Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- 1 The influence of election programmes: Britain and Canada 1945–1979.
- 2 The internal analysis of election programmes.
- 3 Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States 1946–1981, an initial comparative analysis.
- 4 Canada 1945–1980: party platforms and campaign strategies.
- 5 Sri Lanka 1947–1977: elite programmes and mass politics.
- 6 Israel 1949–1981.
- 7 Ireland 1948–1981: issues, parties, strategies.
- 8 Northern Ireland 1921–1973: party manifestos and platforms.
- 9 Sweden and Denmark 1945–1982: election programmes in the Scandinavian setting.
- 10 The Netherlands 1946–1981.
- 11 Belgium 1946–1981.
- 12 Luxembourg 1945–1982: dimensions and strategies.
- 13 Austria 1945–1978.
- 14 Electoral programmes in West Germany 1949–1980: explorations in the nature of political controversy.
- 15 France 1958–1981: the strategy of joint government platforms.
- 16 Italy 1946–1979: ideological distances and party movements.
- 17 Japan 1960–1980: party programmes in elections.
- 18 Do parties differ, and how? Comparative discriminant and factor analyses.
- Appendices
- General bibliography
- Index
11 - Belgium 1946–1981.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- 1 The influence of election programmes: Britain and Canada 1945–1979.
- 2 The internal analysis of election programmes.
- 3 Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States 1946–1981, an initial comparative analysis.
- 4 Canada 1945–1980: party platforms and campaign strategies.
- 5 Sri Lanka 1947–1977: elite programmes and mass politics.
- 6 Israel 1949–1981.
- 7 Ireland 1948–1981: issues, parties, strategies.
- 8 Northern Ireland 1921–1973: party manifestos and platforms.
- 9 Sweden and Denmark 1945–1982: election programmes in the Scandinavian setting.
- 10 The Netherlands 1946–1981.
- 11 Belgium 1946–1981.
- 12 Luxembourg 1945–1982: dimensions and strategies.
- 13 Austria 1945–1978.
- 14 Electoral programmes in West Germany 1949–1980: explorations in the nature of political controversy.
- 15 France 1958–1981: the strategy of joint government platforms.
- 16 Italy 1946–1979: ideological distances and party movements.
- 17 Japan 1960–1980: party programmes in elections.
- 18 Do parties differ, and how? Comparative discriminant and factor analyses.
- Appendices
- General bibliography
- Index
Summary
POLITICAL PARTIES IN BELGIUM
As with the Netherlands, Belgian politics were relatively straightforward until the mid-1960s. Following the introduction of universal male suffrage in 1919, the then two-party opposition between Catholics and Liberals gave way to a classic ‘two-and-half’ party system in which the Socialist Party replaced the Liberals as the Catholics' chief rival. With few exceptions, governments were coalitions between two of these three ‘traditional’ parties formed in response to their gains and losses at successive General Elections. Two major cleavages seemed to underpin this system – a ‘left–right’ socio-economic cleavage together with an older ‘clerical/anti-clerical’ division which had divided Catholics from Liberals ever since the foundation of the State in 1830. Both changed after the Schools Pact of 1958 and the so-called Loi Unique or economic austerity package introduced by the Eyskens (Christian–Social/Liberal) government in the wake of Congo Independence in the 1960s. The former was effectively a ‘truce’ between the three parties concerning the last major clerical/anti-clerical issue. The second threw into sharp relief the growing economic disparity between the country's two main language regions, Flanders and Wallonia. The sudden removal of the clerical/anti-clerical cleavage allowed what had hitherto been a submerged division to rise to the surface. This ran across all three traditional parties, and had rapid and profound effects upon the party system.
‘Community’ issues and associated sub-cleavages have progressively given rise first to new parties and then to forced divisions among the traditional parties – generally along language lines.
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- Information
- Ideology, Strategy and Party ChangeSpatial Analyses of Post-War Election Programmes in 19 Democracies, pp. 230 - 253Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1987
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