Case study of Belgium

Belgium is a country in Europe with its capital at Brussels. It has three ethnic communities : the French, living in Wallonia region; the Dutch, residing in Flemish region and the Germans, living in the eastern part of the country. The need for power sharing arose in Belgium because of contrasting distribution of population in the capital and the rest of the country. In the capital city of Brussels, French-speaking people are in majority (80% of the population), while in the rest of the country, the Dutch are in majority, constituting about 60% of the population. Also, the minority French population was much richer and educated than the majority Dutch because of which the Dutch people got the benefit of development much later. This created tensions in the country. Hence, in the 1970s, a power-sharing arrangement was chalked out in Belgium so as to accommodate the interests of both the ethnic groups.
The power -sharing arrangement formulated in Belgium is quite complex and innovative. The Belgian leaders recognized the regional differences in the country and tried to give each community its fair share in the country’s governance. The salient features of the power-sharing arrangement in Belgium are as follows:
(i) The number of Dutch and French-speaking ministers in the central government is equal.
(ii) The majority of members from each linguistic group is required with respect to certain special laws that affect a particular community.
(iii) Flemish and Wallonia regions have been given many powers of the central government and they are not subordinate to the central government.
(iii) Flemish and Wallonia regions have been given many powers of the central government and they are not subordinate to the central government.