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Downs (1957) has proposed that new political parties may be formed in order to change the policy positions of established parties. Rather than seeking to implement their own manifestos directly from government office, some new parties may seek to influence the manifestos of established parties in order to see their policy goals realized. While the notion is old, it has not been studied extensively. This paper seeks to find out under what conditions established parties take over policy positions specific to new parties. It looks at two points in time when an established party can do so: in anticipation, ie, before a new party enters parliament, & in reaction, ie, after a new party has entered parliament. To this end, the paper will study the anticipatory behavior & reactions of all established parties to all new parties entering the Dutch political system since 1946. Adapted from the source document.

The organizational & formal structures of Belgium's francophone political parties are elucidated. For each party, the main conventions held in 1998 & 1999 are listed; subsequently, the composition & organization of the main party committee, the party bureau, & the main executive offices including dispute agencies are described. The party structure is explained; main representatives are listed; & membership numbers, party publications, & recent electoral results are presented. The following parties are discussed: Parti Socialiste, Parti Reformateur Liberal, the environmentalist party Ecolo, & Parti Social Chretien. S. Paul

Discusses the development of a new type of Government in the Netherlands, highlighting the impact of economic conditions, the role of political parties and the media in bringing about change.

An article based on the contribution or three authors. Former political secretary of the Flemish ecological party Green! Geysels remembers the main strategies at the start of the sanitary cordon in Belgium in 1989. After summing up the effects and impact of these statements, he defends the cordon as an instrument which helps to protect the bases of democracy. De Lange, in the second contribution, Right-populist political parties and sketches the academic outlines of the discussion. She warns against unilateral, unfounded and unwise propositions in the debate, certainly when it concerns translating the Belgian experience to the current Dutch situation. Professor Fennema, the third author, studied the forming of extreme Right parties in Europe and is president of the Center of Radicalism and Extremism Studies CRES. He writes of the Dutch experience with the sanitary cordon and its consequences on contemporary political debate in the Netherlands, which has changed into a debate in terms of fear and hate. All three authors emphasize that a comparison between the Flemish and Dutch experience falls: in Flanders, where the cordon functions since 20 years, no party was ever forbidden. In the Netherlands, where discussion on the sanitary cordon has been bled, that happened. O. van Zijl

Four articles on political participation of political scientists, a matter that is not as simple as it seems. The article starts with an introduction, stating that political sciences cover a much larger field than party politics, and that one of the objects of a political scientist is the division between opinions and engagement on the one hand, and scientific analysis on the other. The articles are 1) on the difference between affiliation to a political party and governmental responsibilities, against a background of deontological argumentation (Van Praag); 2) the same subject as before, but within a pragmatic context (Van Aelst); 3) practical political expertise as enrichment for education and research (Koole); 4) neutrality, objectivity and engagement in co-habitation of political science and party politics (Bake). References. O. van Zijl