Beyond the Myth of Unanimity. Opinions of Belgian MPs on Federalism and the Sixth Reform of the Belgian State

During the 541 days (2010-2011) when Belgium was without a federal government and was going through a political crisis, it was the party leaders who dominated the political stage and featured in the media. It was they who negotiated the sixth constitutional reform of the Belgian state which was a prerequisite for the formation of a new federal government. Afterwards, it was the turn of the federal MPs to vote on the legislation introducing this state reform. Nevertheless, party discipline very often prevents MP’s expressing their personal vision of Belgian federalism, particularly if some agreement has already been reached. This research, which was carried out in the summer of 2011, and there- fore before any agreement on the sixth state reform, sought to capture how members of parliament perceived federalism in Belgium. We surveyed not only the federal MPs, but also their colleagues in the regional parliaments. In this article, we discuss some of the results of this research.