Boudewijn Bouckaert

Boudewijn Bouckaert is a Belgian liberal thinker and politician, adhering to more radical-liberal views than the vast majority of Flemish liberals Fact|date=February 2007. He is chairman of the classical liberal Nova Civitas think tank and a member of List Dedecker.

Boudewijn Bouckaert holds a PhD and works as a University Professor at the Law School of the University of Ghent, the University of Paris and the University of Aix-Marseille. He is director of the "Department of Legal Theory and History".

He has been lecturer at the Institute for Humane Studies in Fairfax, Virginia, at the Institute for Economic Studies in Paris, France and also at Harvard University. He is a member of the Belgian "High Council for Judicial Matters" and chairman of the "Land Management Committee".

In 2006, Boudewijn Bouckaert succeeded professor Matthias Storme as chairman of the Overlegcentrum van Vlaamse Verenigingen (OVV, or "Meeting Association of Flemish Organizations"), the most important flamingant organization in Belgium.

On June 7th, 2007 his pregnant 29 years old wife Katrien Van den Berghe passed away in Ghent's University Hospital suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage. Their unborn son Elias could also not be saved.

VLD

Bouckaert was a member of the board of the Flemish liberal party VLD. In 2005 he created a stir though, when he publicly called for an "evolution to the formation of a two-party system after the Anglo-Saxon model." With "two homogenous groups," Bouckaert concluded, "a left-wing bloc around the SP.A, ACV and Groen!, and a right wing bloc with the VLD, the right wing of the CD&V, the N-VA and the Vlaams Belang." [nl icon cite web|title=Het hart op de tong van Boudewijn Bouckaert (VLD)|url=http://www.tertio.be/archief/2005/T281/T281-k1.htm|publisher=Tertio|date=2005-06-29] His opinions were against the party line, and an agreement within the VLD to not criticize the party line. A conflict ensued between Bouckaert and party chairman Bart Somers, which ended on July 8, 2005, when Bouckaert stepped down from the party board.

After the dismissal of Jean-Marie Dedecker from the VLD, Hugo Coveliers, Dedecker and Boudewijn Bouckaert (and other Nova Civitas members) started negotiations to form a new right wing liberal party. Bouckaert handed in his party resignation on October 27, 2006, stating that the VLD "has become a left-liberal party that leans towards the SP.A." [nl icon cite news|title=Boudewijn Bouckaert stapt uit de VLD|url=http://www.vrtnieuws.net/nieuwsnet_master/versie2/nieuws/details/061027bouckaertweg/index.shtml|publisher=VRT Nieuws|date=2006-10-27] The social democratic SP.A is currently a partner of the VLD in the Verhofstadt II government. Bouckaert briefly joined the N-VA political party, together with Jean-Marie Dedecker, [nl iconcite news|title=Ook professor Bouckaert maakt overstap|url=http://www.standaard.be/Artikel/Detail.aspx?artikelId=DMF30112006_021|publisher=De Standaard|date=2006-11-30] but sided with Dedecker after his N-VA dismissal and List Dedecker foundation.

Trivia

* He delivered the "Wieser Memorial Lecture" at the 2007 Prague "Conference on Political Economy", in April 2007, at the Liberalní Institut, a Czech free market think tank. [http://pcpe.libinst.cz/pcpe/]
* He was a lecturer at the first and second Liberty Seminar held in Leuven (Belgium) in July 2007 and August 2008.
* Raised Catholic, he got involved in secular humanism ("vrijzinnigheid") in his student days, but is now a member of Belgium's small Protestant community

References

External links

* [http://www.novacivitas.org Nova Civitas Official Webpage]