Political parties in the Netherlands

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Model of the Dutch party system (2012), written by Kieskompas , is based on the concept of the political compass . Left-right means the socio-economic dimension, progressive-conservative the socio-cultural dimension.
Mark Rutte , leader of the VVD, Prime Minister since October 2010. He is the first liberal head of government since the (non-party) Pieter Cort van der Linden , who ruled from 1913 to 1918.

The political parties in the Netherlands play a major role in this parliamentary democracy . Since there is no threshold clause in the elections, a relatively large number of parties come to the more important lower chamber of the Dutch parliament. The long-term average is around ten. Theoretically, 0.67 percent of the votes are enough for a seat. New foundations, mergers and liquidations therefore take place more frequently than in Germany, for example.

Several times in the national government were represented:

  • Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD, 1948), the (right-wing) liberals. One suspects the “typical right” in the Netherlands above all in this conservative-liberal or economically liberal and immigration-skeptical party. Its political leader, Mark Rutte , has been in office since 2010 as the first Liberal Prime Minister since 1918.
  • Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA, 1946), the Social Democrats. The PvdA has traditionally been the main opponent of the denominational parties. In 2002, for the first time since World War II, their faction was no longer the largest or second largest. In the 2010 and 2012 elections, the Social Democrats were just behind the right-wing liberals. PvdA Prime Minister in recent history was Wim Kok 1994–2002. From 2007-2010 Wouter Bos was junior partner under Balkenende, 2012-2017 it was Diederik Samsom under Rutte.
  • Christen-Democratisch Appèl (CDA, founded 1980, electoral list as early as 1977), the Christian Democrats of the center-right. The CDA appointed the prime ministers from 1977–1994 and 2002–2010 (most recently Jan Peter Balkenende ). For a long time the CDA had won the most votes, but in 2010 it fell dramatically from first to fourth place. In 2012 the party lost again and shares the level of a medium-sized party with SP, PVV and D66.
  • Democrats 66 (D66, 1966), the social liberals, the party of the political center. For a long time they lagged significantly behind the classic big three in terms of votes, but came into government in 1973–1977, 1981/1982, 1994–2002, 2003–2006 and again from 2017 onwards.
  • ChristenUnie (CU, 2001), a Christian party, represents partly conservative and partly social positions. From 2007 to 2010 and since 2017 she has been a minister.

Furthermore, right- wing social democratic DS'70 (1971/1972), left-wing alternative PPR (1973–1977) and right-wing populist LPF (2002–2003) had government experience . The right-wing populist PVV tolerated Mark Rutte's cabinet from 2010 to 2012 .

Since 2002 right-wing populist parties like the PVV have been able to increase their voter support considerably. In 2017 there was also the Forum voor Democratie . The ultra-Calvinist Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij has existed since 1918, although it has never entered government. On the left, the Socialist Partij has been an opposition party that has been represented in parliament for a long time, and since 2006 has also been the Partij voor de Dieren animal protection party .

The Dutch party landscape is diverse and characterized by small to medium-sized parties. The former popular Christian Democrats and Social Democrats have fallen to this level in the years after 2010. In terms of size, only the right-wing liberals of Mark Rutte stand out. But this party also received less than 20 percent of the vote.

Dutch parties are legally organized like associations. They do not have to meet any special requirements, nor do they have to be democratically organized. However, the state tries to make the origin of the funds more or less transparent through party financing . The leader of a Dutch party is usually not the political leader, he is elected separately.

Elections in the Netherlands

The constitution of the Netherlands has included universal and equal voting rights since the reform of 1917. The electoral system is purely proportional representation with open lists, there are no direct candidates and no threshold clause (e.g. a five percent hurdle ), so with the current 150 seats in the Second Chamber, 0.67 percent of the votes are theoretically enough to get one seat to get. Accordingly, a relatively large number of parties are represented in the chamber, which makes it difficult to form coalitions . A coalition therefore often consists of three parties.

Those entitled to vote (active and passive voting age from 18 years) usually decide every four years on the composition of the Chamber. The procedure is a list election with elements of personality choice . The parties draw up lists of candidates in the run-up to the election. The voters give their vote to a candidate from a list and thus vote for the respective list.

