Politics in the Netherlands Politiek in Nederland (Dutch) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Constitution | Constitution of the Netherlands |
| Legislative branch | |
| Name | States General |
| Type | Bicameral |
| Meeting place | Inner Court |
| Upper house | |
| Name | Senate |
| Presiding officer | Mei Li Vos,President of the Senate |
| Lower house | |
| Name | House of Representatives |
| Presiding officer | Thom van Campen,Speaker of the House of Representatives |
| Executive branch | |
| Head of state | |
| Title | King or Queen |
| Currently | King Willem-Alexander |
| Appointer | Hereditary |
| Head of government | |
| Title | King or Queen (de jure) Prime Minister (de facto) |
| Currently | Dick Schoof |
| Appointer | Monarch |
| Cabinet | |
| Name | Cabinet of the Netherlands Council of Ministers |
| Current cabinet | Schoof cabinet |
| Leader | Prime Minister |
| Deputy leader | Deputy Prime Minister |
| Appointer | Monarch |
| Headquarters | Inner Court |
| Ministries | 15 |
| Judicial branch | |
| Name | Judiciary of the Netherlands |
| Supreme Court | |
| Chief judge | Dineke de Groot |
| Seat | The Hague |
| This article is part ofa series on |
| Politics of the Netherlands |
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TheNetherlands is a sovereign state with aparliamentaryrepresentative democracy. Aconstitutional monarchy, the country is organised as adecentralisedunitary state.[1] TheNetherlands can be described as aconsociational state.[2] Dutch politics and governance are characterised by a common striving for broadconsensus on important issues, within both of the political community and society as a whole.[1]
The Dutch Constitution lists the basiccivil andsocial rights of the Dutch citizens and it describes the position and function of the institutions that have executive, legislative and judiciary power.
The constitution applies to the Netherlands, one of the four constituent countries of theKingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands comprises all of the European territory, as well as theCaribbean islands ofBonaire,Sint Eustatius andSaba. The Kingdom as a whole (the Netherlands along withAruba,Curaçao andSint Maarten) has its ownStatute, describing itsfederate political system.
The Netherlands does not have aconstitutional court and judges do not have the authority toreview laws on their constitutionality. Internationaltreaties and the Statute of the Kingdom, however, overrule Dutch law and the Constitution, and judges are allowed to review laws against these in a particular court case. Furthermore, all legislation that is not a law in the strict sense of the word (such as policy guidelines or laws proposed by provincial or municipal government) can be tested on its constitutionality.[3]
Amendments to the Constitution must be approved by both Houses of theStates General (Dutch:Staten-Generaal) twice. The first time around, this requires a majority vote. After parliament has been dissolved and ageneral election has been held, both Houses must approve the proposed amendments again with a two-thirds majority.
The Netherlands is asovereign state with a democratic government.[4] It is adecentralisedunitary state, meaning that power is centralised in the national government, with local governments having to act in accordance.[5] Major political institutions are the monarchy, the cabinet, the States General and the judicial system. There are three other High Colleges of State, which stand on an equal footing with parliament but have a less political role, of which the Council of State is the most important. Other levels of government are the municipalities, the water boards and the provinces. Although not mentioned in the Constitution, political parties and the social partners organised in theSocial and Economic Council are important political institutions as well.
The Netherlands does not have a traditionalseparation of powers between thelegislative,executive, andjudicial branches. Having aparliamentary system, the government (the monarch and ministers) is formed based on parliamentary majority.[6] According to the Constitution, the States General and the government sharelegislative power. All legislation has to pass through the Council of State (Dutch:Raad van State) for advice and the Social and Economic Council advises the government on most socio-economic legislation.Executive power is reserved for the government. The Social and Economic Council also has the special right to make and enforce legislation in specific sectors, mostly in agriculture. Thejudicial power is divided into two separate systems of courts. For civil andcriminal law the independentSupreme Court is the highest court, while foradministrative law the Council of State is the highest court, which isex officio chaired by the monarch.
Dutch politics is characterised by seeking compromises.[7]
The present monarchy was founded in 1813. After the expulsion of the French, thePrince of Orange was proclaimed Sovereign Prince of the Netherlands. The new monarchy was confirmed in 1815 at theCongress of Vienna as part of the re-arrangement of Europe after the fall ofNapoleon. The House of Orange-Nassau was given the present-day Netherlands and Belgium to govern as theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890, the King of the Netherlands was alsoGrand Duke of Luxembourg.
