The Rules of the Game

In order to start appreciating Dutch politics, it's best to discuss the Rules of the Game first. Note that some rules discussed on this page are informal, but nonetheless binding.

Monarchy

Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands 1980-present.

The eldest child of the King or Queen, whether male or female, inherits the crown, unless he or she relinquishes that right.

The Queen's grandmother and mother, Queens Wilhelmina (1890-1948) and Juliana (1948-1980) both voluntarily abdicated the throne around their 70th year. Whether Queen Beatrix (born 1938) will follow their example is officially not known, but considered likely.

She will be succeeded by her son Willem-Alexander, who may ascend the throne as King Willem IV, but may also remain known as Willem-Alexander. He, in turn, will likely be succeeded by his daughter Amalia.

Crown prince Willem-Alexander, crown princess Máxima, and their daughter princess Amalia, second in line for the throne.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy whose crown is heriditary in the House of Orange-Nassau, among the descendants of Queen Wilhelmina. Current head of state is Queen Beatrix.

Formally, the Queen appoints the prime minister and the government, but since 1848 it has been custom that this government has a majority in parliament.

In practice the Queen has little factual power, except (it is said) right after an election, when she receives all party leaders and appoints informators and formators who are to form a new government (see below). How much her personal opinion matters in these circumstances is not known; in fact, how much influence she has is one of the few remaining palace secrets, and the few important politicians who know are not allowed to publish such facts.

In general, Queen Beatrix is considered a very capable, very organised manager, and partly due to her unquestioned ability, anti-monarchical sentiment is essentially nil. Even the SP (Socialist Party; extreme left) officially abandoned its republican stance in 2006.

Capital and seat of government

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. However, the government seat is Den Haag (The Hague).

In the Middle Ages, Den Haag functioned as the capital of the Medieval county of Holland. Back then, none of the six large towns allowed each other to function as seat of government, and besides the Count wanted to stress his independence of the six towns (who held the purse strings anyway). That was why Den Haag, originally a country mansion of the Count, gradually developed into the political capital.

When the United Provinces were formed (1579), Holland was by far the most powerful of the seven provinces, and therefore its capital became the national capital, too.

Because Amsterdam is the official, constitutional capital, the Kings and Queens are sworn into office there (Dutch monarchy doesn't know coronation), and foreign heads of state are received there. Other than that it hosts no government functions.

In fact, Amsterdam isn't even allowed to host the provincial government of Noord-Holland, which resides in Haarlem.

Government

The Queen appoints a prime minister and other cabinet ministers. These ministers unfailingly come from the current coalition parties, which have a majority in parliament and have agreed to cooperate during government formation.

The usual term of a parliament (and thus a government) is four years. After that time, new elections are held and a new government is formed. However, new elections may also occur when a government falls (see below).

Prime minister and vice prime ministers

The prime minister always comes from the largest party in the coalition (usually CDA or PvdA). In addition, each other coalition party nominates one of its ministers as vice prime minister; this is largely an honorary title.

Ministers

The number of ministers varies. During the formation of a new government, the amount and nature of ministries reserved for each of the coalition parties is one of the hottest items under discussion, and less important ministries are frequently split up and merged so that the council of ministers reflects the current political situation.

Secretaries of state

In addition to ministers, there are also secretaries of state, who are a kind of assistant-ministers and who are usually delegated part of a minister's responsibilities. Their numbers vary wildly; although in general most ministries have only one secretary of state, Education, in particular, commonly has three or four. In general there are slightly more secretaries of state than ministers.

Most parties occasionally make noises about decreasing the number of secretaries of state, but these posts are so useful as political small change during government formation that they'll likely continue to exist in their current numbers.

Dualism

Frits Bolkestein, VVD party leader 1990-1998, European Commissioner for the Internal Market 1999-2004, was one of the most outspoken proponents of dualism in Dutch politics. He inaugurated the VVD custom of the party leader staying in parliament.

Formally, the Dutch system is a dual one that pits government against parliament. Ministers and secretaries of state are not members of parliament, and formally the MPs of the various coalition partners are supposed to check government actions without paying attention to the fact that members of their party happen to be ministers.

In practice, party discipline is quite severe (except on the extreme right), and coalition party MPs usually follow the government. Since government is more important than parliament, party leaders usually opt for a ministry.

However, the idea of the party leader remaining in parliament to check government is not entirely dead. Most parties make appreciative noises from time to time and agree that it would help dualism along, but this system is practiced on a regular basis only by right-wing VVD.

Fall of government

When one of the coalition parties discontinues its support for government, the government falls. All ministers resign their posts, and the Queen requests the prime minister to form a new, temporary government without the offending party. This government may be a minority government, and it is usually supposed not to take politically sensitive decisions.

In theory, this new government could continue for the rest of the natural life of current parliament, but in practice new elections are always called within about six months of the fall of a government.

