Changing forms of federalism and party electoral strategies: Belgium and the European union

Publius: The Journal of Federalism

Volumn 29, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 45-69

  Brzinski, Joanne Bay ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0039254606     PISSN: 00485950     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a030013     Document Type: Article

References (66)

1. Ronald L. Watts, Comparing Federal Systems in the 1990s (Kingston, Ontario: Queen's University, 1996). This definition orginated in Daniel J. Elazar, Exploring Federalism (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1987), p. 5.
2. Ronald L. Watts, Comparing Federal Systems in the 1990s (Kingston, Ontario: Queen's University, 1996). This definition orginated in Daniel J. Elazar, Exploring Federalism (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1987), p. 5.
3. Elazar, Exploring Federalism, p. 6.
4. Graham Smith, "Introduction," Federalism: The Multiethnic Challenge, ed. Graham Smith (London: Longman, 1995), pp. 16-17.
5. Ibid., 5.
6. Elazar, Exploring Federalism, p. 34.
7. James M. Buchanan, "Federalism as Ideal Political Order," Publius: The Journal of Federalism 25 (Winter 1995): 19-27.
8. Maureen Covell, "Federalization and Federalism: Belgium and Canada," Federalism and the Role of the State, eds. Herman Bakvis and William Chandler (Toronto: Univeristy of Toronto Press, 1987), p. 77. Coven emphasizes the importance of changes in the form of federalism over time in Canada, and the introduction of federal arrangements in Belgium.
9. Ivo D. Duchachek, Comparative Federalism: The Territorial Dimension of Politics (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970), pp. 331-332.
10. Roger Gibbins, "Federal Societies, Institutions, and Parties," Federalism and the Role of the State, eds. Bakvis and Chandler, p. 25.
11. This approach to parties is rooted in rational choice approaches to parties, most notably found in Anthony Downs, An Economic Theory of Democracy (New York: Harper, 1957).
12. Gibbins, "Federal Societies," 19.
13. William M. Chandler, "Federalism and Political Parties," Federalism and the Role of the State, eds. Bakvis and Chandler, p. 151.
14. Smith, "Introduction," Federalism, p. 17.
15. Chandler, "Federalism and Political Parties," 151.
16. The European Union is an atypical political system. The EU's international character and the traditional political independence of its regional units make it difficult to generalize from its experiences. However, the growing power and role of EU governance in European politics suggest that it is a confederal system. Citizens and parties in Europe do participate in a de facto multitiered state. The direction of political change (more centralization of power within the EU), and the need for political parties to adjust to the changing distribution of political power provide a good test of the hypotheses of this study. A second reason for selecting the European Union is practical. There are few other examples of recent federal systems that have emerged through centralization. The most notable examples (Switzerland and the United States) both became federal systems well before the emergence of modern political parties.
17. Liesbet Hooghe, A Leap in the Dark: Nationalist Conflict and Federal Reform in Belgium (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991); Ivan Couttenier, "Belgian Politics in 1998," Res Publica 31 (Winter 1989): 302-328; Ivan Couttenier, "Belgian Politics in 1992," Res Publica 35 (Winter 1993): 363-387; Kris Deschouwer and Marc Deweerdt, "Belgian Politics in 1993," Res Publica 36 (Winter 1994): 356-373.
18. Liesbet Hooghe, A Leap in the Dark: Nationalist Conflict and Federal Reform in Belgium (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991); Ivan Couttenier, "Belgian Politics in 1998," Res Publica 31 (Winter 1989): 302-328; Ivan Couttenier, "Belgian Politics in 1992," Res Publica 35 (Winter 1993): 363-387; Kris Deschouwer and Marc Deweerdt, "Belgian Politics in 1993," Res Publica 36 (Winter 1994): 356-373.
19. Liesbet Hooghe, A Leap in the Dark: Nationalist Conflict and Federal Reform in Belgium (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991); Ivan Couttenier, "Belgian Politics in 1998," Res Publica 31 (Winter 1989): 302-328; Ivan Couttenier, "Belgian Politics in 1992," Res Publica 35 (Winter 1993): 363-387; Kris Deschouwer and Marc Deweerdt, "Belgian Politics in 1993," Res Publica 36 (Winter 1994): 356-373.
20. Liesbet Hooghe, A Leap in the Dark: Nationalist Conflict and Federal Reform in Belgium (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1991); Ivan Couttenier, "Belgian Politics in 1998," Res Publica 31 (Winter 1989): 302-328; Ivan Couttenier, "Belgian Politics in 1992," Res Publica 35 (Winter 1993): 363-387; Kris Deschouwer and Marc Deweerdt, "Belgian Politics in 1993," Res Publica 36 (Winter 1994): 356-373.
21. The regions are further divided into provinces and municipalities, both of which had existed in unitary Belgium. The creation of the regional and community organizations, though, represented a substantial step toward federalism. In his study of subnational coalition building, William M. Downs traces the role and significance of provincial politics in Belgium, an element that is entirely missing from this analyis. The effects of federalism on the elite politics of government formation (both provincially and nationally) are evident in his account of coalition formation. William M. Downs, Coalition Government Subnational Style: Multiparty Politics in Europe's Regional Parliaments (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 1998).
