Llewellyn

King

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December 31, 2007

Belgium Faces the Limits of Its Democracy

BRUSSELS, Belgium – Democracy, Winston Churchill said, is the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time. Churchill, of course, was talking about democracy in Britain – a Britain that was homogeneous; a Britain that was divided along class lines, not linguistic or religious lines. Enter these other divisions, and the institutions of democracy have to be ever so carefully contrived for the democracy to work.

Yes, I mean contrived. Switzerland has a contrived democracy to accommodate its linguistic divisions. Before things fell apart, Lebanon had a contrived democracy to accommodate its religious divisions.

And the United States has a contrived democracy to accommodate the discrepancies of a continental-sized country. The strength of our nation's legislative system is the disparity between the House and the Senate. Through this division of power, the Senate is able to curb the exuberance of the House. Politics in the House are raw and earthy; in the Senate, they are refined and dignified.

If little Belgium, with around 10 million people, is to hold together as a cohesive nation, it needs a new contrivance in its political system. Traditionally, Belgium has been where Latin and Germanic Europe met. It was the fault line. Now the fault is threatening the country.

Briefly, these are the facts: Traditionally, the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia has dominated the Dutch-speaking northern region of Flanders. The French-speakers believe themselves to be culturally superior to their Flemish-speaking fellow citizens. Also traditionally, the French-speakers have enjoyed an economic edge. But that has been changing since the middle of the 20^th Century. The French-speakers, now in a minority, are getting some of their own medicine from the Dutch-speakers.

Today, Belgium is bitterly divided and almost ungovernable. Political crisis is the norm, and it is only because of the high autonomy in both linguistic groups that the country functions at all.

To those of us on the outside, this is very sad. Belgium has been an artistic powerhouse since before it was a formal country. It has a wealth of qualities that make it an agreeable place to live. And it has attracted international organizations nearly as effectively as has Geneva, Switzerland. Brussels is the headquarters of the European Union, and NATO is headquartered outside the city.

Yet things are getting uglier. They are uglier than when I first visited Belgium more than 30 years ago, and palpably uglier than they were just two years ago. My wife, who speaks French fluently, has learned in recent visits to such delightful destinations as Bruges and Antwerp that the Flemings would rather speak English than French. Not only do the protagonists in this cultural battle bring an unpleasantness to daily life, but they also threaten Belgium's stability and future. Chopping the country in half does not quite work, because there are language enclaves in the north and the south.

The answer is a better democratic model – one that can accommodate permanent intransigence. If the Belgians come up with such a model, it will be much in demand in such permanently divided countries as Nigeria, Northern Ireland and, of course, Iraq.

The colonial powers, when they exited Africa, tended to leave behind perfect little unicameral parliamentary democracies. They were all swept away by thugs who won just one election.

The Founding Fathers, in their genius, realized that democracy was a lot more than a simple popularity contest. Indeed they realized that majorities, as much as minorities, need to be protected from themselves. Permanently divided countries need a democratic contrivance that will enable them to function.

The current fervor, in and out of the Bush administration, for spreading democracy has concentrated on the simple act of voting. That is the easy part. Getting a viable, respected structure is the hard part. Get it right and greatness is possible. Get it wrong and the smaller price is a standoff, as in Belgium, or the bigger price that is now being paid in Pakistan.

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