Electoral participation in Belgium : comparison between Flanders and Wallonia (1991-2003)
(2005) ECPR Joint Sessions — Location: Grenade
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- This paper examines the impact of the recent electoral reform on electoral participation in Flanders and Wallonia. In a system where voting is compulsory, the non participation to elections (not going for voting) in Belgium has increased from 5.1% in 1977 to 9.4% in 1999. Previous studies have shown that the non participation in the elections is motivated by different factors such as the structure of the Belgian population (in terms of age, ...), the type of elections (European elections considered as 2nd order election) and the moment of the elections (elections for Federal Parliament and/or for regional parliament and/or European Parliament). In 2003, the non participation in General Election has decreased to 8.4%. This decreasing could be partially explained by the new electoral rules adopted in 2002. The Electoral Reform introduces three major points among others: a threshold of 5% needed to obtain a seat at the Parliament, voting by proxy and opportunity for Belgians who live outside of the country to vote at the embassy or by proxy. One other factor is the new political landscape: the alliance between the socialist and the green parties in Flanders and in Wallonia, the splitsing of the nationalist Flemish party VU and the growing gains of the extreme-right party (the Vlaams Blok). At the same time, the federal state transfers new competencies to Regions and Communities in Belgium. The autonomy of the Regions and Communities has been extended. So, to which extent is the decrease of non participation in the general elections a consequence of the new institutional and electoral rules, and of tne new political landscape ? We will first describe the new institutional and electoral rules adopted in 2002 by the Belgian Parliament as well as the political landscape and its theoretical/practical consequences for both regions. Has the number of voters increased ? Has the number of parties increased or decreased? Secondly, we will test models of electoral participation on the basis of electoral surveys. We will use individual and macro characteristics to explain the behaviour of people who don't take part in the election in a system of compulsory voting. To test this hypothesis, we'll use data created by the PIOP-ISPO centre. The research team has created a database in order to study the evolution of the Belgian national and regional political attitudes and behaviours during the nineties (1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003).
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Baudewyns, P., & Van Ingelgom, V. (2005). Electoral participation in Belgium : comparison between Flanders and Wallonia (1991-2003). ECPR Joint Sessions, Grenade. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/154049