Belgium is a parliamentary democracy with a proportional representation system and two linguistic groups, Flemish and French-speaking. There are currently 11 parties sitting in the lower chamber of parliament (Pilet 2021), along with two independent MPs. This is testimony to Belgium’s fair and accessible electoral system, despite a 5% electoral threshold since early 2000 (Reuchamps et al. 201…
The Texas Public Information Act (the “Public Information Act” or the “Act”) gives the public the right to request access to government information. Below is a description of the basic procedures, rights and responsibilities under the Act. The Act is triggered when a person submits a written request to a governmental body. The request must ask for records or information already in exist…
For over 60 years, decentralisation has been one of the most powerful reform movements in the world, affecting all of its regions and most of its coun-tries. This marks a major inversion of the much-longer-term global pattern, which featured centralised public administrations and the gradual march of the bureaucratic instruments of centralisation across large parts of the world ove…
Cities are home to the majority of the world’s population, drivers of both national and global economic activity, hubs of culture and innovation, and are the locations in which many of society’s greatest challenges, from climate change to social unrest, play out. Given this, it is not surprising that, in recent years, cities have captured the global imagination. A focus on cities …