The current monarch isWillem-Alexander, while theheir apparent isCatharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange.
Constitutionally, the monarch ishead of state and has a role in the legislative process, as he has to co-sign every law to make it valid. The monarch is alsoex officio chair of theCouncil of State, which advises the cabinet on every piece of legislation and is the final court foradministrative law. Although King Willem-Alexander takes these functions seriously, he refrains from exerting his power in these positions. Until 2012, the monarch also played a central role in theformation of a cabinet after ageneral election or a cabinet crisis. The monarch used to appoint theinformateur,[8] who chairs the formation talks, after consulting the parliamentary leaders of all parties represented in the lower house of the States General. Because this advice was a matter of public record, the monarch could not easily take a direction that was contrary to the advice of a majority in parliament. On the other hand, what was actually talked about behind the closed doors of the palace was not known. Upon the conclusion of formation talks, the monarch appoints the cabinet. Upon the fall of a government, the Prime Minister has to request the monarch to dismiss the cabinet.
The government of the Netherlands (regering) constitutionally consists of the monarch and the ministers. The monarch only plays a role in the appointment of ministers, and is not involved in decision-making. The ministers collectively form theCouncil of Ministers. This executive council meets every Friday in theTrêveszaal at theBinnenhof, and initiates laws and policy. While most of the ministers head government ministries, since 1939 it has been permissible to appointministers without portfolio. ThePrime Minister of the Netherlands presides over the cabinet and is the most important political figure of the Dutch government.
The Dutch cabinet is characterised by a high degree of collegiality and collective decision-making. The prime minister draws up the agenda and chairs Council of Minister meetings, but lacks the prerogative to appoint or remove ministers without the formal approval of the whole cabinet. Moreover, the prime minister's office is limited in size. Despite these limitations, the prime minister's position has grown in importance since the 1960s as a result of increased media attention, increasing demand for policy coordination and European integration.[9]
The national government (Rijksoverheid orhet Rijk) consists of ministries, the implementing organizations that fall under the responsibility of ministries, inspectorates, and High Councils of State,[10] and is involved in the preparation and implementation of the plans of the government and parliament.
Some of themost highly regarded Prime Ministers of the Netherlands include:
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The Dutch Parliament, officially known as the States General of the Netherlands, consists of aHouse of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) and aSenate (Eerste Kamer). Both chambers are housed in theBinnenhof inThe Hague and discuss proposed legislation and review the actions of the cabinet. Only the House of Representatives has the right to propose or amend legislation while the Senate discusses its value regarding the Dutch law since the Netherlands has no constitutional court. Currently there are 150 members of the House of Representatives and 75 Senators.
Members of the House are elected directly every four years usingparty-list proportional representation. Representatives are chosen on personal title, so when a member no longer agrees with his or her party, the member can decide to stay in the chamber, either as an independent representative, or as a member of another parliamentary party. If a member decides to resign, the empty seat falls to the original party collecting the votes, and is offered to the highest placed candidate on the party's electoral list who was not elected. Coalition governments may fall before their term expires, which usually results in early dissolution of the House and new elections.
Members of the Senate are elected indirectly by provincial councilors,[11] again every four years, just after the elections of the provincial councils, via a system ofproportional representation. Nowadays, the Senate is mainly considered to be a body of elder statesmen reconsidering legislation at ease, away from the pressure of daily political and media hypes. The position of senator is a part-time job as the institution meets once a week.
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The system of proportional representation, combined with the historical social division between Catholics, Protestants, socialists and liberals, has resulted in a multiparty system. The parties currently represented in theDutch House of Representatives are:
The Council of State is an advisory body of cabinet on constitutional and judicial aspects of legislation and policy. All proposed legislation is sent to the Council of State for advice. Although the advice is not binding, the cabinet is required to respond to the advice and it often plays a significant role in the ensuing debate in Parliament. In addition, the council is the highestadministrative court.
The council isex officio chaired by the monarch. The probable heir to the throne becomes a member of the Council when reaching legal adulthood. The monarch leaves daily affairs to theVice-President of the Council of State, currentlyThom de Graaf, and the other councillors, who are mainly legal specialists, former ministers, members of parliament and judges or professors of law.
