How is the growth and the structure of government spending in Belgium related to the political composition of the successive governments? A distinction is made between center-right and center-left governments. We find that during 1960-83 bath the growth and the composition of government spending has been unrelated to these two types of governments. There is one major exception. Spending for social security increases significantly faster during periods of center-right governments, even after correction for business cycle variables. These results are interpreted in the framework of the median-voter model.

Research concerning the Belgian delegates to the European Parliament from 1979 tot 1984, confirms the «law of weak parliaments» earlier put foward in a study by W. Dewachter and L. De Winter concerning the European Parliament from 1952 to 1979. Besides the importance as an institutional platform for the European integration, this parliament attracts weak candidates. The elections of 1984 have apparently not stimulated the efforts towards the European integration.

In Belgium, as in most countries, each Minister or Secretary is assisted by a limited number of trusted collaborators who constitute the Ministerial Office («Cabinet», «Kabinet»). The article is an attempt to shed a light on the Chief Ministerial Officer («Chef de Cabinet», «Kabinetschef») who is the closest collaborator of the Minister. In order to show the role of the Chief Ministerial Officer, the article first describes the tasks, powers and composition of the Ministerial Office to proceed to a more extensive analysis of the functions, the appointment of the Chief Ministerial Officer, and the question whether he can exercise executive power. The most important tasks of the Chief Ministerial Officer are: organization and coordination of the Office and its activities, acting as a «Liaison-Officer» with the Minister, passing on of information, exercising of a form of internal, political and administrative control. The article closes with some more personal remarks, pointing out a few guidelines which a Chief Ministerial Office, should keep in mind.