky, Barbara De Cock, Philippe Hambye);
- On European consultants (with Antoine Vauchez, Marylou Hamm, Antonin Thyrard, Vincent Lebrou);
- On the draw in politics (with Geoffrey Grandjean);
- On the evaluation of citizens' recommendations in the production of legislation (LEXIS project) ;
- On citizen control of public action (with Guillaume Courty).