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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2014
COMPARATIVE EXERCISES BETWEEN THE POLITICAL SYSTEMS of countries with little obvious common ground may not lead to convergences being discovered, but may be useful in bringing out, by the decorator's well known principle of contrast, the strongest and most salient features of each. It is in this spirit that the present essay has been undertaken, for the author would not seek to claim any evident link or close comparative yield from examination of these two countries.
They do, however, have more basic characteristics in common than might be imagined, at first sight. First, they both fall into the category of ‘small democracies’. Certainly Belgium with a population of 9.9 million is considerably larger than Denmark with its 5.1 million, but Belgium remains nevertheless in both world and even European Community terms a ‘small state’.
This article is based on the author's Politics in Denmark, London, Hurst, 1981 and Politics in Belgium, London, Hurst, 1983. It expresses the author's own opinions and in no way commits the institution for which he works.
2 The following abbreviations are used in the text for the Belgian political parties: CVP: Christelijke Volkspartij; PSC: Parti Social-Chrétien; RW: Rassemblement Wallon; SP: Socialistische Partij; PS: Parti Socialiste; PVV: Partij Voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang; PRL: Parti Réformateur Liberal; VU: Volksunie; FDF: Front Démocratique des Francophones.
3 Abbreviations used in the text for the Danish political parties are as follows: VS: Venstresocialisterne; DKP: Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti; SF: Socialistisk Folkeparti; S: Socialdemokratiet; RV or R: Radikale Venstre; LC: Liberalt Centrum; RFB/DR: Danmarks Retsforbundet (Justice League); CD: Centrumsdemokraterne; KRF: Kristeligt Folkeparti’, V: Venstre-Danmarks Liberal Parti; K/KF: Konservative Folkeparti; FRP: Fremskridtsparti; DS: Dansk Samling; U: De Uafhaengige (Independent Party); VKR: used to indicate the 1969–71 Venstre-KF-Radikale majority coalition; SV: used to indicate the 1978–79 Socialdemokratiet-Venstre coalition.