The changing dynamics of Belgian federalism: Is there a reversal of the paradox of federalism?

This chapter looks at Belgium’s process of federalization, more specifically as a conflict management technique from the perspective of consociational democracy, and includes a theoretical discussion of the paradox of federalism. To identify the arguments surrounding the defederalization or refederalization debate in Belgium, a critical frame analysis is conducted. The decentralization, known in Belgium as ‘defederalization’ of competences, thus, seems to have increased demands for further regionalization and set in motion fundamental institutional reforms. Although all six institutional reforms have systematically been driven by a centrifugal dynamic, the demands for defederalization still seem to be important, particularly with regard to the Dutch-speaking political parties. However, the French-speaking parties have given greater support to these refederalization demands at least since the 2007 federal elections. Scholars have pointed out that there are inherent dangers to power-sharing democracy, chief among which is the ‘paradox of federalism’.