"The Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte wrote, "This is not a pipe", under his famous painting of a pipe. One might also write, "This is not a country", under a picture of Belgium, playing like Magritte, little games with the eyes of the beholder. The picture of Belgium that is drawn in this book is, however, not an exercise in irony, but a first-rate analysis of the country and its sometimes puzzling and intriguing political institutions and practices. Belgium does combine a number of features that makes it at first sight quite unique and maybe impossible, but the solid political science presented by the contributions in this book explains convincingly why and how this is a real country indeed."Kris Deschouwer, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.