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Thepolder model (Dutch:poldermodel) is a method ofconsensus decision-making, based on the Dutch version of consensus-based economic and social policymaking in the 1980s and 1990s.[1][2] It gets its name from the Dutch word (polder) for tracts of land enclosed by dikes.
The polder model has been described as "a pragmatic recognition of pluriformity" and "cooperation despite differences". It is thought that the Dutch politicianIna Brouwer was the first to use the termpoldermodel, in her 1990 article "Het socialisme als poldermodel?" ("Socialism as Polder Model?"), although it is uncertain whether she coined the term or simply seems to have been the first to write it down.[1][3]
The Dutch polder model is characterised by thetripartist cooperation betweenemployers' organisations such asVNO-NCW,labour unions such as theFederation Dutch Labour Movement, and thegovernment. These talks are embodied in theSocial-Economic Council (Dutch:Sociaal-Economische Raad, SER). The SER serves as the central forum to discuss labour issues and has a long tradition of consensus, often defusing labour conflicts and avoidingstrike actions. Similar models are in use inFinland, namely theComprehensive Income Policy Agreement anduniversal validity of collective labour agreements.
The current Dutch polder model is said to have begun with theWassenaar Agreement of 1982, when unions, employers, and government decided on a comprehensive plan to revitalise the economy involving shorter working times and less pay on the one hand, and more employment on the other,[4] has increasingly steered in the direction of aneoliberal economic policy ofprivatisation and budget cuts.
An important role in this process was played by the DutchCentral Planning Bureau (CPB), founded byJan Tinbergen. The CPB's policy advice since 1976, in particular with the Den Hartog and Tjan model, in favour ofwage restraint, was an important argument, supportive for government and employers, that the unions could not easily counter. Many authors and researchers have argued that the importance of the Wassenaar Agreement has been largely overrated.[5][6][7][8] Most of these writers have argued that considerable continuity can be seen from the 1950s onwards. Historian Stijn Kuipers, goes even further. In an article reliant on the work of Coen Helderman,[9] Kuipers argues that the modern socioeconomic polder model already manifested itself in 1920 with the Dutch High Council of Labour. It follows that the polder model is therefore much older and could have had a larger influence on Dutch society and economy than previously thought.[8]
The term polder model and especially the verbpolderen ("to polder") has been used pejoratively by some politicians to describe the slow decision-making process where all parties have to be heard. The model flourished under thepurple coalition governments of Prime MinisterWim Kok, a coalition including the traditional rivals theLabour Party (asocial democratic party, whose colour is red) and thePeople's Party for Freedom and Democracy (conservative liberals, whose colour is blue). In the declining economic climate of the early 21st century, the model came under fierce attack particularly fromright-wing politicians andPim Fortuyn in his book entitledDe puinhopen van acht jaar Paars (The Wreckage of Eight Years Purple).
There is no consensus about the exact historical background of the polder model. In general, there are three views on this subject. One explanation points to the rebuilding of theNetherlands afterWorld War II.Corporatism was an important feature ofChristian democracy and particularlyCatholic political thought. During the postwar period, the Catholic, Protestant, Christian, social democratic, and liberal parties decided to work together to reconstruct the Netherlands, as didlabour unions andemployers' organizations. Important institutions of the polder model like the SER were founded in this period. No single political party has ever had anything approaching an overall majority in parliament, so acoalition government is inevitable. This makes parties extremely cautious, since today's enemy may be tomorrow's ally, all the more so in present times when the perceived death of ideology has made it possible for almost all the parties to work together.[citation needed]
Another explanation points to the dependency of the Netherlands oninternational trade and theworld economy. The Dutch cannot affordprotectionism against the unpredictable tides of the international economy because the Netherlands is not anautarkic economy. To cushion against the international economy, they set up theSocial-Economic Council, which oversaw an extensivewelfare state.[citation needed] A third explanation refers to a unique aspect of the Netherlands, that it consists in large part ofpolders, land reclaimed from the sea, which requires constant pumping and maintenance of thedykes. Ever since theMiddle Ages, when the process of land reclamation began, different societies living in the same polder have been forced to cooperate because without unanimous agreement on shared responsibility for maintenance of the dykes and pumping stations, the polders would have flooded and everyone would have suffered. Crucially, even when different cities in the same polder were at war, they still had to cooperate in this respect. This is thought to have taught the Dutch to set aside differences for a greater purpose.[citation needed]
