Suchergebnisse

The smallest parliament in Belgium is the one of the German-speaking community with its 25 members. It is responsible for only 74,000 inhabitants & nine municipalities, but it is nonetheless a fully-fledged parliament & government. Due to its limited size & therefore little attention in media & political science, its functioning is quite unknown. This article describes the profile of its politicians & examines the legislative & controlling function of the Parliament, while considering its relationship with the Government. As in other parliaments, we expect a dominant government but due to some distinct characteristics, we expect this to be even truer for the German Community. Therefore, while explaining the results of our research, the emphasis will be put on these characteristics. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

The number of preference votes for the candidates running in the October 2006 local elections in the thirteen main cities of Flanders is largely determined by the position on the list & the previous political mandate. A multivariate analysis shows that an executive function on the local level yields a comparable electoral bonus as a national mandate. The campaign expenditures also have a significant effect. There is a spending limit, but the candidates on average spend only 22% of what they are allowed to. Christian-democratic candidates generally spend the most, with the liberals ranked second. The gender, age & professional status of the candidates have at most a very marginal effect on their electoral score, controlling for the other relevant variables. Candidates with a foreign name obtain a somewhat better result on average, but this is particularly the case with candidates running for the socialist party. Tables, Graphs. Adapted from the source document.