Abstract
In the context of the changes in democracy, the conceptions that elected representatives have of political representation and citizen participation deserve to be analysed, because they allow us to understand the potential insertion of new democratic forms in the current parliamentary systems. The position of elected representatives oscillates between distrust and use of participatory democracy mechanisms. Using a qualitative method of coding interviews with Belgian federal parliamentarians, we show that not all national representatives share the need for citizen participation. They emphasise that politics requires technical competence and a form of professionalisation in order to understand the challenges and constraints of modern governance. However, parliamentarians' discourses differ on the question of the place to be given to citizens, which invites us to distinguish three ideal-typical profiles: elitist, corporatist and hybrid.
| Translated title of the contribution | Sacred union or forced union? Belgian parliamentarians facing the deliberative imperative |
|---|---|
| Original language | French |
| Pages (from-to) | 171-203 |
| Number of pages | 33 |
| Journal | Participations : revue de sciences sociales sur la démocratie et la citoyenneté |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue number | 13 |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- CESPOL
- CMAP
- Démocratie
- Parlementaires