The Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century

Throughout its 40-year history, the Vlaams Belang (VB, Flemish Interest) has established itself as an important player within the Belgian party system, albeit with significant electoral fluctuations. In 2019, it became the second largest party in Flanders. The party developed and maintained a mass-p...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal:	Judith Sijstermans
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Cogitatio 2021
Materias:	mass parties party membership political communication populism vlaams belang Political science (General) JA1-92
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/15ff53d59d5e45d6a49c269aa53896ba
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:15ff53d59d5e45d6a49c269aa53896ba
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:15ff53d59d5e45d6a49c269aa53896ba2021-11-24T11:48:17ZThe Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century2183-246310.17645/pag.v9i4.4554https://doaj.org/article/15ff53d59d5e45d6a49c269aa53896ba2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4554https://doaj.org/toc/2183-2463Throughout its 40-year history, the Vlaams Belang (VB, Flemish Interest) has established itself as an important player within the Belgian party system, albeit with significant electoral fluctuations. In 2019, it became the second largest party in Flanders. The party developed and maintained a mass-party organisation by investing significantly in local party branches and in a rigid vertically articulated structure. It relies heavily on social media, particularly Facebook, to communicate to supporters beyond the more limited group of party members. Using both modern and traditional tools, VB representatives aim to create communities of supporters bonded to the party, facilitating dissemination of the party’s messages. Despite this investment in a grassroots organisation, the VB’s decision-making remains highly centralised. Social media and local branches allow informal consideration of members’ views, but the party has not created significant mechanisms for internal democracy. While it is often claimed that political parties have moved away from the “mass-party” model, this article demonstrates that the VB still maintains characteristics of the mass party, albeit with a modern twist. New social media tools facilitate attempts to foster communities and disseminate party messages among a wider group of supporters, both formal members and more informal sympathisers.Judith SijstermansCogitatioarticlemass partiesparty membershippolitical communicationpopulismvlaams belangPolitical science (General)JA1-92ENPolitics and Governance, Vol 9, Iss 4, Pp 275-285 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	mass parties party membership political communication populism vlaams belang Political science (General) JA1-92
spellingShingle	mass parties party membership political communication populism vlaams belang Political science (General) JA1-92 Judith Sijstermans The Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century
description	Throughout its 40-year history, the Vlaams Belang (VB, Flemish Interest) has established itself as an important player within the Belgian party system, albeit with significant electoral fluctuations. In 2019, it became the second largest party in Flanders. The party developed and maintained a mass-party organisation by investing significantly in local party branches and in a rigid vertically articulated structure. It relies heavily on social media, particularly Facebook, to communicate to supporters beyond the more limited group of party members. Using both modern and traditional tools, VB representatives aim to create communities of supporters bonded to the party, facilitating dissemination of the party’s messages. Despite this investment in a grassroots organisation, the VB’s decision-making remains highly centralised. Social media and local branches allow informal consideration of members’ views, but the party has not created significant mechanisms for internal democracy. While it is often claimed that political parties have moved away from the “mass-party” model, this article demonstrates that the VB still maintains characteristics of the mass party, albeit with a modern twist. New social media tools facilitate attempts to foster communities and disseminate party messages among a wider group of supporters, both formal members and more informal sympathisers.
format	article
author	Judith Sijstermans
author_facet	Judith Sijstermans
author_sort	Judith Sijstermans
title	The Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century
title_short	The Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century
title_full	The Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century
title_fullStr	The Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century
title_full_unstemmed	The Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century
title_sort	vlaams belang: a mass party of the 21st century
publisher	Cogitatio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/15ff53d59d5e45d6a49c269aa53896ba
work_keys_str_mv	AT judithsijstermans thevlaamsbelangamasspartyofthe21stcentury AT judithsijstermans vlaamsbelangamasspartyofthe21stcentury
_version_	1718415033040371712

The Vlaams Belang: A Mass Party of the 21st Century

Ejemplares similares