Decrees in spades
The American president wants to pardon 1,500 participants in the assault on Capitol Hill. He wants to leave the Paris climate agreement (reduction of greenhouse gases), relaunch a more accelerated drilling policy and end subsidies for electric vehicles.
Donald Trump is preparing to bring the world into a state of trade war, notably by increasing tariffs by 25% on Canada and Mexico. On the immigration side, he is talking about suspending land rights and the refugee reception program while strengthening expulsions. Minorities risk experiencing difficult times. The head of state plans to end diversity programs (DEI), remove protections for transgender people and even recognize only two biological sexes.
Without wasting a single minute, the president/billionaire will, hand in hand with his new friend Elon Musk whom he placed at the head of the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), freeze hiring and cut administrative arms. of the government. On a more symbolic level, but which can be read as a launch of hostilities at the level of international diplomacy, Donald Trump wishes to rename the Gulf of Mexico and the Denali mountain.
Collective negotiations
In Belgium, there are also plenty of proposals. But they are not the work of one man, even if some criticize trainer Bart De Wever for always defending the same measures for months and trying to make them pass with wear and tear. Unlike the United States, the Belgian bicameral monarchy system requires that the winners of elections – of which there are multiple – work collectively to reach an agreement. In total asymmetry with the method imposed by force by Donald Trump and his deputy chief minister Stephen Miller, Belgian negotiators favor the path of compromise.
This is how certain proposals come and go. In August, there was talk of eliminating the day of sick leave without a certificate. At the start of the year, the measure is returning to the Arizona table. Taxation makes the bargains slip: tax the richest in Belgium more heavily, reform the pension system, review the indexation of salaries and social benefits, remove certain taxes… The N-VA and the MR have made radical suggestions on immigration, which are not always unanimous, such as the return of home visits against the non-enforcement of orders to leave the territory.
Two fundamentally different political systems
What explains this difference in speed between the two countries is notably institutional. The United States elects a man who comes with a party program. Belgium elects a series of representatives who will try to pool the programs of the different parties from which they come.
“In the United States, the system is presidential: the head of state concentrates a large part of the powers”explains Serge Jaumain (ULB), historian and specialist in the United States. “The executive is particularly strong there. The president is surrounded by a government made up of secretaries (equivalent to ministers), who are chosen by him. These secretaries must obtain the approval of the Senate for their appointment, but once in office, they cannot be removed from office by the Senate or the House of Representatives.
-Jacob Chansley, the “Shaman” of QAnon is pardoned by Donald Trump: “I’m going to buy some f*cking guns”
In Belgium, the parliamentary system means that the government does not rest on a president but on the support of the House of Representatives. “If the government loses the confidence of the House, it is obliged to resign. We have a system of proportional representation, with several parties. This requires the constitution of a parliamentary majority to form a government, which requires long negotiations. “
Across the Atlantic, Trump’s country functions mainly with two major parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. “Political arbitrations are therefore made within these two groups. The president generally adopts the broad outlines of his party’s program”. Donald Trump has indeed been working on his return to the White House for years. His decrees were refined in recent weeks so that he only had to sign them after his enthronement.
This concentration of power is reinforced by the fact that the president has an entire administration at his command, the members of which report only to him. And that Congress (House and Senate) is his since his party, the Republicans, is in the majority there.
However, Serge Jaumain keeps a reassuring note in his analysis. “The United States remains a democracy. The American president has considerable power, but he does not benefit from full powers. We remain within a democratic framework where some of its measures can be contested, particularly if they encounter opposition from Congress.”
