The Constitution of the Belgian people. The Nation as legitimisation

Abstract

Belgian opposition to the 1815 Constitution of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands began as soon as it was adopted. The Belgian insurrectionists essentially had two demands. In addition to respect for freedoms, they wanted recognition of ministerial responsibility, so that parliament would become the dominant power of the State. The National Congress, the author of the 1831 «Constitution of the Belgian people», opted for the representative system, in which the King loses his personal power. The National Congress considered the filter of representation as absolutely necessary, since direct management by the people themselves would open the door to passions and excesses. The National Congress adopted an extremely elitist electoral system for the parliament by inserting in the Constitution the provision that only «citizens» that pay a census are capable of actively exercising their electoral rights. Men not paying the required amount of taxes had no voting right. Regardless of their rank or status, women could not vote and could not be elected. Larger electoral rights are defended in the National Congress only by a few Catholic members. The still applicable Article 33, first paragraph, of the Constitution reads: «All powers emanate from the Nation». The term «the Nation» does not allude to “the people” or the current voters, but can be explained as an abstract, indivisible and enduring collective that includes citizens from the past, present and the future. The use of the intellectual term «the Nation» is in full keeping with the moderate representative system selected by the drafters of the Constitution, which – in the words of one of the founding fathers – does not belong to «the so-called democratic school».