Engineering representation in multilevel democracies: The Belgian case illustrating reflections on bicameral systems

Objectives: In federal systems both the people as a whole (demos) and the statespeople (demoi) need to be represented, be it in a unicameral or bicameral set-up. In Belgium, this is increasingly debated, to the extent that the abolition of the second chamber is on the political agenda. What are the theoretical and empirical alternatives to organize representation in federal systems, and to what extent can they be applied to the Belgian federation? While literature on federal systems and most federations search for a more optimal representation of the demoi, Belgium is confronted with the opposite challenge: how to guarantee the representation of the demos in a set-up that favours representation of the demoi. Methodology: This is a theoretical and reflective text based on federalism theory and insights from, among others, EU studies. Results: In this article we argue that the solution to balance this representation can be both unicameral and bicameral. The crux in either is a change in the election of the parliamentarians representing the demos. This could be achieved by electing a part of the Chamber of Representatives through a nationwide, federal circumscription. Conclusions: The main take-away is the need to pay more attention to the representation of the demos at the federal level, especially in multi-level governance systems characterized by devolving tendencies.