Suchergebnisse

On 13 June 1999, elections for the regional Parliaments, the federal Parliament (both House of Representatives & Senate), & the European Parliament were held in Belgium. The % of voters casting a preferential vote at these elections was the highest ever in Belgian history. On average, 60.9% of the electorate expressed their preference for one or more candidates. Although voters have the possibility to cast a multiple preferential vote (ie, a vote for several candidates figuring on the same party list), this possibility is not used very much: a voter who cast a preferential vote only voted on average for 1.73 candidates. The further increase in preferential votes was a little surprising since strong limitations were imposed on campaign expenditures & on commercial support. Political & social factors, eg, individualism, antiparty feelings, & mediatization, seem to have had a stronger impact on preferential voting than these material limitations. The use of the preferential vote varies from one constituency to another, from Flemings to Walloons, & from one party to another. There were some notable changes: the gap between the voters of the extreme-Right Vlaams Blok & the green parties Agalev & Ecolo, who traditionally cast less preferential votes, & voters of other parties, has diminished. Another important change is the decrease of preferential voting in some constituencies in Wallonia. As for the Senate & the European Parliament, more Flemings than Walloons now cast a preferential vote. The large constituencies used for these elections seem to attract very well-known politicians & as a consequence also many preferential votes in Flanders. Despite the increase in preferential voting, the order of the list composed by the party remained in most cases decisive whether or not a candidate was elected. 20 Tables, 1 Figure. Adapted from the source document.

Abstract It is essential for democracy that political parties should act within their promulgated policy frameworks, which are formally represented in election programmes. If political parties deviate from this principle, the election would lose its meaning, jeopardising democracy. In this respect, planning in Groningen in the 1970s, which realised progressive plans like the traffic circulation plan, was democratic, although it was criticised for lacking public participation. However, planning in the 1980s casts serious doubt on its democratic nature. Various large-scale projects were promoted, and they caused harsh criticism even within the government party, Labour Party. This paper focuses on four projects, that is, the PTT (office development), Brink (residential towers), Casino and Museum, all of which were planned in or next to the inner city of Groningen in the 1980s. This paper will examine these projects in terms of the policy frameworks of the Labour Party, which were created in the 1970s. These projects brought about drastic change of historical landscape, and were clearly contrary to the party frameworks or those measures that were introduced to guarantee the frameworks, such as the local land use plan. As a result, they gave rise to not only strong opposition among citizens, but also criticism of party members who still cherished those party frameworks.

The last local elections in Wallonia were marked by the introduction of a new legislation concerning the way mayors are appointed. Before 2006, mayors were appointed by the regional government. Since the last elections, a new decree institutes that is automatically appointed mayor the candidate having most preferential votes from the list having most seats. In this article, we explore how the new legislation has affected the way voters behave in 2006 & also how it has affected parties when it comes to coalition agreements. What appears is that the new legislation has a fairly limited impact. Voters did not cast more preferential votes in 2006 than in 2000. The logics of coalitions have not been changed significantly. Finally, the only notable -- even if not spectacular -- impact of the new Walloon decree is that the elections have been much more focused on the candidates that were leading their list, the ones that were presented by their party as their candidate to become mayor. These candidates have more often been appointed mayors in 2006 than in 2000 & the proportion of preferential votes that they have received is higher in 2006. In that sense, even if the degree of change must not be exaggerated, Walloon local elections are slightly turning into a horse race between candidates leading their list. Tables. Adapted from the source document.

The Anti-Revolutionary People behind the Voters. Fact or fiction? The Electoral Support of the ARP around 1885 and in 1918The rallying cry 'The people behind the voters' symbolised the political discrimination against the anti-revolutionaries. The restricted franchise, based on tax assessments, was supposed to favour the liberals. It is, however, doubtful whether this rallying cry represented any real form of discrimination or whether it should be regarded instead as part of the self-image of the antirevolutionaries. This is hard to determine. The number of seats gained during elections is not a very good benchmark because the absolute majority run-off system (constituency voting system with a second ballot) forced political parties to look for electoral cooperation. The size of the electoral support, on the other hand, can be estimated, when the election results of several carefully selected constituencies from the 1880s are compared with the election results of 1918. At this point, the votes were being cast under the regime of proportional representation and universal male suffrage. The anti-revolutionary electoral gains in 1918 turned out to be so small, that the rallying cry 'The people behind the voters' must be regarded as being out of touch with reality. Already, under the very restricted suffrage of the 1880s, the anti-revolutionaries had almost reached the peak of their electoral support.

Recent trends in election campaigns in Belgium & the Netherlands are compared from both political & historical perspective; it is stressed that primary reference is made to Flanders, & only occasionally to Wallonia, when the political landscape of Belgium is discussed. Developments since the 1960s in both countries are examined, identifying similarities & differences across the following areas: (1) the consociational democracy of Belgium & the Netherlands & its erosion with the formation of new political parties, growing polarization, & negative campaigning, (2) the election system & rules; the structure of parliamentary democracy in the two countries & its reflection in election campaigns; the voter's choices & influence on the composition of both houses of the parliament & the office of prime minister, (3) the content & form of election campaigns; campaign financing, presence in the traditional & new media; free TV time, (4) what is the campaign about & for whom is the vote cast? the principal role played by the party's first candidate on the list, (5) the election rules of the prime minister & new government formation; the role of party leadership. It is concluded that Belgium & the Netherlands still share some characteristics of consensus democracies, however, developments since the 1960s, in particular the growing division between the Flemish & French-speaking regions of Belgium, led to significant institutional changes in the latter country's election campaigns & its citizen's declining interest in this political process on both federal & regional levels. Election campaigns in the Netherlands seem to be more concrete & relevant to the voter. However, both countries suffer from voters' losing direct control over who is elected & over the composition of their future government. Z. Dubiel