比利時協和式民主制度，向來被譽為有能力以和平方式解決國內紛爭。但過去近十年來，比利時持續性政治僵局引起人們的懷疑，比利時聯邦制國家還走得下去嗎？比利時的地區性政黨（VB、N-VA），於1990年代及21世紀選舉中有亮麗的表現。他們以法蘭德斯地區利益為優先的訴求，導致法蘭德斯有走向分離主義及國家朝邦聯化方向發展的可能，對比利時政治體制影響可謂有重大。地區性政黨有很深的傳統「法蘭德斯運動」基礎，這是從1830年比利時獨立以來，就一直在追求法蘭德斯更大的自主權。本文將探討地區性政黨如何崛起，在過去歷年選舉的表現狀況；並且分析地區性政黨的意識型態、發展過程、興衰原因，以及對法蘭德斯分離運動的影響。

Belgian consociational democracy is often praised for its ability to deal peacefully with the country's internal divisions. In the past decade political stalemates have raised doubts over whether Belgium will continue. Regionalist parties (VB, N-VA) were very successful in Belgium in the 1990s and continue to be successful in the 21th century. Their impact on the political system is important, since their regionalist agenda has led to a Flemish separatist movement and to a reform of the state toward a confederal logic. Regionalist parties have their roots in the ＂Flemish Movement＂, a collective term for a plurality of people and organizations that have pushed for greater Flemish autonomy since Belgium achieved independence in 1830. In this article we describe the spectacular electoral rise of the regionalist parties and the subsequent search for an electoral niche in a party system. This paper also presents an analysis of regionalist parties, their ideology, development, success and decline, and impact on the Flemish separatist movement.