Articles

De partijpolitisering als instrument van particratie : Een overzicht van de ontwikkeling sinds de Tweede Wereldoorlog

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Abstract

The Belgian political system is of ten qualified as a particracy, this is a variation of the classical parliamentary democracy, in which political parties dominate the political  decision-making process more than the other subsystems, such as parliament, the government, the public administration, the judiciary power, the broadcasting institutions, the written press etc. This preponderancy is achieved by the partypolitisation of the positions in and the functio ning of these subsystems.
Partyleaders exert nowadays a major influence on the constellation of a new government and the designation of its ministers. Through the governmental program and special extraparliamentary pacts they map out more and more government's future policies. The ministerial cabinets execute the control over the public administration on behalf of the parties of the majority and aften take over some of its peculiar functions. The recruitment of public servants and their promotion depend highly upon the institutionalized patronage of the governmental parties.
The power to select the candidates for the general elections has shifted away from the rank-and-file member to the local and national partyleaders.
Partydiscipline is one of the major causes of the shift of the government making function, the legislative and controlling functions of parliament to the party headquaters.
The recruitment and the promotions of magistrates was already before World War II largely politicized.
Although the structural integration between the newspapers and parties has decreased since 1945, the political parties have strengthened their control over the designation of the diree:tors and administrators of the Belgian broadcasting institutions.

How to Cite:

De Winter, L., (1981) “De partijpolitisering als instrument van particratie : Een overzicht van de ontwikkeling sinds de Tweede Wereldoorlog”, Res Publica 23(1), 53-107. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/rp.v23i1.20459