In literature, Easton’s conception of diffuse support is a key concept in evaluating the institutional design and structural mechanisms of a political system based on citizen attitudes. Nevertheless, diffuse support as a concept remains a challenge to operationalise. The political system of Belgian federalism, as such, would be served with a custom measure of diffuse support.
The federal system in Belgium is praised by political scientists for its consensus-building mechanisms to appease political conflicts between the regions and language communities, yet the cultural and political separateness between Flanders and Wallonia still remains. Considering the seeming lack of agreement between political elites and difficult decision-making in recent Belgian history and the federal elections of 2019 having the most volatile electoral outcomes in long time, a study examining the level of support Belgian citizens have towards the Belgian federal system and how diffuse support is potentially affected by the regional separateness would be relevant. By constructing a model step-by-step with support for the division of competences between the federal and regional levels as an indicator for diffuse support and several other predictors of political attitudes, we demonstrate that levels of support for the division of competences is significantly lower in Flanders, although levels of support still are appropriate in both regions. Albeit, we did not succeed in determining our measure of support for division of competences being a valid indicator for diffuse support.
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION: WHAT ABOUT DIFFUSE SUPPORT IN BELGIAN FEDERALISM?
2 IN SEARCH OF A VALID INDICATOR FOR DIFFUSE SUPPORT
3 RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1 RESEARCH QUESTION AND GOALS
3.2 RESEARCH RELEVANCE
3.3 IMPORTANT RESEARCH REMARKS
4 THE CRITICAL CASE OF BELGIAN FEDERALISM
4.1 BELGIUM: FEDERALISM AS OUTCOME WHILE STILL IN PROCESS
4.2 AN OVERVIEW OF COMPARATIVE FEDERALISM
5 CONCEPTUALIZING DIFFUSE SUPPORT AND OPERATIONALIZING DIVISION OF COMPETENCES
5.1 TRUST AND LEGITIMACY
5.2 A CLEAR SEPARATION FROM SPECIFIC SUPPORT
5.3 SUPPORT FOR DIVISION OF COMPETENCES AS A MEASURE FOR DIFFUSE SUPPORT
6 ASSESSING DIFFERENT PREDICTORS OF DIFFUSE SUPPORT FOR BELGIAN FEDERALISM
6.1 POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE
6.1.1 Level of Education
6.1.2 Factual Political Knowledge
6.2 POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
6.3 REGIONAL IDENTITY
6.4 INTERREGIONAL CONTACT
6.5 THE MAIN INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: REGION
7 METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS
7.1 OPERATIONALISING THE VARIABLES
7.1.1 Region
7.1.2 Division of Competences
7.1.3 Level of Education
7.1.4 Factual Political Knowledge
7.1.5 Political Ideology
7.1.6 Regional Identity
7.1.7 Interregional Contact
7.2 VALIDITY OF DIVOCOM AS AN INDICATOR FOR DIFFUSE SUPPORT
7.3 CONSTRUCTING THE MODEL STEP-BY-STEP
7.3.1 Regressing Region
7.3.2 Education: a significant value to the model?
7.3.3 Factual Political Knowledge: moderation or mediation?
7.3.4 Political Ideology: lack of significant mediation
7.3.5 Regional Identity and mediation effect
7.3.6 Mediation of Interregional Contact
7.3.7 The last step to the model and final results
7.4 WHEN NEGATIVE TOWARDS DIVOCOM: REGIONALISM OR UNITARIANISM?
7.5 ASSESSING THE VALIDITY OF THE STRUCTURAL MODEL
8 DISCUSSION, LIMITATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
9 CONCLUSION
10 REFERENCES
11 APPENDIX
11.1 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
11.2 LIST OF QUESTIONS IN THE PARTIREP SURVEY FOR THE MEASURE OF FACTUAL POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE
11.3 CORRELATION BETWEEN DIVOCOM AND SATISFACTION OF DEMOCRACY
11.4 MODEL 1 & 2: 2-STEP REGRESSION OF DIVOCOM
11.5 ADDITION OF EDUCATION
11.5.1 Model 3: 3-step regression with Education and interaction term
11.5.2 Multivariate regression of DIVoCOM
11.6 ADDITION OF FACTUAL POLITICAL KNOWLEDGE
11.6.1 3-step regression with Factual Political Knowledge and interaction term
11.6.2 Model 4: Mediation effect of Factual Political Knowledge
11.6.3 Model 5: modification of regressing Factual Political Knowledge on Regional Identity