In recent history, government has fallen in 1982, 1989, 2002, and 2006. In all cases new elections were held.
(The Purple II government officially fell a month before the regular 2002 elections, but this was generally held to be an electoral move of prime minister and PvdA party leader Kok, and none of the coalition parties actually quit government. After these elections, the Balkenende I government was formed and fell after only 86 days in office.)

The States-General

The States-General (plural) are the Dutch parliament, and they have a venerable pedigree reaching back to 1464. They are thus 249 years younger than British Parliament, and although there were major breaks with the past in 1572 and 1815, I think they're a fair contender to the title of second oldest parliament in the world.

The States-General are divided in two houses: the First Chamber or Senate with 75 seats, elected by the provincial States, and the Second Chamber with 150 seats, elected directly by the people. Of the two the Second Chamber is by far the most important; and it's to this Chamber I refer when I say 'parliament'.

Second Chamber

It's in the Second Chamber that all the political action takes place, and it's the elections for this Chamber that are decisive for the political future of the country.

The Second Chamber has numerous committees and sub-committees. Seats on these committees are divided according to the relative strength of the various parties.

MPs are organised by party; all MPs from one party are called a fraction. All fractions elect a chairman, and it's this chairman that is usually considered the party leader, except for coalition parties, whose leaders usually move on to government (with the exception of the VVD).

Despite being organised by party, MPs sit on personal title, and they may decide to leave their party and continue as an independent MP, (or even enter another party, but that never happens). Since most MPs are quite unknown to the general public, such Independents are usually not re-elected.

The most important exception to this rule is Geert Wilders, a VVD MP who left his party in 2004 to become an Independent, founded his own party, and returned to parliament with 9 seats after the 2006 elections. Most 'dissident' MPs return to obscurity after the next elections, though.

MPs frequently leave parliament for another function, and they give their seat back to their party, which appoints another person from the party list (see below).

First Chamber

The First Chamber or Senate is elected by the provincial States (parliaments) directly after the provincial elections. Being a senator is less demanding than being in the Second Chamber; the Senate sits for only two or three days per week, allowing members to simultaneously pursue other careers. This is considered a Good Thing, since it allows senators, more than Second Chamber MPs, to keep in touch with society in general.

In theory, the Senate can only approve or reject proposals; it cannot amend them. In practice, though, government or the Second Chamber reacts to problems in the Senate by slightly changing the proposals.

In general, the Senate as a whole and individual senators act somewhat more independent than Second Chamber MPs. Nonetheless, proposals that are passed by the Second Chamber but rejected by the Senate are rare, and such an occurrence usually causes quite a stir.

After every Senate election, people wonder whether the Senate still fulfills an important role in Dutch politics, and some propose to abolish it. Although usually a few politicians make sympathetic noises, nothing is ever actually done. (Compare the American presidential electors.)

Lower levels of government

There are three lower levels of government, the lowest of which only occurs in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Government and coalitions work the same as on national level.

Provinces

The Netherlands are divided into twelve provinces. Although most of these provinces have a venerable pedigree reaching back to the Middle Ages, nowadays they're the least important level of government.

The provincial parliaments are called States (plural). They are elected every four years, and most of the seats go to the national parties. However, most provinces have one or two provincial parties that occupy a few seats.

Each province has a Queen's Commisioner, who is appointed by the national government.

Municipalities

Each province is subdivided into several municipalities; currently there are about 500 throughout the country. Each has a municipal council, and these councils are elected every four years. Although in most councils the national parties occupy most seats, since the mid-nineties there have been local parties in many municipalties, and some of these local parties are quite popular. Thus, municipal government is sometimes a coalition between national and local parties.

Each municipality has a mayor, who is appointed by the national government.

Sub-municipalities

The two largest municipalities, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, are divided into several sub-municipalities, with a council and a government. Although most people (including myself) are not convinced of the use of this fourth layer of government, they will probably continue to exist for a while.

Elections

The Dutch voters elect only their legislative assemblies. All executive office holders are officially appointed by the Queen. All elections follow the pattern described below.

Representative parliament

The Netherlands do not know electoral districts, as the US and UK do. Instead, every vote counts, and a party enters parliament by getting enough votes for at least one seat. Since national parliament consists of 150 members, 0.66% of the votes is enough to gain one seat. Where these votes were cast does not matter.

A nice, though extreme, example is orthodox Calvinist SGP. This party is very strong in villages and towns from the Dutch Bible Belt, but very unpopular outside this heartland. Since all votes for the SGP, wherever the voters live, count for parliament, they always have 2 seats. In a district system they probably wouldn't be able to carry even a single district.

In fact, in a district system we'd probably have only two parties: CDA and PvdA. This prospect is too boring to be contemplated, and therefore attempts to introduce the district system are doomed to failure.

Parties and party lists

A Dutch ballot form. The columns are party lists. The voter votes for a candidate by colouring the circle before his or her name red.