Usually the top candidate receives the most votes on their list. He is called the lijsttrekker ("list puller"), who pulls the list "up" due to his popularity. In the election campaign, therefore, the lijsttrekker is particularly prominent. However, there are also lijstduwers ("list sliders") who are in the hopeless lower position and do not seek a mandate, but want to support a party through their prominence as writers, for example. All votes that are cast for the candidates on a list benefit that list. The mandates are awarded in the row of the list places.

However, there is also the possibility of entering parliament from a lower position on the list: To do this, the candidate concerned must receive a particularly large number of votes (so-called voorkeurstemmen , “preferential votes”). However, it is rather rare that the intended sequence is broken in this way. It was therefore a small sensation when in 2006 the second list of the liberal VVD, Rita Verdonk , received more votes than the list creator Mark Rutte. The background was a dispute over the direction of the party, which Rutte had won just before Verdonk. That being said, it's normal for the first woman on a list to get slightly more votes than usual, as this is how some voters want to promote women. But since a woman is fairly high on most lists, this has little meaning for the order.

Parties were allowed to join lists, which means that there were separate lists, but the votes were counted together. This allows parties to jointly better use their remaining votes to get another seat. Traditionally, the small denominational parties and the left-wing parties SP and GroenLinks entered into lists . In European elections, in which far fewer (Dutch) seats are awarded, the right-wing liberal VVD and the left-wing liberal Democrats 66 also had a list connection: Both parties belong to the same liberal-democratic group in the European Parliament. Originally, the list connection was supposed to bring parties closer together, but in the end it was all about the remaining seats. That is why the Second Chamber decided in February 2017 that after the election in March 2017, list connections are no longer allowed. In 2010 the First Chamber abolished it.

Besides the second chamber there is a first chamber . In theory, it can make any law fail, but it does so very rarely. You can see them as a review body at the end of the legislative process. Accordingly, the 75 members of the First Chamber are rather cautious politically. They are elected every four years by the members of the provincial parliaments. The parties are essentially the same as in the Second Chamber. Since the natural threshold clause is higher, fewer small parties tend to get into the First Chamber.

Organization of the parties

guide

The top candidate and Prime Minister (2002–2010) of the CDA, Jan Peter Balkenende, was the political leader of his party, but not the chairman.

In the Netherlands, the parties usually have a party chairman who has more administrative tasks. The responsibility for the content orientation of a party lies with the political leader ( politieke unfortunately or partijleider ). This is elected separately and usually heads the electoral list. After the election, he is usually a parliamentary group leader or goes into government.

The political influence of the party leader depends on the context. If the political leader is considered weak or if there has just been a spectacular resignation, the party leader can fill this vacuum. Conversely, with a strong leader, the chairman is in the shadows. In the noughties, direct election of the chairman was introduced in many parties; this direct legitimation by the members naturally strengthened the chairman's position. As a rule, party leaders are little known if they are not well known from a previous office. However, the chairmanship is sometimes an opportunity to become better known in the party and later become a candidate for political leadership.

Legal form and financing

Follower of Trots op Nederland , 2008 in Rotterdam. Rita Verdonk's TON is no more a member party than Geert Wilders' PVV .

The Dutch constitution makes no mention of parties and there is no law on parties. The parties are subject to association law , but are increasingly (similar to Germany) controlled by law, for example with regard to financing. According to the German Civil Code, a registered association is founded with a notarial deed containing the association's statutes. In addition, the association must be registered with the local chamber of commerce. At least two people are required to found an association (they can be both natural and legal persons). The legal form of the registered association is necessary so that a political association can participate in elections under its name.

The Wet subsidiëring politieke partijen (“Subsidies Act for Political Parties”) of 1999 defines a party as an association whose name is included in the register for election to the Second Chamber. (But you can also take part in parliamentary elections if you don't have an association behind you.) This law only applies to those parties that actually receive state support. The municipalities and provinces may also have their own rules for the relevant elections or political groupings (although no municipality or province has yet paid support to parties).

