The DNA of Flanders: What do the Flemish really want?

In the Flemish elections of 1999, the three traditional parties in Flanders (Christian Democrats, Socialists and Liberals) still won 59%. Twenty years later, in 2019, together they account for barely 38.6% of the voters. Much has already been written about the possible causes of this decline, but perhaps it is simply time to investigate what the Flemish want. In recent years, the VRT, in collaboration with the research agency Why5Research of Jan Callebaut, has had a large-scale study carried out. This shows how Flanders has changed in ten years, and how the DNA of the Flemish has evolved during that period. 'What keeps the Flemish awake at night? Which institutions do they trust? What are the priorities that politicians should focus on?' These are the questions that the Flemish interviewee was presented with. He also had to rank a list of 'values', 'convictions' and 'personality traits' each time. It turns out that the traditional parties have a harder time – unlike Groen, N-VA and Vlaams Belang – connecting with the six different ideals of the Flemish. Perhaps CD&V, Open Vld and sp.a should listen to what the Flemish really want? 'There are plenty of opinions about the political situation, but much less knowledge about what is actually going on. Based on a fine-meshed data analysis, Jan Callebaut and Ivan De Vadder hold up a mirror to us: this is who we are, this is how we vote and that is why we do it. Enlightening and revealing …' - CAROLINE PAUWELS, RECTOR VUB 'The fascinating data and wise insights that Ivan De Vadder and Jan Callebaut bring together in this book are very valuable for anyone involved in politics. A thousand times more relevant than the changing pecking order in polls. Many parties are looking for themselves and resurrection, with this book they can make well-founded and sensible choices.' - CARL DEVOS, UGENT Ivan De Vadder (1964) is a political journalist (VRT), knows the ins and outs of Belgian politics like no other and presents De Afspraak on Friday. Jan Callebaut (1955) founded Censydiam (Center for Systematic Diagnostics in Marketing) as a market research specialist. Today he is active in Callebautcollective.com, a young marketing ecosystem.