Verzuiling, conflictregeling en politieke besluitvorming: ontwikkelingen in België

Samenvatting

Since the mid 1950s, pillarization in Belgium & the Netherlands has been studied by sociologists & political scientists. Pillarization can be viewed as a factor of ordered inclusion of an increasing number of voters in the political-economic system. During this initial period of increasing political participation, mass ideological mobilization through voluntary associations & the internal social cohesion of the pillars have been stressed. In recent decades, the decision-making process has been substantially changed, so that spokesmen of pillar organizations & political parties make decisions on a continuing institutional basis. Access to the decision-making process is established & controlled through complex networks. Thus, internal integration through organizational control has become more important than ideological commitment. Belgian pillarization has been successful with most philosophical-ideological issues, but cannot handle the conflicts between the two language groups since the linguistic cleavage has not been institutionalized. Modified HA.