The Wet subsidiëring politieke partijen law applies only to parties with at least one thousand members. A party can then receive a basic amount of money per member of parliament as well as per member. In 2006, eleven parties received a total of 15 million euros . A party receiving money under the law must indicate this if a single donation exceeds 4,537.80 euros. However, the donor can remain anonymous himself.

Members

Development of membership numbers

Members of the traditionally four most important parties: PvdA, D66, CDA and VVD, 2010 in Ulft shortly before the municipal council elections

The three traditionally large parties, CDA, PvdA and VVD, have in some cases lost many members since the 1960s, while the smaller ones have tended to gain. The largest party in terms of members was for a long time the Christian Democratic Appèl . The alliance of three previous parties had 143,000 members at the end of 1980, immediately after the merger. By January 1, 2020, the number of members fell quite continuously to 39,187. During the same period, 41,078 of the 112,929 members of the Social Democratic Partij van de Arbeid remained. The development of the right-wing liberal Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie , which had 23,907 members at the beginning of 2020, was similar. The Forum voor Democratie , which was only founded in 2016, recorded an exponential increase in membership to 42,794 and has topped the list of parties with the largest number of members since January 1, 2020.

The history of the social-liberal Democrats 66 , which started with 1,500 members at the end of 1966, grew to 6,000 by 1973 and suddenly dropped to 300 the following year, was particularly changeable . By the end of 1981, the number of members rose to a temporary high of 17,765. After further ups and downs, the party had 24,955 members on January 1, 2020.

The picture is also mixed for the other smaller parties. The left-wing populist Socialist Partij only had 15,222 members in 1992 and, after an interim high in 2009 (50,444), stood at 32,196 in early 2020. Since it was founded in 1991, GroenLinks has grown from 14,971 to 26,505 members in 2012; thereafter the number of members decreased again, but has increased again since 2016 to 30,438 at the beginning of 2020. The Calvinist-conservative SGP increased from 10,000 members in 1945 to 29,655 members in 2020, while the ChristenUnie has remained fairly constant since it was founded in 2002 at around 25,000 members . The Partij voor de Dieren had 6,370 members in 2007 and 18,344 at the beginning of 2020. All other parties have significantly fewer than 10,000 members.

Frans Andriessen , the political leader of the KVP , received applause at the partijraad in December 1972. The KVP stood out with its large membership.

For comparison: in 1960 there were eight parties in the Second Chamber, which together had 730,000 members. Almost half of them belonged to the Katholieke Volkspartij (about 340,000). Ten years later, eleven chamber parties had 393,000 members; at the end of 1995 the twelve chamber parties had 315,000 members. In 2015 the number fell below 300,000 for the first time; However, this mark was exceeded again in 2018, mainly due to the massive growth of Forum voor Democratie .

After the Second World War, 3.83 percent of all eligible voters were members of the KVP; on the eve of the CDA's founding in 1980, this proportion had fallen to 0.57 percent. It was similar with the other social integration parties ARP and PvdA.

The Partij voor de Vrijheid has only one natural person as a member - Geert Wilders ; firstly as a private person and secondly as a representative of a foundation that bears his name. It thus fulfills the requirement that an association must have at least two founders. Such a construction is unusual and is criticized from a democratic point of view. For a party like the PVV, the lack of members means a major disadvantage in terms of state party funding. For this, the party does not have to give any account of the rule of its means.

Shares in the total population

In 1979 nine percent of the adult Dutch were members of a party or political association, in 2003 it was only four percent. In both years, 22 percent were members of employers 'or employees' associations. A hobby association belonged to three percent in 1979 and five percent in 2003.

In the mid-1990s, around ten percent of the members of the large parties were active members, in some cases significantly more of the small left-wing parties (30 percent for GroenLinks, 40 percent for the SP). However, these figures come from the parties or party members themselves. The historian JW Oerlemans suspected at the time that "about 0.4 percent of the voters determine the staffing of the authorities".