The Dutch political system has five so-calledHigh Councils of State, which are explicitly regarded as independent by the Constitution. Apart from the two Houses of Parliament and the Council of State, these are theCourt of Audit and theNational Ombudsman.
The Court of Audit investigates whether public funds are collected and spent legitimately and effectively. The National Ombudsman investigates complaints about the functioning and practices of government. As with the advice of the Council of State, the reports from these organisations are not easily put aside and often play a role in public and political debate.
The judiciary comprises eleven district courts, four courts of appeal, three administrative courts of appeal (Central Appeals Tribunal,Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal and Council of State) and theSupreme Court. All judicial appointments are made by the Government. Judges are appointed for life until they retire at the age of 70.
As part of the Dutch tradition of depoliticised consensus-based decision making, the government often makes use of advisory councils composed of academic specialists or representatives of stakeholders.
The most prominent advisory council is theSocial and Economic Council (Dutch:Sociaal Economische Raad, SER), which is composed of representatives oftrade unions andemployers' organisations, along with government-appointed specialists. It is consulted at an early stage in financial, economic and social policy-making. It advises government and its advice, like the advice of theHigh Councils of State, cannot easily be set aside. The SER heads a system ofPBOs, self-regulating organisations that contribute to making laws for specific economic sectors.
The following organisations are represented in the Social and Economic Council, accounting for two thirds of its membership:
The remaining third of the members of the council are appointed by the government. These include professors of economics and related fields, as well as representatives of theBureau for Economic Policy Analysis andDe Nederlandsche Bank. In addition, representatives of environmental and consumers' organisations are represented in SER working groups.
Other prominent advisory bodies are
The Netherlands is divided into twelve provinces, which are responsible forspatial planning,health policy andrecreation, within the bounds prescribed by the national government. Furthermore, they oversee the policy and finances of municipalities and water boards.Provincial councils are directly elected by inhabitants every four years. Executive authority is exercised by theKing's (or Queens's) commissioner and the college of theprovincial executive. The commissioner is appointed by the national government and is responsible to theMinister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Members of the provincial executive are appointed by, and responsible to the provincial council.
Local government in the Netherlands is formed by 342 municipalities (as of 2023). Municipalities are responsible foreducation,spatial planning andsocial security, within the bounds prescribed by the national and provincial government. Like provincial councils,municipal councils are directly elected every four years. Municipalities are governed by themunicipal executive, consisting of the mayor and a number of aldermen. The mayor is appointed by the national government and responsible to the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The aldermen are appointed by, and responsible to the municipal council. The major cities ofAmsterdam andRotterdam are subdivided into administrative areas (stadsdelen), which have their own (limited) responsibilities.
Local government on theCaribbean Netherlands is formed by three public bodies sometimes called "special municipalities" which are not part of a province. They are governed by a Lieutenant-general (Dutch:gezaghebber) and "eilandgedeputeerden" which are responsible to theisland council, which is elected by direct suffrage. Their activities are similar to but wider than those of municipalities.
Furthermore, there arewater boards which are responsible for the country's inland waterways,groundwater levels,polders,dikes and otherwaterworks. These boards are ruled by representatives of companies, farmers and nature conservation organisations and representatives who are elected by citizens in the area. They have the power to tax their residents.
The Netherlands forms a singleconstituency during general elections. Parties participating in an election submit a ranked list of candidates, based on which members of parliament are chosen. The Netherlands has anopen list system, meaning that the ordering of theparty list can be altered by preference votes. Theelectoral quota, the number of votes necessary to win a single seat in the House of Representatives (about 0.7% of the vote), serves as theelectoral threshold. Because of this, smaller parties can secure seats in parliament.[12]
Theforeign policy of theNetherlands is based on four basic commitments: toTransatlantic relations,European integration,international development andinternational law. While historically the Netherlands used to be a neutral state, it has joined many international organisations sinceWorld War II, most prominently theUnited Nations,NATO and theEuropean Union. The Dutch economy is very open and heavily reliant on international trade. One of the more controversial international issues surrounding the Netherlands is itsliberal policy towards soft drugs.
