THE GENERAL ELECTIONS AS A PROCESS OF POWER ACHIEVEMENT IN THE BELGIAN POLITICAL SYSTEM

In: Res publica: politiek-wetenschappelijk tijdschrift van de Lage Landen ; driemaandelijks tijdschrift, Band 9, Heft 3, S. 369-412

Abstract

A new election approach has been tried out: not an electorate motivation study, but the analysis of how the general elections are a process of power achievement in the pol'al system. The method is qualitative & quantitative: (1) delimiting the diff moments of power distribution; (2) proving that these diff moments are effectively power distributing; & (3) determining the amount of power distribution in each moment. For the Belgian case study, the data are provided by participant observation, exploration of electoral statistics, & 3 ET's (mixed type, by mail, N=100, N=70, N=1,716). There are 5 effective moments in the power distribution by the Belgian general elections: the composition of the lists of candidates, the electoral figure, the electoral behavior, the motivation of the vote, the 'vote to seats transformal calculations.' As the Belgian electorate does not use all the power that it can, a question mark has been put to the antithesis of herrschende Klasse (Rc) & beherrschte Klasse (ruled class), to the 'rulers' & the 'onlyvoters' (Dahrendorf & Lange). By not choosing from the candidates, a possibility the electorate has, the voters give more power to the oligarchic composers of the lists. The voters are only co-actors in the electoral process. Their power is limited to the division of the seats among the several parties. AA.