Belgium: A Dualist Political System?
Until 1970, Belgium was a unitary state. That state, however, was characterized by a Flemish struggle for recognition against French-speaking resistance. This struggle led to constitutional reforms in the 1970s and 1980s that recognized bicommunalism in Belgium. At the same time, though, other factors complicate Belgian dualism, including the existence of Brussels and a German-speaking community. Together, Brussels, Flanders, and Wallonia constitute three regions of Belgium, and the Flemish, French, and Germans constitute three linguistic communities. The situation is further complicated by so... Mehr ...
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Dokumenttyp: | TEXT |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 1988 |
Verlag/Hrsg.: |
Oxford University Press
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Schlagwörter: | Articles |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26614555 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | http://publius.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/18/2/63 |
Until 1970, Belgium was a unitary state. That state, however, was characterized by a Flemish struggle for recognition against French-speaking resistance. This struggle led to constitutional reforms in the 1970s and 1980s that recognized bicommunalism in Belgium. At the same time, though, other factors complicate Belgian dualism, including the existence of Brussels and a German-speaking community. Together, Brussels, Flanders, and Wallonia constitute three regions of Belgium, and the Flemish, French, and Germans constitute three linguistic communities. The situation is further complicated by socioeconomic divisions within and between communities and regions. The current Belgian regime has the characteristics of a bicommunal system, but it is difficult to classify the regime precisely. One can perhaps refer to the developments in Belgium as “federalizing regionalism,” though a standard federal system does not seem possible in Belgium for the foreseeable future.