11.7 ADDITION OF POLITICAL IDEOLOGY
11.7.1 Bivariate regression
11.7.2 Model 6: Mediation effect of Political Ideology
11.8 ADDITION OF REGIONAL IDENTITY
11.8.1 Bivariate analysis
11.8.2 Model 7: Mediation effect of Regional Identity
11.8.3 Model 8: Modification of regressing Regional Identity on Political Ideology
11.9 ADDITION OF INTERREGIONAL CONTACT
11.9.1 Bivariate analysis
11.9.2 Model 9: Mediation effect of Interregional Contact
11.10 MODEL 10: MODIFICATION OF REGIONAL IDENTITY ON INTERREGIONAL CONTACT
11.11 MODEL 11: DIVOCOM REPLACED BY COMTOFED
11.11.1 Initial model
11.11.2 Model after corrections and excluding insignificant relations
11.12 MODEL 12: DIVOCOM REPLACED BY SATISFACTION OF DEMOCRACY
11.12.1 Initial model
11.12.2 Model after corrections and excluding insignificant relations
Research Objectives and Themes
This master's thesis aims to construct a structural path model that explains support for the division of competences in the Belgian federal system, using "region" (Flanders vs. Wallonia) as an independent variable. It seeks to determine whether support for the division of competences acts as a valid indicator for "diffuse support" (citizen attitudes toward the institutional regime) and how various predictors—such as political knowledge, political ideology, regional identity, and interregional contact—influence this support.
- Conceptualization of diffuse support within the specific context of Belgian federalism.
- Assessment of the impact of regional separation on political attitudes and system support.
- Application of structural equation modeling (SEM) to identify direct and indirect effects of region on federal support.
- Evaluation of the validity of "division of competences" as a proxy for institutional support.
- Comparative analysis of how citizens in Flanders and Wallonia differ in their preferences for federal structure and state reform.
Excerpt from the Book
4.1 Belgium: Federalism as outcome while still in process
The history of Belgian federalism was always turbulent. Belgium did not have the federal model as it stands today. Belgium has evolved from a monolingual unitary state with one government and French as the main language to a multilingual federalism consisting of two different types of sub state entities: the language-based communities responsible for cultural and education matters (i.e. the Flemish, French-speaking and German-speaking) and territorial-based regions with large economic authority (i.e. Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region). The political elites gradually paved a way to federalism as solution to the different demands of the ethno-lingual communities (mainly between the French- and Flemish speaking, as the German-speaking minority constitutes less than one percent of the total Belgian population). The fact that these lingual communities were territorially separated facilitated this evolution. Since the creation of Belgium in 1830, Flanders has continuously been negotiating for more cultural autonomy and regional consciousness and has proven to be resentful of the traditional French-speaking political dominance. Wallonia, on the other hand, demanded more socio-economic and financial autonomy after WW II due to its declining economy (K. Deschouwer, 2012; L. Hooghe, 1993; Reuchamps, Boerjan, Niessen, & Randour, 2019; Sinardet, 2008). Institutional reforms starting from 1970 were fuelled by these contrasting demands and were followed by a transfer of competences from the central level to the regions and communities (L. Hooghe, 1993; Lijphart, 1981). It was the first time that a devolution of competences was used to appease lingual and socio-economic tensions and in the following years more of these so-called federalisation processes were favoured (Reuchamps et al., 2019). It was after the 1993 state reform that Belgium officially became a federation with the introduction of direct elections of the regional parliaments. As result, the federal model became vastly complex, with its distinction between communities and regions and having four distinct language areas and six different governments for being a relatively small country (K. Deschouwer & Reuchamps, 2013).