Most municipalities use voting computers nowadays. Nonetheless a blank circle with red stripes in a black box remains the accepted symbol for "elections" or "vote for me".

Officially every Dutch voter votes for a person, and MPs are elected on a personal basis, but in practice the vote goes to a party, or rather to a party list.

Before the elections, each party that wishes to participate hands in a list of candidates. It's these lists of candidates that appear on the ballot, and every voter is allowed to select one candidate.

Most of the party candidates are unknown to the general public, and therefore most people vote for the first person on the list of the party they want to vote for. This first person is always the party leader, and in general this person gets about 70 to 90% of all the votes for his (rarely her) party.

The party list system has advantages as well as disadvantages. The most obvious disadvantage is that few MPs are generally known throughout the country; most are rather anonymous party members that wouldn't have been elected if they hadn't been on the party list.

The advantage is that parties can get their specialists into parliament. Every party has a few MPs who sorely lack charisma and would never be elected on their own, but who also have excellent knowledge of a specialised field; say Education or Finance. In order to keep these specialists in parliament they're usually placed highly on the party list.

If an MP dies or leaves parliament, the party nominates the first candidate on the original list that was not elected. When such a candidate refuses the seat, the next candidate is nominated.

Preferential votes

Since the Dutch electoral system is an uneasy blend of the practice of party lists and the theory of individually elected MPs, there exists a complicated set of rules to allow voters to change the order of candidates. These rules amount to the following:

1. Every party gains the seats its total amount of votes entitles it to. At this stage, votes for persons are not yet considered.
2. Candidates are elected in order of the party list; if a party gains 10 seats, the first 10 candidates from their party list are elected.
3. However, if a candidate personally gets 1/4th of the electoral divider (total amount of votes divided by total amount of seats), and his or her place on the list wouldn't normally entitle the candidate to a seat, he or she is nonetheless elected by preferential vote and ousts a higher placed candidate.

In practice the system of preferential votes doesn't change a lot. In general, per election only one or two MPs that would otherwise not have been elected, enter parliament through this system. Although several politicians are popular enough to get sufficient preferential votes, they are usually placed highly enough on the party list to be elected in any case.

Government formation

Once parliament has been elected, a new government has to be formed. In order to form a government, though, the parties first have to negotiate a new coalition. The voters have no influence on these negotiations: they delivered their verdict through the ballot, and politicians are entrusted with the sordid details that follow.

Sacred rules

There are two sacred rules for government formation:

1. The largest party takes the initiative.
2. The new government coalition should contain at least one election winner.

These rules are not absolute; they're not a part of the constitution, so the parties could decide to ignore them. That would be Bad Taste, though, so usually the parties make a determined effort to obey these rules.

In the 1981 elections, CDA and PvdA both lost seats, but together they still had a comfortable majority in parliament. Nonetheless they invited big winner D66 into government.

If the largest party fails to form a coalition, the second largest is allowed a chance. In the 1977 and 1982 elections, the PvdA was the largest party, but failed to form a coalition. In both cases second-largest CDA quickly reached an agreement with third-largest VVD, and these parties formed the new government.

In the 1989 elections, the CDA remained stable at 54 seats while the PvdA lost a few. However, a CDA + PvdA coalition was formed. These were the heydays of CDA leader Lubbers, though, and by that time he could do what he wanted. Besides, third party VVD had lost heavily, and a CDA + VVD coalition would not have a majority. Instead of inviting an election winner (most likely D66) as the third coalition party, Lubbers opted for a quick and decisive CDA + PvdA coalition.

Occasionally parties make their coalition preferences known before the elections. Before the 1998 elections, Purple parties PvdA, VVD, and D66 announced they wanted to continue their coalition. Although D66 lost 10 seats, PvdA and VVD won, and government was re-elected with 5 seats more than they had in the previous parliament. Despite having a majority by themselves, PvdA and VVD invited D66 to participate once again.

Information and formation

Officially, coalition negotiations go through two phases:

1. Information. The Queen appoints an "informator" from the largest party, who informs himself on which coalitions could be formed, and how many and which compromises the parties are willing to put up with. This can take quite a while.
2. Formation. Once a principle agreement on the new coalition has been reached, the Queen appoints a "formator" (occiasionally more than one) who leads the final negotiations on important issues and on the exact composition of government: which party gets which ministry, and who's going to be minister. This is usually decided within a week or so.

The informator and formator work in privacy; although they're supposed to give press conferences and such, they usually mouth some meaningless phrases as long as the coalition or the ministries haven't been decided on exactly.

The Queen's position in this phase of government formation is quite vague; in theory she could appoint whomever she wanted. This, however, is considered Bad Taste, and the Queen following her own advice might conceivably endanger the monarchy.

Next: the Ins and Outs

Now that the rules of the game have been introduced, it's time to take a look at the Ins and Outs of government. We'll introduce the three large parties: left-wing PvdA, centrist CDA and right-wing VVD, and their subtle dance around the centre of power.