The Future of Belgian Federalism: An Analysis of Party Preferences |
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Authors: | Régis Dandoy Geoffroy Matagne Caroline Van Wynsberghe |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Political Science , NCCR Democracy, University of Zurich , Zurich , Switzerland rdandoy@ulb.ac.be;3. Department of Political Science , University of Liège , Liège , Belgium;4. ISPOLE, Université catholique de Louvain , Louvain-la-Neuve , Belgium |
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Abstract: | This article studies the political discourses regarding the future of Belgian federalism since the year 2000. Analysing party manifestos, it intends to identify patterns of preferences about the long-term evolution of Belgian institutions and the distribution of competences. The quantitative and qualitative analysis shows that the systemic duality of Belgian federalism largely explains the preferences of political actors: French-speaking parties overall oppose the broad state reform that the Dutch-speaking parties collectively support. Yet, each party has a specific position on the decentralization cleavage and a vision of Belgian federalism that cannot be reduced to its linguistic affiliation. |
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Keywords: | Belgium federalism political parties party manifestos |
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