Ecologists and Democracy in Belgium: An Analysis of Party Manifestos

An increasing gap characterizes the relationship between citizens and policy-makers in Europe. Citizens do not only lose confidence in their representatives but, more broadly so, in democracy and democratic functioning. Consequently, new political parties perform increasingly better during elections. New decision-making processes - rooted in participatory or deliberative democracy - are also gradually considered as means to revitalize and irrigate the representative system. This paper aims at developing a better understanding of the democratic preferences of the Belgian Green political parties. Traditionally, Flemish and French-speaking green parties have been the owners of democratic innovation issues in Belgium. Through the analysis of Belgian green parties’ manifestos since 1995 regarding three types of democracy - representative, deliberative, and participatory democracy - this paper investigates and uncovers the evolution of the democratic preferences within these parties. The paper helps to shed light on how the greens perceive democracy in their programs