The Politics of Belgium

The Politics of Belgium

Author: Marleen Brans

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-09-13

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 131799003X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For too long Belgium remained an unexplored terrain by comparative political scientists. Belgium's politics were best known through the writings of Arend Lijphart, who considered it a model case of consociationalism. Over the past ten to fifteen years, the analysis of consociationalism has been complemented by a more detailed coverage of Belgium's spectacular transformation process from a unitary into a federal state, moving rapidly now to disintegration. Likewise, several peculiar aspects of Belgian politics, such as the record fragmentation of its party system, have been covered in edited volumes or international journals. However, given the complexity of the Belgian configuration of political institutions and actors, any inclusion of particular aspects of the Belgian case in comparative work calls for an in depth and integrated understanding of the broader political system. This is the first book which provides such an analysis. It brings together a team of 19 political scientists and sociologists who aim to explain the dynamics and incentives of institutional change and seek to analyze the intricate interplay between the main institutional components of the Belgian body politic. The sociological, political and institutional determinants and the consequences of the "federalisation" process of Belgium is the central theme that links each of the individual chapters. This book will be essential reading for students who want to understand the politics of Belgium and for anyone with a strong interest in West European Politics, comparative politics and comparative federalism. This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.


Candidates, Parties and Voters in the Belgian Partitocracy

Candidates, Parties and Voters in the Belgian Partitocracy

Author: Audrey Vandeleene

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-11-03

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 3319964607

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book focuses on the triadic relationship between electoral candidates and the two other poles of the delegation and accountability triangle—political parties and voters. The chapters rely mostly on the Belgian Candidate Survey (CCS project), gathering about 2000 candidates belonging to 15 parties represented in Parliament and running for the 2014 federal and regional elections, and the authors’ conclusions serve at answering broad political science questions linked with elite recruitment, party and candidate electoral strategies, personalisation, party cohesion, and descriptive and substantive representation. Its multilevel semi-open electoral system, atypical federal structure, extreme party system fragmentation and volatility make Belgium an exceptionally rich but complex case that offers findings highly relevant to research on candidates in other democracies.


Corruption in Contemporary Politics

Corruption in Contemporary Politics

Author: M. Bull

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2002-12-13

Total Pages: 283

ISBN-13: 1403919992

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Political corruption has recently emerged as a key area in the study of advanced industrial nations. Not only has it become more visible than in the past, its sheer scale in some countries has had a significant impact on the functioning of their political institutions. Martin Bull and James Newell have assembled a group of experts to address the importance of this phenomenon for contemporary Western democracies - as well as for the new democracies of Eastern Europe, for the European Union and at the international level.


Party and Democracy

Party and Democracy

Author: Piero Ignazi

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-01-26

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0192537601

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Party and Democracy questions why political parties today are held in such low estimation in advanced democracies. The first part of the volume reviews theoretical motivations behind the growing disdain for the political party. In surveying the parties' lengthy attempt to gain legitimacy, particular attention is devoted to the cultural and political conditions which led to their emergence on the ground' and then to their political and theoretical acceptance as the sole master in the chain of delegation. The second part traces the evolution of the party's organization and public confidence against the backdrop of the transition from industrial to post-industrial societies. The book suggests that, in the post-war period, parties shifted from a golden age of organizational development and positive reception by public opinion towards a more difficult relationship with society as it moved into post industrialism. Parties were unable to master societal change and thus moved towards the state to recover resources they were no longer able to extract from their constituencies. Parties have become richer and more powerful thanks to their interpenetration into the state, but they have paid' for their pervasive presence in society and the state with a declining legitimacy. Even if some changes have been introduced recently in party organizations to counteract their decline, they seem to have become ineffective; even worse, they have dampened democratic standing inside and outside parties, favouring plebiscitary tendencies. The party today is caught in a dramatic contradiction. It has become a sort of Leviathan with clay feet: very powerful thanks to the resources it gets from the state and to its control of the societal and state spheres, but very weak in terms of legitimacy and confidence in the eyes of the mass public. However, it is argued that there is still no alternative to the party. Democracy is still inextricably linked to the party system.


Anticorruption in Transition

Anticorruption in Transition

Author:

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2000-01-01

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 9780821348024

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

With the increasing recognition across the world of the damaging effects of corruption on economic growth and social stability. This report seeks to unpack the varied practices of corruption to identify and compare different patterns of the transition countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, and the Commonwealth of Independent States. It then draws out lessons for tailoring anticorruption strategies to address the variation across the region in an effort to target reforms more effectively. The report draws on many sources of ongoing research and lessons of experience, including the World Bank's work in this area. It is intended as a contribution to the growing policy dialogue on developing practical strategies for reducing corruption.


Ethics and Integrity of Governance

Ethics and Integrity of Governance

Author: L. W. Huberts

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2008-01-01

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1848441371

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The book is a welcome contribution to the literature on ethics as it provides a broader horizon of investigation than most familiar works in recent years. Jamil E. Jreisat, International Journal of Public Administration This book provides critical, up-to-date reviews on the field of ethics and integrity of governance, along with fresh future perspectives. Focusing on Europe and the US, it addresses the key dimensions of public service values, the integrity and rationality of governance, ethics management, and the ethics of governance politics. In each of these four areas, leading international scholars tackle the main issues and controversies facing the world today. The final chapter synthesizes these views and provides an ambitious and critical outline for future work in the field of ethics and integrity of governance. Emanating from the much heralded transatlantic dialogue , this study integrates both the European and American perspectives into a common voice for action. Ethics and Integrity of Governance will appeal to academics, researchers and practitioners in the areas of leadership and organisation, public policy and public administration, and public values and ethics.


Belgian Exceptionalism

Belgian Exceptionalism

Author: Didier Caluwaerts

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-11-24

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1000517292

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book takes stock of Belgium’s exceptional and – for some foreign observers –schizophrenic position in the political world and explains its idiosyncrasy to a non-Belgian audience. Offering a broad and comprehensive analysis of Belgian politics, the guiding questions throughout each of the chapters of this book are: Is Belgium a political enigma, and why? Along which axes is Belgium "exceptional" compared to other countries? And what insights does a comparative study of Belgian politics have to offer? The book therefore provides a critical assessment of how Belgian politics "stands out" internationally, both in good and bad ways – including consociationalism, federalism, democratic innovations, Euroscepticism, government formation, gender equality, among others – and which factors can explain Belgium’s exceptional position. Based on cutting-edge research findings, the book will be of wide interest to scholars and students of Belgian politics, European Politics and Comparative politics. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.


The Political Class in Advanced Democracies

The Political Class in Advanced Democracies

Author: Jens Borchert

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2003-12-11

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 0191531995

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Professional politicians have increasingly come under public attack in most democratic countries. Yet they have received surprisingly little systematic attention in political science. This book demonstrates that there are both striking similarities between professional politicians in different countries and notable national peculiarities. The introduction develops a common conceptual framework for the chapters to follow. Using Mosca's term and Weber's seminal insights it reconstructs the concept of political class to grasp the degree of common interests shared by politicians of different parties and in different institutions. Thereby, it presents an innovative perspective on politicians. The twenty country chapters written by scholars from sixteen countries both provide up-to-date information on professional politics in their countries and discuss the merits of the theoretical approach. In doing so, they follow a common format thus facilitating a comparative reading of particular aspects. Each chapter looks at the historical process of professionalization, the institutional context of professional politics, the size of the political class in each country, typical career paths, the renumeration of politicians, and recent reform debates.