ADAPOF
Project title:
A discursive approach of the paradox of federalism in linguistically divided democracies: Diachronic and synchronic analyses of state reforms’ discourses and their impact in Belgium
Research Team
• Université catholique de Louvain : Min Reuchamps
• Univerisité de Liège : Julien Perrez
Contact
Min Reuchamps
Description
There is an interesting paradox at the heart of linguistically divided democracies. Federalism, which is often seen as the solution, removes contentious issues from the common agenda and thus reduces tensions, but at the same times it sets in motion a self-reinforcing spiral of demands for self-rule, which induces potentially even more tensions. Compromises therefore have to be negotiated between the representatives of the conflicting linguistic groups in order to reform the state. While studies of federalism have discussed the institutional and political nature of these reforms, there is one main question that remains: how do elites sell these reforms to the public opinions? And subsequently how does the public react to the state reforms and more specifically to the way they are sold to them?
This is a crucial question for federal studies as these reforms are often deemed necessary to hold the state together but in the meantime these reforms may be sources of further tensions and divisions. Understanding how they are presented to the public opinion(s) is thus key to understanding the overarching political dynamics of linguistically divided democracies. Belgium provides a case in point to study such dynamics, with a long- started opposition between two linguistic groups that led to six state reforms in forty years. The goal of this project is therefore twofold: 1) studying the discourses about each state reform, as well as between and within the two main linguistic groups (through a diachronic analysis from the late 1960s till today) and 2) for the last state reform, measuring the impact of the discourses about the reform on the citizens’ comprehension and representation (through a synchronic analysis relying on experimental tests). This project proposes an interdisciplinary approach bringing together political science and linguistics in order to focus on both what is being said and how it is being said. Such discursive approach seeks to contribute to an overall understanding of the paradox of federalism in linguistically divided democracies, and more globally in political interactions between elites and citizens.