Social background

According to a survey from May 2012, the parties differ greatly in their attachment. The parties D66, ChristenUnie and GroenLinks have significantly more highly educated supporters than those with less education, while this difference is less clear for VVD and CDA. The PvdA has a similar number of supporters in the three different educational levels. On the other hand, the SP and PVV are obviously parties of the lower class. At PVV, for example, four percent of the highly educated are compared to 21 percent of the formally poorly educated.

A similar picture emerges when differentiating between household income. Here, however, the differences within the supporters of D66, ChristenUnie and Groenlinks (and CDA) are less great, and GroenLinks even has a larger proportion of poorer than richer voters. In terms of income, the PvdA is equally well represented in all three income groups. The VVD is clearly a party of high incomes: 32 percent in the richest third, 18 percent in the middle-high income and 7 percent in the low-income. Almost exactly the opposite is the case with the SP, which is strong among the low-wage earners. The PVV has its largest followers in the middle third (high income: eight percent, middle twenty percent, low twelve).

history

Development until 1918

ARP founder Abraham Kuyper , 1899

As in Germany, the political parties in the Netherlands emerged as a result of parliamentarization : Parliament was given an increasingly important role in the structure of the state, first in legislation (since 1815), then in the appointment of a government (de facto since 1866). The Anti-Revolutionaire Partij (ARP) of the democratic Calvinist Abraham Kuyper of 1879 is considered the first Dutch party. Then the Liberals followed in 1885, while the Catholics worked for a long time with local electoral associations. What these three had in common was that they did not originally belong to the conservative political elite; geographically, too, many of their guides did not come from close to The Hague.

The terms anti-revolutionair and christelijk-historically were used side by side for a long time. The first related to the French Revolution , the second to the earlier dominant role of Protestantism in the country. In contrast to the actual conservatives, in the first half of the 19th century many Protestants came to révail , a return to the Gospel, to the time of the Reformation. The Enlightenment was rejected as was the regentry of the 18th century.

Kuyper strove for soevereiniteit in eigen kring ("independence in one's own circles"). The state should not interfere unnecessarily in areas of society that are better organized. Since Kuyper no longer hoped that strict Calvinism would be able to put its stamp on the whole country, he wanted to realize his socio-political ideas in his own population group. The Catholics could imagine something similar for themselves and thus turned from denominational opponents into possible political partners. At that time the school question was of paramount importance, as it was a question of whether the state should set up or pay denominational schools.

But part of the Christian movement did not feel addressed by the popular direction of Abraham Kuyper, but preferred to see a party of notables . This part also disliked the way Kuyper worked with Catholics. Parties were founded in 1897 and merged in 1908 to form Christelijk Historische Unie . The CHU is considered to be the heir to previous conservatism.

Social democratic poster for the 1913 elections. It was not until 1939 that social democrats entered the Dutch government.

It took the Social Democrats a long time to grow and gain political influence in the Netherlands, partly because industrialization started later than elsewhere. In addition, the first attempt by the party, the Sociaal-Democratic Bond of 1881, went in the anarchist direction. The actual social democratic party was not founded until 1894: Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiderspartij (SDAP).

From 1888 to 1891 a confessional coalition cabinet made up of ARP and Catholics was able to oust the liberals from power for the first time. Thereafter, until 1918, liberal and denominational cabinets alternated. From 1901 to 1905 and from 1908 to 1913 cabinets made up of ARP and Catholics ruled again.

The number of seats in the Liberals tended to decrease, and the last two liberal cabinets ( Cabinet De Meester 1905–1908 and Cabinet Cort van der Linden 1913–1918) were dependent on the support of the Social Democratic SDAP. One reason for the shrinking liberals was an increase in the number of eligible voters through a relaxation of the census regulations in 1887 and again in 1896. In addition to the Liberale Unie founded in 1885, the Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond emerged in 1901 as a left-wing liberal party and in 1906 the Bond van Vrije Liberals as a conservative, classic - liberal party.

