Based on the growing scholarly recognition of domestic influences on foreign policy, political parties are considered to be among the main drivers behind foreign policy in most parliamentary democracies. In order to understand party influences on the governmental foreign policy agenda, we examine what determines the congruence between party manifestos and the ensuing government agreements in Belgium from 1978 to 2008. We find that a combination of variables related to political parties’ negotiation position during government formation and regarding their ideological left-right position co-determine their impact on the content of the coalition agreement in terms of foreign policy priorities. This study shows that political parties differ in their foreign policy priorities and that they compete to see these priorities included in the future government’s policy program.

中文翻译：

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超越水边：政党如何影响比利时的外交政策制定

基于越来越多的学术认可国内对外交政策的影响，政党被认为是大多数议会民主国家外交政策的主要推动力之一。为了了解政党对政府外交政策议程的影响，我们研究了 1978 年至 2008 年比利时政党宣言与随后的政府协议之间的一致性的决定因素。我们发现与政党在政府期间的谈判立场相关的变量组合形成和他们的意识形态左右立场共同决定了他们在外交政策优先事项方面对联盟协议内容的影响。