Do political parties support participatory democracy? A comparative analysis of party manifestos in Belgium

In recent decades, there has been an increase in participatory practices in public action. Such a steady increase in participatory democracy undermines the role of political parties, as greater participation risks blurring their current power. The question raised by this paper is whether political parties support participatory democracy. It is indeed relevant to know how political parties approach participatory democracy, as it is also their position on these new participatory arrangements that will determine the place these new practices will occupy in democracies. The paper is based on an analysis of all Belgian political parties that won at least one seat in the federal and regional elections from 2003 to 2019. In doing so, the paper will provide a better understanding of the perceptions and use of the tools of participatory democracy by political parties, which are the main guardians of most democracies.