Belgium and the Netherlands

Belgium and the Netherlands

Around the world, there are various types of political systems. Some countries may be federalist, monarchist, or unitary. Countries geographically close to each other can have different political systems. Belgium was once a colony of the Netherlands before becoming independent in 1830. Although both countries continue to have a presence of a constitutional monarchy, Belgium has a different political system from the Netherlands. One can find differences in the formal institutions of Belgium and the Netherlands by observing their political institutions, voting methods, and government makeup.

Open list proportional representation is used in Belgium, and allows coalition governments to form because of the large number of parties. As voting is compulsory in Belgium, there are 5 options to choose from: invalid vote, alternate choice, vote for the list as a whole, preference for someone not on the list, or selecting someone not on the list. The Coalition governments can form due to no one able to achieve a majority, and parties colliding together. In the 2010 election, the top 3 leads were the New-Flemish Alliance, Socialist Party, and the Christian Democrat and Flemish Party. Using proportional representation to establish coalition governments can be good because it allows more diversity, but bad at the same time because smaller parties will promote ideas unknowingly not important to the public.

The voting regulations of the two countries are an important difference. Though they are different, both countries use proportional representation leading to multi-party systems. The legal age to vote in the two countries is 18 or older but Belgium has compulsory voting. Compulsory voting in Belgium states that...

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...eral Cabinet are appointed by the King, and the Ministers head of executive departments within the government. With a huge divided population, ministers are limited to 15 and divided among ministers who are Dutch-speaking and French-speaking. The government is administered by the Prime Ministers and the ministers of the government. The cabinet are a reflection of the presence of political parties of the Chamber.

Although Belgium and the Netherlands are geographically close and Belgium was once a colony of the Netherlands, their internal intuitions vary. Coalition governments from multi-party systems and presence of a constitutional monarchy are a few characterizes to what each country shows. Countries close in certain areas, can also be very far apart ideologically.

Works Cited

Rachlis, E. (1963). The Low Countries. New York: New York TIme Press.