Resisting Devolution? The Advisory Roles of Political Scientists in Belgium

Abstract

This chapter shows how Belgian political scientists are active players in the Belgian policy advisory system, particularly engaging with the civil service and civil society. Advisory bodies, even though there are many, are not the first of the political scientists’ targets, confirming that lay and representative interest-based expertise prevails in such traditional organizations connecting society to the state. The tradition of neo-corporatist consociationalism also survives in the nature and recipients of advisory activities, as well as in the attention paid to ensure balanced representation of different denominational institutions in research consortia. As to the impact of the nature of Belgian federalism, the survey data presented in this chapter as well as the analysis of political scientists’ proposal to create a federal electoral district, do not show evidence of strongly devolved policy advisory systems. Actors at the federal level are no less important targets than are those at the subnational level. Yet, in Flanders, political scientists are more active advisors then their colleagues at French-speaking universities. The chapter concludes that this may result from variations in professional norms and from the comparative importance of public sector reform and socio-economic reform on the regions’ political agendas.