What do you think about the verzuiling in the UNL? I see a Calvinist, a Catholic a Socialist pillar and a Liberal pillar as a given, but probably they would be split again by language. So we would have
a Dutch-speaking Calvinist pillar
a Dutch-speaking Catholic pillar
a Dutch-speaking Socialist pillar
a Dutch-speaking Liberal pillar
a French-speaking Catholic pillar
a French-speaking Socialist pillar
a French-speaking Liberal pillar
Each with their own political parties, unions, newspapers (and later broadcasters), schools, university, healthcare, banks/credit unions and sport clubs.
With a demographic proportion of c. 5 Dutch-speakers to 1 French-speaker but a high concentration of wealth in industrialized Wallonia, forming governments will be interesting.
Just an idea: Might there something develop like Swiss consensus democracy with its own "magic formula", guaranteeing each pillar/party a place in the government? EDIT: I realize that the Walloon pillars would have a much smaller population base, but their bigger relative wealth might make up for it, at least when this system is designed.
a Dutch-speaking Calvinist pillar
a Dutch-speaking Catholic pillar
a Dutch-speaking Socialist pillar
a Dutch-speaking Liberal pillar
a French-speaking Catholic pillar
a French-speaking Socialist pillar
a French-speaking Liberal pillar
Each with their own political parties, unions, newspapers (and later broadcasters), schools, university, healthcare, banks/credit unions and sport clubs.
With a demographic proportion of c. 5 Dutch-speakers to 1 French-speaker but a high concentration of wealth in industrialized Wallonia, forming governments will be interesting.
Just an idea: Might there something develop like Swiss consensus democracy with its own "magic formula", guaranteeing each pillar/party a place in the government? EDIT: I realize that the Walloon pillars would have a much smaller population base, but their bigger relative wealth might make up for it, at least when this system is designed.
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