The Presence of Self-Employed People in Belgian Politics

B. Wauters and J. Lambrecht

Review of Business and Economic Literature, 2009, vol. 54, issue 1, 82-103

Abstract: It is, first of all, argued in this article that the self-employed constitute a professional category for which the descriptive representation in politics does make a difference. Parallels with the representation of women and ethnic minorities are drawn. Next, it is investigated whether the political presence of self-employed is low in Belgium. We do find that self-employed are not underrepresented in Belgian Parliament in comparison with their share in the population nor compared with other European countries. Moreover, self-employed do not serve for a shorter period of time nor do they belong less to government parties. As for the entrepreneurs in Parliament, there has not been a decline. There has been, however, a decrease in the percentage of free and intellectual professions owing to processes of democratization, only slightly counter-balanced by processes of professionalisation. This downward trend can also be found in government, and also for entrepreneurs in government.

Date: 2009
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sen:rebelj:v:54:i:1:y:2009:p:82-103

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