Suchergebnisse

Examined is the voting behavior of the three major Belgian parties -- CVP (Christian Democrats), BSP (Socialists), & PVV (Liberals) -- during three legislatures in which all three parties were twice in government & once in the opposition. The cohesion between the government parties & within each party was very high: cohesion within the government was 99.97% in 1958-1961. Deviations from the "party line" were minimal, especially within the BSP: 0.32% of BSP members voted against the party line in 1954-1958; the highest deviation (2.51%) was found among CVP members in 1961-1965. In the final votes two voting patterns dominate: government vs opposition & unanimity. All amendments except those introduced by the government were rejected. It is concluded that the role of the public session of the House of Representatives is reduced to a mere registration function. 5 Tables. Modified HA.