by Frank
Wed Jun 15th, 2005 at 06:22:15 PM EST
This is meant to be a layman's introduction to Dutch politics. It will give a brief description of the constitutional basis and the global workings of the parliamentary system.
A constitutional monarchy.
Dutch democracy in its current form came into existence with the constitution of 1848, which forced the king (Willem II) to give up most of the powers of a monarchy, and made the Kingdom of the Netherlands into a "constitutional monarchy", where the monarch is mainly just a figurehead.
The king (the official term used in the constitution, even though all monarchs since 1890 have been female; I will use it throughout) is officially part of the government, but plays no role whatsoever in policymaking, although (s)he is briefed on the deliberations and decisions of the government. Furthermore, the prime minister and his team of ministers bear the responsibility for the king's actions.
The two main processes in Dutch democracy where the king plays a role are signing bills into law, which is expected to be a rubberstamp. The other one is the appointment of people who deal with the negotiations towards a new coalition government. More on that later.
The government itself.
As mentioned above, the government consists of the prime minister and the council of ministers ("ministerraad"). The prime minister is the chairman of the council of ministers. The prime minister has no extra constitutional powers, but does function as a representative of the government. The ministers (with some exceptions I won't mention here) have their own department, and may have undersecretaries. Undersecretaries are not formally part of the government, meaning that they do not sit on the council of ministers.
Since no political party will normally gain a majority in parliament, the Dutch government is expected to consist of ministers representing a coalition of different political parties. The prime minister is usually the political leader of the biggest party in the coalition, but this is not a written rule.
The parliamentary chambers.
Dutch parliament consist of two chambers. "Houses" will be a more familiar term to many, but I'll stick to the word "chamber". The 2nd chamber, consisting of 150 seats, is the most visible one. The 2nd chamber has the power to approve or reject bills, to amend them, and to introduce legislation. The 1st chamber, consisting of 75 seats, has the power to approve or reject bills, but can't amend them or introduce its own legislation. The 1st chamber (sometimes called "senate") is generally expected to be more low-key, and usually doesn't reject a bill that has passed the 2nd chamber, although this has happened a number of times recently.
Elections.
The members of the 2nd chamber are elected during the general elections. General elections will be held either after a 4-year term has finished, or earlier, if a general election is called because of the premature resignation of a government. Members of parliament are elected through direct proportional representation. Voters are presented with a list of candidates for each party, which they can vote for. The combined number of votes for all the candidates per party is the total number of votes a party receives. If N is the number of seats that a party gets in the election then, usually, the first N candidates on this list will become members of parliament. However, a candidate at a higher position than N on the list may receive a sufficient number of votes to be elected directly.
The 1st chamber is elected at fixed 4-year intervals (so, the dates will not match those of the general elections). It is elected indirectly by the members of the legislatures that represent the 12 provinces in the Netherlands. In turn, the legislatures of the provinces are elected through direct proportional representation by the voters of those provinces.
The formation of a new government.
After the general election, the king will appoint someone to start negotiations for a new coalition government (the "informateur"), after consulting with the leaders of all political parties in the newly elected parliament. This person surveys the possible coalitions, and then hands off to a newly appointed (again, by the king) person, who will form the final government (the "formateur"). The latter will usually be the leader of the biggest party in the prospective coalition government, and the prime minister in the new government. Once the process has been completed, the new government will be inaugurated.
Current political parties in parliament.
Approximately left to right:
- SP - Socialist Party, the most populist of the parties on the left.
- GroenLinks ("GreenLeft") - Environmental party, created by a merge of 4 smaller leftist parties in 1990.
- PvdA (Partij van de Arbeid, "Labour Party") - Most mainstream and biggest party on the left side.
- D66 (Democraten '66) - Centrist party
- CDA (Christen Democratisch Appel) - Centre-to-right Christian Democrats. Either the CDA or the PvdA are usually the biggest party.
- VVD (Voor Vrijheid en Democratie) - liberal party (in the European sense)
- LPF (Lijst Pim Fortuyn) - Party founded by the murdered Pim Fortuyn
- ChristenUnie - Merger of two smaller Christian Right parties.
- SGP (Staatkundig-Gereformeerde Partij)- The most conservative Christian party.
There are two members of parliament who split from their original party:
- Lazrak - Member of parliament who split off from the SP (conflict over internal finances)
- Wilders - Member of parliament who split off from the VVD (wanted to move more to the right).
Current seat division in the 2nd chamber:
The current coalition government is made up out of CDA, VVD and D66.
The place in the political spectrum of the parties I mention are approximate, of course. The left-right spectrum is just one way to describe their positions, and I'm sure supporters of all of these parties will dispute my description of their party or other parties in some way.
More details, the general direction of, and hot issues in Dutch politics will be the subject of things I hope to write at a later date.
