These political divisions among people are called cleavages. Cleavages can be formally defined in a number of ways, to Stein Rokkan and Seymour Lipset (from the text book Representative Government in Modern Europe, pg. 235)for something to be a called a cleavage it must include three traits. The first necessary trait is to have a social division that distinctly separates people. It cannot simply be a political difference in ideology, like Republicans and Democrats in the United States. Secondly, those who are a part of this distinct background must be aware that they belong to the group and willing to act on it. Lastly, the distinct group must have some kind of organization. With these characteristics, people are able to influence the organizational structure and behavior of representative government. The most common type of cleavage is the center-periphery cleavage.

Cleavages definitely effect the way government works. In democratic states, like Belgium, these cleavages can be overcome by giving all types of people equal rights. The Belgian model also overcomes the more specific center-periphery cleavage by giving the minority French speakers their own legislature and veto powers.

n be found in most countries. This cleavage involves the “center”, who are people that are part of a culture that represents the “center” of politics; these people are those who are the majority in that country and are the ones in the leadership. The “periphery” is just the opposite; these are a people (or many different peoples) that share a culture that is politically in opposition to those who are in the center. The center wants to assimilate those who are part of the periphery to ease tensions that might arise from the competing sides. The periphery strives to preserve its culture and to be represented in the legislative body. The center at times feels the pressure of the periphery because of the independent ideology that comes from the group via its representatives in the legislative body. Much of the time the center-periphery involves ethnicity or language, as it does in Belgium.

There are many different political actors in Belgium. They have so many different branches of government that the way they work is based on compromise. This is not easy for these actors to do. The people who elect these representatives to carry out their will and because of the diverse ethnic cultures within Belgium it is difficult to get anything passed as law. These actors know that they are pressured

Some topics in this essay:
Dutch French, United Secondly, Liberal Party, Dutch German, Arend Lijphart, , Flanders French, Modern Europe, Belgium Belgium, Christian-Democratic Party, french speakers, multiparty system, center-periphery cleavage, dutch german, minority french speakers, cultures french, consensus democracy, flanders brussels, legislative bodies, cleavage center-periphery, types people, cleavage center-periphery cleavage, french dutch german,