Bridging the divide: Unpacking the strategies and motivations behind cross-ethnic vote-seeking in the Brussels Capital Region of Belgium

Political parties in consociational democracies are institutionally incentivized to compete within rather than between their respective segmental groups (Horowitz, 1985; Lijphart, 1969; 1977; Murtagh & McCulloch, 2021). As a result, cross-ethnic party behavior and strategy have not been subject to adequate scholarly inquiry. However, (recent) survey research indicates that even though parties predominantly vie for support within their own constituencies, a substantial portion of the electorate participates in cross-ethnic voting, which involves electorally supporting candidates and/or parties from groups other than their own (Blanckaert et al., 2021; Garry, 2014). Therefore, this paper aims to find out when, how, and why political parties in the Brussels Capital Region of Belgium (BCR) seek such cross-ethnic votes. The BCR constitutes an interesting case as it is linguistically and politically divided between Dutch- and French speakers, and therefore relies on a consociational political system that nevertheless allows for cross-ethnic voting and vote-seeking. Through a thematic analysis of 30 semi-structured in-depth interviews (conducted between November 2022 and March 2023) with elected representatives of the Brussels Parliament, we identify the drivers behind appealing to voters of “the other side” and the strategies used to do so. The findings of this study will have important implications for understanding political competition and cross-ethnic group relations in consociational democracies.