22. Hooghe, A Leap in the Dark, p. 21.
23. Ibid., 77-82.
24. Ibid., 113.
25. Downs, Coalition Government Subnational Style, pp. 95-97.
26. Benoît Rihoux, "Electoral Reforms and Electoral Behavior in Belgium: Change within Continuity...or Conversely," Res Publica 38 (1995): 259.
27. Wilifred Dewachter, "Changes in a Particratie: The Belgian Party System from 1944-86," Party Systems in Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium, ed. Hans Daadler (London: Frances Pinter, 1987), pp. 334-335.
28. Dewachter, "Changes in a Particratie," 333-334.
29. Kris Deschouwer, "The Internal Dynamics and External Effectiveness of Local Party Sections in Belgium," How Parties Work; Perspectives From Within, ed. Kay Lawson (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994).
30. Hooghe, A Leap in the Dark, pp. 77-78.
31. Ibid., 82. Voeren/Fouren is a Francophone majority community within a Flemish language area. Its problems were the focus of much of the debate about linguistic divisions during the 1980s.
32. Kris Deschouwer, "Waiting for 'The Big One:' The Uncertain Survival of the Belgian Parties and Party Systems," Res Publica 38 (1995): 299. Italics are in the original.
33. Rihoux, "Electoral Reforms," 265.
34. Clearly, This is also an interactive process, a point that I have not developed here. The regionalization of the entire party system contributed to the on-going push for decentralization.
35. Alberta Sbragia, "Thinking about the European Future: The Uses of Comparison," Euro-Politics: Institutions and Policymaking in the New European Community, ed. Alberta Sbragia (Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1992), p. 270.
36. Jean Monnet, "A Ferment of Change," Journal of Common Market Studies 1 (1963): 204-208; Altiero Spinelli, The European Adventure: Tasks for an Enlarged Community (London: C. Knight, 1972) pp. 1-10.
37. Jean Monnet, "A Ferment of Change," Journal of Common Market Studies 1 (1963): 204-208; Altiero Spinelli, The European Adventure: Tasks for an Enlarged Community (London: C. Knight, 1972) pp. 1-10.
38. Peter Lange, "The Politics of the Social Dimension," Euro-Politics, ed. Sbragia, pp. 225-256.
39. Two good summaries of this process are found in David M. Wood and Birol A. Yesilada, The Emerging European Union (White Plains, NY: Longman, 1996) and Francis Jacobs, Richard Corbett, and Michael Shackleton, The European Parliament 2nd ed. (London: Routledge, 1995).
40. Two good summaries of this process are found in David M. Wood and Birol A. Yesilada, The Emerging European Union (White Plains, NY: Longman, 1996) and Francis Jacobs, Richard Corbett, and Michael Shackleton, The European Parliament 2nd ed. (London: Routledge, 1995).
41. Stephan Leibfried and Paul Pierson, eds., European Social Policy: Between Fragmentation and Integration (Washington, D.C.: The Brookings Institution, 1995).
42. Robert O. Keohane and Stanley Hoffman, eds., The Nee European Community: Decision making and Institutional Change (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1991), pp. 1-39.
43. John Kincaid makes this point in a very compelling way in another paper in this project: John Kincaid, "Confederal Federalism and Citizen Representation in the European Union," West European Politics 22 (April 1999): 34-58.
44. Simon Hix and Christopher Lord, Political Parties in the European Union (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), pp. 55-56.
45. This description of the party group relies heavily on Jacobs et al., The European Parliament, pp. 64-95; and Hix and Lord, Political Parties in the European Union, as well as interviews conducted by the author with EU party leaders between 1994 and 1998 .
46. This description of the party group relies heavily on Jacobs et al., The European Parliament, pp. 64-95; and Hix and Lord, Political Parties in the European Union, as well as interviews conducted by the author with EU party leaders between 1994 and 1998 .
47. Hix and Lord, Political Parties, p. 55.
48. John Aldrich, Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Party Politics in America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).
49. Detailed descriptions of the 1979 election are found in the following sources: Jan Sweeney, The First European Elections: Neo-Functionalism and the European Parliament (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1984); Juliet Lodge and Valerie Herman, Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Macmillan, 1982); Karlheinz Reif, Ten European Elections: Campaigns and Results of the 1979/81 First Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Gowe, 1985). Similar descriptions for 1984 are found in Juliet Lodge, ed. Direct Elections to the European Parliament 1984 (London: Macmillan, 1985) and T.T. Mackie and F.W.S. Craig, Europe Votes 2 (London: Unwin Brothers, 1985); and Karlheinz Reif, ed., European Elections: 1979/80 and 1984 (Berlin: Quorum, 1984).