Dutch policies onrecreational drugs,prostitution,same-sex marriage,abortion andeuthanasia are among the most liberal in the world.[citation needed]
The Netherlands has been aconstitutional monarchy since 1813 and aparliamentary democracy since 1848. Previously, it was arepublic from 1581 to 1806, and a kingdom between 1806 and 1810 (it was part ofFrance between 1810 and 1813).[citation needed]
Before 1917, the Netherlands had atwo-round system withcensus suffrage (per the Constitution of 1814), in which only property-owning adult males had the right to vote. Under influence of the risingsocialist movement the requirements were gradually reduced until in 1917 the presentparty-list proportional representation voting system withuniversal manhood suffrage was instituted, expanded in 1919 to include women.
Until 1966, Dutch politics was characterised bypillarisation. Society was separated into several segments (pillars) which lived separately from each other and there was only contact at the top levels, in government. These pillars had their own organisations, most importantly the political parties. There were four pillars, which provided the five most important parties, the socialistLabour Party (PvdA), the conservative liberalPeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), theCatholic People's Party (KVP) and the two conservative Protestant parties, theChristian Historical Union (CHU) and theAnti-Revolutionary Party (ARP). Since no party ever won an absolute majority, these political parties had to work together in coalition governments. These alternated between a centre-left "Roman/Red" coalition of PvdA, KVP, ARP and CHU and a centre-right coalition of VVD, KVP, ARP and CHU.
In the 1960s, new parties appeared, which were mostly popular with young voters, who felt less bound to the pillars. The post-warbabyboom meant that there had been a demographic shift to lower ages. On top of that, the voting age was lowered, first from 23 to 21 years in 1963 and then to 18 years in 1972. The most successful new party was theprogressive liberalDemocrats 66 (D66), which proposed democratisation to break down pillarisation.
Pillarisation declined, with the three Christian democratic parties losing almost half of their votes. In 1977 they merged into theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA), which became a major force in Dutch politics, participating in governments uninterruptedly from 1977 until 1994. Meanwhile, the conservative liberal VVD and D66 made large electoral gains.
The Dutchwelfare state had become the most extensivesocial security system in the world by the early eighties, but it came into crisis when spending rose due to dramatic highunemployment rates and poor economic growth. The early eighties saw unemployment rise to over 11% and thebudget deficit rose to 10.7% of the national income. The centre-right and centre-left coalitions of CDA–VVD and CDA–PvdA reformed the Dutch welfare state to bring the budget deficit under control and to create jobs. Social benefits were reduced, taxes lowered and businesses deregulated. Gradually the economy recovered and the budget deficit and unemployment were reduced considerably.
When the far-left parties lost much electoral support in the 1986 elections, they decided to merge into the newGroenLinks in 1989, with considerable success.
In the1994 general election, the CDA lost nearly half its seats, while D66 doubled in size. For the first time in eighty years, a coalition was formed without the Christian democrats. Thepurple coalition was formed between PvdA, D66 and VVD. The colour purple symbolised the mixing of socialist red with liberal blue. During the purple years, which lasted until 2002, the government introduced legislation onabortion,euthanasia, andgay marriage. The purple coalition also marked a period of remarkable economic prosperity.
Since 2000, the Netherlands has largely supported the European Union and taken marked steps to integrate itself with it and improve its ties withNATO.[13]Globalization, theintroduction of the Euro, theenlargement of the European Union, theenlargement of NATO, theaftermath of the Orange Revolution and other factors have contributed to that.
The purple coalition lost its majority in the2002 general election due to the rise of thePim Fortuyn List (LPF), the new political party led by the flamboyant populistPim Fortuyn. He campaigned on an anti-immigration programme and spoke ofthe "Purple Chaos" (Dutch:Puinhopen van Paars). Fortuyn was shot dead nine days before the elections. The LPF entered theHouse of Representatives with one-sixth of the seats, while the PvdA lost half its seats. Acabinet was formed by CDA, VVD, and LPF, led byPrime MinisterJan Peter Balkenende. It proved short-lived: after only 87 days in power, the coalition fell apart as a result of consecutive conflicts within the LPF and between LPF ministers.
