Political parties and coalitional behaviour in Belgium: the perspective of local politics

Abstract. What constitutes the starting point of this analysis is the limitations of traditional coalition theories. A particular weakness of the traditional approach is its treatment of political parties as unitary actors, largely unaffected by less formal determinants of coalitional behaviour, and each making rational calculations about the utility of coalition formation.
The alternative is a new multidimensional perspective of coalitional behaviour, based on a number of components. The aim of the article is a first and exploratory assessment of the relevance and usefulness of this multidimensional reorientation of coalition theory with regard to local politics (i.e. the municipal-council arena).
This assessment is based on a general analysis of the coalitional behaviour of political parties in Belgium (the Flemish part of the country) at the local level. The most important elements of both the formal and the multi-dimensional approaches for a study of local-coalition phenomena in Flanders are briefly summarized. It is along these lines that the results of the municipal-council elections in 1982 are discussed. Finally, a provisional evaluation is made of what and how the multi-dimensional alternative could contribute to a better understanding of coalition politics at the local level.