If federalism works only in big countries, why did Belgium adopt it?

It is true that federalism works best in big countries where the nation has the opportunity of forming multiple levels of government for smooth functioning and equal representation. The case of Belgium, on the other hand, was solely based on the latter condition of the two mentioned above.

Firstly, the country was divided on the basis of culture and language, which can prove to be a big barrier as far as democracy is concerned. If not handled wisely, it can lead to outcomes such as majoritarianism, as in Sri Lanka. Belgium was divided into two major communities – one Dutch-speaking, and the other French-speaking. The problem was that the ratio of Dutch to French in the rest of the country was 59 to 40, while in the capital city it was 80 to 20. This would have led to multiple issues as far as the political stability of the country was concerned.

Therefore, a federal setup was encouraged to get rid of any cultural disputes in the future. In both the setups, equal representation of both language-speaking people was mandated. The regional governments were given powers independent of the central government because of the disparity in ratios and for the purpose of smoother functioning. Hence, we see that in the case of Belgium, the reason for the federal setup was not the population but the diversity of the people which could have led to bitter conditions.