In the ensuingJanuary 2003 general election, the LPF dropped to only five percent of the seats in the House of Representatives. The left-wingSocialist Party (SP) led byJan Marijnissen became the fourth strongest party there. The centre-rightsecond Balkenende cabinet was formed by the CDA, the VVD, and the D66. Against popular sentiment, the right-wing coalition initiated a programme ofwelfare state reforms,healthcare privatisation, and stricterimmigration policies. On 1 June 2005, the Dutch electorate voted in areferendum against the proposedEuropean Constitution by a majority of 61.54%, three days after 57.67% of the French voters hadrejected the treaty.
In June 2006, D66 withdrew its support for the coalition in the aftermath of the upheaval about the asylum procedure ofAyaan Hirsi Ali instigated by immigration ministerRita Verdonk. As a result, the caretakerthird Balkenende cabinet was formed by CDA and VVD. The ensuingNovember 2006 general election saw a major advance of the SP, which almost tripled in size and became the third largest party with 17% of the seats, while the moderate PvdA lost a quarter of its seats. At the other end of the spectrum, LPF lost all its seats, while the new anti-immigrantParty for Freedom (PVV) went from nothing to 6% of the seats, becoming the fifth largest party. This polarisation made theformation negotiations very difficult. The talks resulted in the formation of the social-Christianfourth Balkenende cabinet supported by CDA, PvdA, and theChristian Union. This cabinet was oriented at solidarity, durability, and "norms and values".
In February 2010, the PvdA withdrew its support for the fourth Balkenende cabinet. The PvdA disagreed with prolonging the Dutch military involvement inAfghanistan. In the following2010 general election, the VVD became the biggest party with 31 seats, followed closely by the PvdA with 30 seats. The right-wing PVV went from 9 to 24 seats, while the CDA lost half of their support and was left with 21 seats. The SP lost 10 of its 25 seats, and both D66 and GroenLinks got 10 seats. The Christian Union, the smallest coalition party, lost 1 of its 6 seats. Both the SGP and the PvdD kept their 2 seats. Thefollowing cabinet formation eventually resulted in thefirst Rutte cabinet, aminority government formed by VVD and CDA, supported in parliament by the PVV.
In April 2012, the PVV withdrew its support for the Rutte cabinet after failed negotiations about the government budget for 2013. A political crisis followed, in which the parliamentary fractions of the VVD, CDA, D66, GroenLinks and the Christian Union, together disposing of a parliamentary majority, came to a temporary agreement for the 2013 budget. What followed in September 2012 was the2012 general election, in which both the VVD and the PvdA won considerably, gaining 41 and 38 seats respectively.
The three parties that lost most were the PVV, sinking from 24 to 15 seats, the CDA, continuing their 2010 loss and winning only 13 seats, and GroenLinks, sinking from 10 to only 4 seats. The SP (15 seats), Christian Union (5 seats) and PvdD (2 seats) were stable, whereas D66 (10 to 12 seats) and SGP (2 to 3 seats) won mildly. Newcomer was50PLUS, a pensioners' party, gaining 2 seats. In November 2012, after a relatively short cabinet formation, thesecond Rutte cabinet was formed by VVD and PvdA.
The second Rutte cabinet was followed by thethird Rutte cabinet in October 2017, after the2017 general election. It consisted of the VVD, CDA, D66 and CU.
In 2019,protests commenced with thousands of Dutch farmers who consider that "green policies" are a threat to their livelihood due to nitrogen consumption being limited and other policies which impose additional burdens on the ability to farm.[14][15]
On 15 January 2021, the Rutte cabinet resigned in the face of theDutch childcare benefits scandal.[16] In March 2021, centre-right VVD of Prime MinisterMark Rutte was the winner of theelections, securing 35 out of 150 seats. The second biggest party was the centre to centre-left D66 with 24 seats.Geert Wilders' radical-right party lost a few seats, whileThierry Baudet's radical-right partyForum for Democracy grew.[17] The ensuingfourth Rutte cabinet failed to reach a compromise on asylum policy and fell in July 2023, triggeringNovember snap election.[18] Theright-wing populist Party for Freedom (PVV), led byGeert Wilders, won the largest number of seats, and it formed the right-wingSchoof cabinet.[19]
The Netherlands were in 2023 considered the 17th most electoral democratic country in the world according to theV-Dem Democracy indices.[20]
Op basis daarvan is de rechter bevoegd te treden in de beoordeling van de grondwettigheid van lagere regelgeving en besluiten, maar niet van wetten in formele zin en verdragen
