Do Belgian parties undermine the democratic chain of delegation?

The Belgian party-archy violates the ideal-type chain of parliamentary delegation in many ways, insofar as political parties play a predominant role at each stage. They channel the delegation of power from voters to MPs, from Parliament to the cabinet, from the collective cabinet to individual minis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:West European politics 2006-11, Vol.29 (5), p.957-976
Main Authors: De Winter, Lieven, Dumont, Patrick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Area studies
Belgium
Cabinets
Collectives
Coordination
Delegation of authority
Democracy
European studies
Legislative Bodies
Legislatures
Parliamentary government
Patronage
Political behavior
Political Parties
Political Systems
Principals
Regression analysis
Voters
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Summary:The Belgian party-archy violates the ideal-type chain of parliamentary delegation in many ways, insofar as political parties play a predominant role at each stage. They channel the delegation of power from voters to MPs, from Parliament to the cabinet, from the collective cabinet to individual ministers, and from ministers to their civil servants. Hence, they can be considered the effective principals in the polity, and many actors of the parliamentary chain of delegation, such as MPs, ministers, and civil servants have been reduced to mere party agents. The extreme fragmentation of the Belgian party system in combination with its increasing need for multilevel coordination have further enhanced the position of political parties in the Belgian polity. Yet, at the same time (since the early 1990s), Belgium has also witnessed a gradual decline in the informal system of partitocratic delegation and clientelistic excesses, thereby giving back part of their autonomy to some formal agents, such as the cabinet, top civil servants and some MPs. Still, one can wonder whether these corrections are sufficient to counter the strong outburst of public dissatisfaction with the way parties have run the country in past decades.
ISSN:0140-2382
1743-9655
DOI:10.1080/01402380600968844