From the antithesis to the pillar 1918

Up until 1917 in particular, the three denominational parties, i.e. the Protestant ARP and CHU and the Catholics, were referred to as right . The Liberals, and later the Social Democrats, were left . Kuyper's expression for this contrast between confessional and secular is called antithesis . It refers to the attitude towards the ideas of the French Revolution.

Whereas the rights were for state payment for denominational schools, the liberals advocated universal suffrage. In 1917 an agreement was reached with the Pacificatie , and both sides gave in to the other's demands. For the following period, one speaks of the verzuiling ("piling up") of Dutch society, a form of particularism . The basics date from the 19th century. The Dutch belonged to relatively strictly separated groups, with their own educational system, parties, trade unions, etc. The groups were the Catholics, the Protestants, the Socialists; there was also a general or national pillar with liberals and moderate believers. It was not until the 1960s that Verzuiling largely dissolved.

From democratization in 1918 to the German invasion in 1940

Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck was the first Catholic Prime Minister in 1918, here with the cabinet in 1929

In 1918 all men were allowed to vote for the first time, and since 1922 women too. Almost even more important was the simultaneous introduction of proportional representation for the Second Chamber. This has increased the importance of the parties and also required a more cohesive organization. After 1918, many groups formed anew, so in 1926 a nationwide Catholic party, the Roman Catholic State Party, emerged for the first time, after there had previously only been a loose federation in the form of the Algemeene Bond van RK-kiesverenigingen ("General Union of Roman Catholic Electoral Associations") would have.

With the election of 1918 a long dominance of the three major denominational parties began; they and later the CDA were represented in the government from now until 1994 without interruption, although not always all three parties. From 1918 to 1963 inclusive, they together won at least half of the seats in each election. Their share of the vote was extremely stable and only fluctuated between 48.9 percent (1952) and 54.5 percent (1922) during this period. The Catholic party (first Algemene Bond, from 1926 RKSP, from 1945 KVP) was particularly constant and always the largest force in the denominational spectrum, with around 30 percent (between 27.9 and 31.9 percent). In addition to RKSP or KVP, ARP and CHU, a large number of religious parties were founded, but these remained meaningless.

The SDAP did not make any significant progress through the introduction of proportional representation; their number of seats moved from 1918 to 1940 only between 20 and 24 of the total of 100 seats. The SDAP was considered to be discredited by its leader Troelstra's appeal for revolution in November 1918. The communists formed to the left of the SDAP (first CPH, since 1935 CPN ), but their share of the vote before 1940 did not exceed 3.4 percent in 1937.

The Liberals slumped from 39 to 20 seats in the 1918 election. While the left-wing liberal Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond (VDB) continued to exist, the Liberal Union, Free Liberals and three other parties merged to form the Freedom Association, which later became the Liberal State Party. Its number of seats fell constantly from 15 when it was founded in 1921 to only 4 when it was elected in 1937. In the years before and after the Second World War, the importance of the Liberals was at its lowest point.

Membership card from Anton Mussert , the general leader of the NSB

In addition, several other small parties were represented in parliament between 1918 and 1940. But these usually disappeared quickly. Most important was the initially fascist and later National Socialist NSB by Anton Mussert . It reached 8 percent in the provincial election in 1935, but then lost its following, gaining 4.2 percent in the last election to the Second Chamber before the Second World War in 1937.

From 1918 to 1940, the three denominational parties ruled together, despite several conflicts, with one exception for only two weeks in 1939. From 1933 to 1937, the two liberal parties were also involved in government. It was not until 1939 that the Social Democrats entered the government for the first time. From 1940 to 1945 there was a succession of four governments in exile, which are known as the London Cabinets after their seat .

Partial reorganization since the Second World War

Sitting Willem Drees the Elder. As Social Democratic Prime Minister (1948–1958), Vadertje Drees was the father of the welfare state and reconstruction

After the Second World War, the traditional party system was essentially retained. SDAP, VDB and the left-wing Protestant CDU merged in 1946 to form the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA). The RKSP was renamed Katholieke Volkspartij (KVP), the Liberal Staatspartij in Partij van de Vrijheid (PvdV). The 1946 elections did not produce any significant shifts from the pre-war period, with the exception of the strong increase for the Communists, who received 10.6 percent in the election to the Second Chamber. This was mainly due to the CPN's reputation as a major resistance movement during the German occupation. In the years that followed, however, the communists quickly lost support. Former VDB members under the leadership of the former finance minister Pieter Oud, who were dissatisfied with the way their party went up in the PvdA, merged with the PvdV in January 1948 and founded the VVD .

