Belgium is a paradoxical case: a country that some argue should not exist, yet one that has been a model of both democratic innovation and political fragmentation. The Oxford Handbook of Belgian Politics dissects Belgium's unique institutional architecture, its complex linguistic and community divides, and its evolving federal structure. Despite its small size and historically precarious existence, Belgium has played an outsized role in both political practice and political science scholarship. This volume brings together leading Belgian and international scholars to provide a comprehensive examination of Belgian politics, offering insights that extend far beyond its borders.
Structured into five thematic sections, the
Handbook explores key dimensions of Belgian polity, politics, and policies. In forty meticulously crafted chapters, contributors analyze how Belgian politics serves as both an inspiration and a cautionary tale. The country has pioneered electoral reforms, social policies, and LGBTQI+ rights, positioning itself as a laboratory of democratic experimentation. At the same time, it has experienced extreme governmental instability, record-breaking coalition negotiations, and a deeply entrenched partitocracy. Whether viewed as a beacon of democratic resilience or an emblem of institutional gridlock, Belgium remains a compelling case for understanding the broader dynamics of governance in divided and multilingual societies worldwide.
Min Reuchamps, Marleen Brans, Petra Meier, Emilie Van Haute
Marleen Brans holds a PhD in Political Science from the European University Institute in Florence. As Professor at the KU Leuven Public Governance Institute, she conducts research on the production and consumption of policy advice by various actors inside and outside government. She co-founded the International Public Policy Association (IPPA).
Petra Meier is Professor in Political Science, and co-chair of A*, the Antwerp Gender & Sexuality Studies Network, at the University of Antwerp (UAntwerpen). Her research focuses on the (re)presentation of gender and other social markers in politics and policies. She investigates how (in)formal institutions (re)produce inequality, dynamics of exclusion in political spaces and how this shapes power relations among social groups, and what contributes to fostering equality in a sustainable way.
Min Reuchamps is Professor of Political Science at UCLouvain. He graduated from the Université de Liège (ULiège) and from Boston University. His teaching and research interests include federalism and multi-level governance, democracy and its transformations and innovations, participatory and deliberative methods, as well as relations between language(s) and politics and in particular the role of metaphors in political discourse.
Emilie van Haute is Professor of Political Science at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB). Her research focuses on political parties, elections and voting behaviour, political participation and representation, and democracy. She is the co-editor of the European Journal of Political Research. Her work has appeared in Electoral Studies, Party Politics, Representation, European Journal of Political Research, or Regional Studies, Regional Science.
