Do Political Parties Support Participatory Democracy? A Longitudinal Analysis of Party Manifestos in Belgium

In the last decades, there has been an increase in participatory practices in public action. Such a steady increase of participatory democracy shakes the role of political parties as more participation might shuffle their existing power. The question raised by this paper is whether political parties support participatory democracy and whether their perception has evolved over time. It is indeed relevant to know how these political parties deal with the participatory democracy because it is also their positions on these new participatory devices that will determine the place these new practices will occupy in democracies. Some studies have shown that the use of participatory mechanisms is mainly supported by left-wing and green parties while the positions of right-wing parties towards participatory democracy and its mechanisms have so far been under-explored. This paper seeks to investigate a threefold question through a longitudinal analysis of party manifestos: (1) what place is given to participatory democracy, (2) how parties perceive and define this type of democracy and (3) what forms and types of participation do parties advocate or criticize. In order to undertake such an investigation, Belgium is a relevant case because of the central role political parties play in politics and because this country offers two systems of parties, which allows further comparison within the same political system. The paper is based on an analysis of all political parties that have secured at least one seat for both federal and regional elections from 2003 to 2019. In doing so, this paper will provide a better understanding of the perceptions and use of participatory democracy tools by political parties that are key gatekeepers in most democracies.