Candidate centred campaigning in a party centred context: The case of Belgium

Candidates to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives vary considerably with regard to the extent to which they run personalized campaigns. However, very few candidates get elected on the basis of preference votes. In light of this weak link between preference voting and the actual allocation of mandates, this paper asks about why Belgian candidates run personalized campaigns at all. Our findings point to the impact of the following factors in this regard: district magnitude, party magnitude, electoral safety, and seniority with regard to party organizational offices. Furthermore, our findings also demonstrate considerable differences between Belgian parties with regard to the extent to which their candidates run personalized campaigns.