Bulletin n. 1/2005
December 2005
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Wilfried Swenden
    What – if anything – can the European Union learn from Belgian federalism and vice versa?
    in Regional and Federal Studies , Volume 15, Number 2 / June ,  2005 ,  187-204
    This article highlights the similarities and differences between Belgium and the EU as multi-level polities and indicates what they might learn from each other. The comparison focuses on (dis)similarities in the internal structure of the components that form the multi-levelled polity, in the processes of central decision-making and in the institutional framework at large. I argue that plural multi-level polities can be more easily sustained if their centre respects the linguistic and territorial integrity of the constituent entities, central decision-making rules are ‘majority-constraining’ and institutional adaptation takes the character of piecemeal reform. Facing growing electoral discontent, leaders in both polities must confront the challenge of maintaining a sufficiently strong centre, while at the same time fostering inter-segmental cooperation in order to stimulate the gradual creation of a trans-segmental public sphere.
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