The politics of Belgium take place in the framework of a federal, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy.

Since around 1970, the significant Belgian national political parties have split into distinct representations for each communities' interests, besides defense of their ideologies.

These parties belong to three main political families, though all close to the centre: the right-wing Liberals, the social conservative Christian Democrats and the Socialists forming the left-wing.

Politics is influenced by lobby groups, such as trade unions and employers' organizations such as the Federation of Belgian Enterprises.

[1] The Constitution of Belgium, the primary source of law and the basis of the political system of the Country, was established on February 7, 1831.

In 1970, in response to a growing civil conflict between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities in Brussels, the Government declared that "the unitary state, its structure and functioning as laid down by law, had become obsolete".

In 1993, the parliament approved a constitutional package transforming Belgium into a full-fledged federal state.

As titular head of state, the king plays a ceremonial and symbolic role in the nation.

In conditions where there is a "constructive vote of no-confidence," the government has to resign and the lower house of Parliament proposes a new prime minister to the king.

[2] The king is also seen as playing a symbolic unifying role, representing a common national Belgian identity.

Of total public spending (interest payments not considered), more than 30% is authorized by the regions and communities, although their financing comes for over 80% from national Belgian budgets; at the same time, the national government controls 100% of social security, and strictly limits the taxation policy by the federalized entities.

As a result, Belgian institutions still control over 90% of the effective, global taxation levels on individuals and companies.

In the Brussels region, there is another form of intermediate government, constituted by institutions from each of the two competent communities.

The election for the Belgian Chamber of Representatives is based on a system of open list proportional representation.

They are subjected to several limitations: Belgium is one of the few countries that has compulsory voting, thus having one of the highest rates of voter turnout in the world.

Parties run their own think tanks (centres d'études / studiedienst), research outfits that draft policy.

[9] Another important characteristic of Belgian national politics is the highly federal nature of decision making.

Given the historically very high public expenditure, and the very strict central control over taxation, even for revenues going to regions and communities, the tendency of Belgian governments to lower taxation and especially labour charges has been limited, at least if compared to radical-liberal approaches followed by certain other countries.

In the late 19th century, the Socialist Party arose to represent the emerging industrial working class.

After May 68, the country saw a growing environmental and left wing movement, that led to the foundation of the ecological parties Groen!

Especially in Flanders, the 1980s saw the growth of the far right, represented by the Vlaams Belang, which became one of the larger parties of the country in the 1990s.

Not simply a "bread and butter" movement in the American sense, Belgian labour unions take positions on education, public finance, defence spending, environmental protection, women's rights, abortion, and other issues.

Organised in 1912, the CSC/ACV rejects the Marxist concept of "class struggle" and seeks to achieve a just social order based on Christian principles.

Today the FGTB/ABVV is the leading union in the provinces of Hainaut, Namur, and Liège and matches the CSC/ACV in Brussels.

The less populated northern areas became Germanic, while in the southern part, where the Roman presence had been much stronger, Latin persisted despite the migrations of the Franks.

Francophone Wallonia became an early industrial boom area, affluent and politically dominant.

Dutch-speaking Flanders remained agricultural and was economically and politically outdistanced by Wallonia and the capital.

As Flemings became more educated and more well off, and sought a fair and equal share of political power, tensions between the two communities rose.

It also (modestly) reformed the bicameral parliamentary system and provided for the direct election of the members of the community and regional legislative councils.

At the end of the 20th century, it became clear that the main opposition between Flemings and Walloons was not primarily linguistic anymore, but had shifted to major political and demographic differences.