Nationale kopstukken, lokale sterkhouders en onbekende kandidaten

In recent years the Belgian electoral law suffered from five major changes, of which the widening-up of the electoral districts to the level of the provinces, was criticised for disrupting the tradition of a strong local anchorage of candidates and MPs. This would estrange the electorate from its representatives, as it was widely believed that the electoral system would be beneficial to urban and well-known candidates only. Our analysis of the candidates of the Flemish political parties, for the elections of 18 May 2003 does not assert this thesis. Candidates from urban areas are not over-repr... Mehr ...