Social Cleavages and Political Parties in Belgium: Problems of Institutionalization

Political Parties and the Political System in Belgium before Federalism, 1830-1980

“…Gerard has studied the relationship between the political organization and the rest of the Catholic world-in Flemish, the standen (Smits, 1986)-from its origins until the period after the Second World War Gerard and Van den Wijngaerd, 1982;Gerard and Mampuys, 1982; on Catholic trade unionism, Gerard, 1981, cit., andb;Billiet and Gerard, 1981; on the construction of the Catholic party see also Dobbelaere, 1979). Gerard has also recently contested the version of the institutionalization of the Catholic party offered in their works on the Belgian political system by Urwin (1970) and Lorwin (1974), as well as the date-1884-at which a so-called Catholic party was deemed to have been founded. The Catholics have always understood the term 'party' in their own particular way; the study by Gerard and Billiet (1985), which straddles political sociology and history, aims to reexamine the Catholics' conception of an organized party, at least up to the Second World War (see Deschrijver, 1982, for its refounding in the post-war years; Irving, 1979, andMabille, 1985, for its subsequent evolution; Van den Wijngaert, 1976, for the birth of the PSC-CVP after 1948; this theme has also been carefully studied by Jan Art, 1982).…”

“…: 169 and172), albeit with the lacunae mentioned above. Historians emphasize the study of the parties' ideological and programmatic basis, and of the main personalities of the political families, but clearly omit the study of their internal mechanisms, organization and institutionalization (Urwin, 1970). Nor are there many studies which make use of statutes as an historical source in order to study these political institutions from within.…”

The Conditions for Consociational Democracy: a Logical and Empirical Critique*

“…For success it would have been necessary for the conflict to be managed by authoritative and 'recognized' representatives of the parties, like those who negotiated the religious conflict. But the latter were such because the religious cleavage had been institutionalized through a strong party organization firmly controlled from above (Urwin, 1970).…”

“…Note also that Rose andUrwin (1970) call Austria and the Netherlands 'static' but place post-war Belgium among thc 'volatile' systems. 1968, 412-23, 433-4).…”

“…1968, 412-23, 433-4). Note also that Rose andUrwin (1970) call Austria and the Netherlands 'static' but place post-war Belgium among thc 'volatile' systems. As a result, it might bc objected that this country does not fit the general argument.…”