Summary of Chapters
1 INTRODUCTION: WHAT ABOUT DIFFUSE SUPPORT IN BELGIAN FEDERALISM?: This chapter introduces the context of Belgian federalism, the potential "regime crisis," and the core concept of diffuse support within this complex political system.
2 IN SEARCH OF A VALID INDICATOR FOR DIFFUSE SUPPORT: This section reviews literature on diffuse support and discusses the challenges of operationalizing it within a federal structure, proposing the division of competences as a potential indicator.
3 RESEARCH DESIGN: This chapter defines the research question, goals, and the theoretical approach, including the relevance of the study and important methodological considerations.
4 THE CRITICAL CASE OF BELGIAN FEDERALISM: This section provides an historical and comparative overview of Belgium’s evolution from a unitary state to a complex federation and compares it with other global federal models.
5 CONCEPTUALIZING DIFFUSE SUPPORT AND OPERATIONALIZING DIVISION OF COMPETENCES: This chapter breaks down diffuse support into trust and legitimacy and argues why the division of competences is a suitable metric for this analysis.
6 ASSESSING DIFFERENT PREDICTORS OF DIFFUSE SUPPORT FOR BELGIAN FEDERALISM: This section details the intermediary variables (knowledge, ideology, identity, contact) and establishes the hypotheses for the empirical model.
7 METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS: This central chapter explains the operationalization of variables, the construction of the structural path model, and presents the empirical findings regarding the impact of region on diffuse support.
8 DISCUSSION, LIMITATIONS AND DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: This chapter reflects on the empirical success of the model, addresses its limitations, and suggests future avenues for studying diffuse support in federal systems.
9 CONCLUSION: This chapter summarizes the key findings, noting that while region impacts support, the differences are modest and overall support for the current federal model remains stable.
Keywords
Diffuse support, Belgium, federalism, division of competences, political knowledge, political ideology, regional identity, interregional contact, structural equation modeling, political legitimacy, institutional trust, federal reforms, regionalism, consociationalism, political attitudes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research focuses on the concept of "diffuse support"—the fundamental citizen attachment to the institutional regime—within the context of the Belgian federal state.
What are the primary themes analyzed in the thesis?
The main themes include federalism, regional identity, the division of competences, political knowledge, and the influence of regional political differences on public support for the state structure.
What is the main research question of the work?
The research asks what impact the region (Flanders vs. Wallonia) has on the support Belgian citizens feel toward the existing federal system following the 2019 elections.
Which scientific methodology is utilized?
The author uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to construct a path model that analyzes direct and indirect effects of various predictors on the dependent variable of support for the division of competences.
What topics are covered in the main body of the text?
The body covers the historical evolution of Belgian federalism, a theoretical conceptualization of diffuse support, the assessment of intermediary variables like ideology and identity, and the empirical testing of a structural model.
Which keywords best describe this work?
The most relevant keywords are Diffuse support, Belgium, federalism, division of competences, regional identity, and structural equation modeling.
Is "division of competences" proven to be a valid measure for diffuse support?
The author concludes that while it is an effective measure for understanding attitudes toward the distribution of power, it may not be a perfect or fully comprehensive indicator of "diffuse support" in a broad sense, given the complexity of the concept.
Does the region where a citizen lives significantly change their support for the federal system?
Yes, the study finds that being a citizen of Flanders has a negative and significant effect on support for the current division of competences compared to citizens in Wallonia, although the overall differences are modest.
What role does regional identity play in this model?
Regional identity serves as a central variable in the model; it is strongly linked to living in Flanders and has a significant negative impact on support for the current federal division of competences.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Florian Mertens (Autor:in), 2015, How does Support for Belgian Federalism differ between Flanders and Wallonia?, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/911535