50. Detailed descriptions of the 1979 election are found in the following sources: Jan Sweeney, The First European Elections: Neo-Functionalism and the European Parliament (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1984); Juliet Lodge and Valerie Herman, Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Macmillan, 1982); Karlheinz Reif, Ten European Elections: Campaigns and Results of the 1979/81 First Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Gowe, 1985). Similar descriptions for 1984 are found in Juliet Lodge, ed. Direct Elections to the European Parliament 1984 (London: Macmillan, 1985) and T.T. Mackie and F.W.S. Craig, Europe Votes 2 (London: Unwin Brothers, 1985); and Karlheinz Reif, ed., European Elections: 1979/80 and 1984 (Berlin: Quorum, 1984).
51. Detailed descriptions of the 1979 election are found in the following sources: Jan Sweeney, The First European Elections: Neo-Functionalism and the European Parliament (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1984); Juliet Lodge and Valerie Herman, Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Macmillan, 1982); Karlheinz Reif, Ten European Elections: Campaigns and Results of the 1979/81 First Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Gowe, 1985). Similar descriptions for 1984 are found in Juliet Lodge, ed. Direct Elections to the European Parliament 1984 (London: Macmillan, 1985) and T.T. Mackie and F.W.S. Craig, Europe Votes 2 (London: Unwin Brothers, 1985); and Karlheinz Reif, ed., European Elections: 1979/80 and 1984 (Berlin: Quorum, 1984).
52. Detailed descriptions of the 1979 election are found in the following sources: Jan Sweeney, The First European Elections: Neo-Functionalism and the European Parliament (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1984); Juliet Lodge and Valerie Herman, Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Macmillan, 1982); Karlheinz Reif, Ten European Elections: Campaigns and Results of the 1979/81 First Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Gowe, 1985). Similar descriptions for 1984 are found in Juliet Lodge, ed. Direct Elections to the European Parliament 1984 (London: Macmillan, 1985) and T.T. Mackie and F.W.S. Craig, Europe Votes 2 (London: Unwin Brothers, 1985); and Karlheinz Reif, ed., European Elections: 1979/80 and 1984 (Berlin: Quorum, 1984).
53. Detailed descriptions of the 1979 election are found in the following sources: Jan Sweeney, The First European Elections: Neo-Functionalism and the European Parliament (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1984); Juliet Lodge and Valerie Herman, Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Macmillan, 1982); Karlheinz Reif, Ten European Elections: Campaigns and Results of the 1979/81 First Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Gowe, 1985). Similar descriptions for 1984 are found in Juliet Lodge, ed. Direct Elections to the European Parliament 1984 (London: Macmillan, 1985) and T.T. Mackie and F.W.S. Craig, Europe Votes 2 (London: Unwin Brothers, 1985); and Karlheinz Reif, ed., European Elections: 1979/80 and 1984 (Berlin: Quorum, 1984).
54. Detailed descriptions of the 1979 election are found in the following sources: Jan Sweeney, The First European Elections: Neo-Functionalism and the European Parliament (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1984); Juliet Lodge and Valerie Herman, Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Macmillan, 1982); Karlheinz Reif, Ten European Elections: Campaigns and Results of the 1979/81 First Direct Elections to the European Parliament (London: Gowe, 1985). Similar descriptions for 1984 are found in Juliet Lodge, ed. Direct Elections to the European Parliament 1984 (London: Macmillan, 1985) and T.T. Mackie and F.W.S. Craig, Europe Votes 2 (London: Unwin Brothers, 1985); and Karlheinz Reif, ed., European Elections: 1979/80 and 1984 (Berlin: Quorum, 1984).
55. Juliet Lodge, "Ten Years of an Elected European Parliament," 1989 Elections to the European Parliament, ed. Juliet Lodge (London: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 1-36.
56. Sweeney, The First European Elections; Lodge, "Ten Years," 20-25.
57. Interviews with the author, July 1994.
58. Hix and Lord, Political Parties in the European Union, pp. 77-108; Juliet Lodge, ed. The 1994 Elections to the European Parliament (London: Pinter, 1995). Early indications suggest that parties will be even more successful in the 1999 European elections in gaining full acceptance of the common manifestoes.
59. Hix and Lord, Political Parties in the European Union, pp. 77-108; Juliet Lodge, ed. The 1994 Elections to the European Parliament (London: Pinter, 1995). Early indications suggest that parties will be even more successful in the 1999 European elections in gaining full acceptance of the common manifestoes.
60. Lodge, ed., 1989 Elections to the European Parliament.
61. Juliet Lodge, "1989: Edging toward 'genuine' Euro-elections?" Lodge, 1989 Elections to the European Parliament, ed., Lodge, pp. 210-235.
62. Juliet Lodge, "1989: Edging toward 'genuine' Euro-elections?" Lodge, 1989 Elections to the European Parliament, ed., Lodge, pp. 210-235.
63. Lodge, ed., The 1994 Elections to the European Parliament.
64. Andre Eschet-Schwarz, "Can the Swiss Federal Experience Serve as a Model of Federal Integration?" Constitutional Design and Power-sharing in the Post-modern Epoch, ed. Daniel J. Elazar (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1991).
65. Samuel Eldersveld, Political Parties in American Society (New York: Basic Books, 1982), p. 135.
66. This argument does not mean that the electoral system alone produced changes in Belgium. The electoral system was unchanged until 1992.