Belgium and the NetherlandsAll over the world there are different types of political systems. Some countries may be federalist, monarchist or unitary. Countries that are geographically close to each other may have different political systems. Belgium was formerly a colony of the Netherlands before becoming independent in 1830. Although both countries continue to have a constitutional monarchy, Belgium has a different political system than the Netherlands. Differences between the formal institutions of Belgium and the Netherlands can be found by looking at their political institutions, voting methods, and government composition. Open-list proportional representation is used in Belgium and allows coalition governments to form due to the large number of parties. Since voting is compulsory in Belgium, you have the choice between 5 options: invalid vote, alternative choice, vote for the list as a whole, preference for an unregistered person or selection of an unregistered person. Coalition governments can form because no one is able to achieve a majority and the parties collide. In the 2010 elections, the top three parties were the New Flemish Alliance, the Socialist Party and the Christian Democratic and Flemish Party. Using proportional representation to establish coalition governments can be a good thing because it allows for greater diversity, but a bad thing at the same time because small parties will unknowingly promote ideas that are not important to the public. One important difference is the voting rules of the two countries. Although they are different, both countries use proportional representation leading to multi-partyism. The legal voting age in both countries is 18 or over, but Belgium imposes voting. Compulsory voting in Belgium stipulates that...... middle of paper ...... general cabinets are appointed by the king and the head ministers of the executive departments of government. With a very divided population, ministers are limited to 15 and divided between Dutch-speaking and French-speaking ministers. The government is administered by prime ministers and government ministers. The cabinet reflects the presence of political parties in the House. Although Belgium and the Netherlands are geographically close and Belgium was once a colony of the Netherlands, their internal intuitions vary. Coalition governments from multi-party systems and the presence of a constitutional monarchy are some characteristics of what each country shows. Countries that are close in certain areas can also be very distant ideologically. Works Cited Rachlis, E. (1963). The Netherlands. New York: New York Times Press.