ABSTRACT
The complexity of coalition bargaining has been exacerbated by the party system’s increasing fragmentation, triggered by the growing salience of a multitude of political and social cleavages. Belgium was founded as a bicameral parliamentary monarchy and unitary state. The Belgian parliament comprises the House of Representatives and the Senate. The only private member bills that have a chance of becoming law are those that do not have any bearing on the coalition agreement and that pertain to subjects on which members of the coalition parties can find common ground. Belgian elections, both national and regional, are based on proportional representation. After a coalition agreement is reached, each federal government must win the confidence of a parliamentary majority. The extreme fragmentation of Belgium’s party system reflects many of the country’s most important political, cultural, and social cleavages. The church-state divide was the first cleavage to become politicized, setting religious Catholics against their secular compatriots.