Even if the party system was not significantly different after the Second World War than before, the pattern of coalition formation fundamentally changed. Until 1958 the government consisted essentially of KVP and PvdA. In 1948, as a larger partner, the KVP even left the office of prime minister to the PvdA leader Willem Drees . The decisive factor in the formation of the so-called “Roman-Red” cabinets was initially the stronger welfare state orientation of the KVP compared to the RKSP. This was particularly championed by Carl Romme , who from 1946 to 1961 shaped the CIP policy as the parliamentary group leader. From 1948 onwards, other parties were involved in the government, although the KVP and PvdA alone already had a clear majority. Up until the 1970s it was often the case that a coalition had more partners than was necessary to achieve an absolute majority. From 1948 the CHU was again involved in the government and also belonged to most of the following cabinets, from 1952 the ARP was again consistently represented in the government. From the mid-1950s onwards, the KVP and PvdA became increasingly estranged and in December 1958, the era of the Roman-Red Cabinet ended with the resignation of Willem Drees. With an interruption in 1965/66, the PvdA remained in the opposition until 1973.

In contrast to the pre-war period, the Liberals now took the right-wing position in the party spectrum and the KVP, ARP and CHU took a central position, with the CHU being the most conservative of the three parties. At the end of the 1950s, the PvdA and VVD began to differentiate themselves sharply and to exclude each other as coalition partners. This was to shape the formation of governments for decades. As a result, the denominational parties were in key positions, without them no government was possible, even when their share of the vote had already dropped significantly. After 1958, KVP, ARP and CHU and later the CDA mostly preferred the VVD over the PvdA as partners.

Deadening since the 1960s

TV debate in March 1966 with the parliamentary group chairmen (from left) of the PvdA, ARP, KVP and CHU (also the VVD)
1972 election campaign, contemporary news report
1980 when three parties merged to form the new CDA, 1980: Piet Bukman , Christian trade unionist and first party leader

The 1960s and 1970s brought far-reaching social changes, above all the rapid de-denominationalisation, but also the disappearance of a typical working class milieu. The legal framework of the political system remained the same, but the party landscape changed drastically. The three big denominational parties, the liberal VVD and the social democratic PvdA, so far the only parties with government experience, received less and less support at the ballot box.

Since 1967 the three denominational parties (KVP, ARP, CHU) have been working more closely together, which in 1977 led to a joint electoral list and in 1980 to a merger under the name Christen-Democratisch Appèl . The cabinet of the Social Democrat Joop den Uyl , 1973 to 1977, was the last one in which only two of the three denominational parties participated. The 1972 election clearly showed the change in what was once a confessionally dominated party landscape: the three received just 31.2 percent of the vote, in 1963 it was 49.2 percent. Even the left-wing split of the ARP, the alternative-pacifist Politieke Partij Raduellen (4.8 percent 1972), could not explain the losses alone.

But the Social Democratic Labor Party also lost support, partly to smaller left-wing parties that had been founded earlier, but also to the right-wing split-off Democratisch Socialisten '70 (DS '70), which was dissatisfied with the shift to the left in the PvdA in 1967 was. In 1971 she received 5.3 percent from scratch, but lost her last mandate in 1981.

In the (left) center, the most successful new party, the Democrats 66 , was formed in 1966 . The social liberals wanted to reform the party landscape and bring about a progressive people's party in a two-party system . However, this only turned into a respectable success in the 1967 elections, which at 4.5 percent was quite large for the conditions at the time. In the years to come, the election results for D66 were very changeable; In the mid-1970s there was even talk of the party's self-dissolution. In the landslide elections of 1994, the party received 15.5 percent and already imagined it was among the major parties. After a disappointing government participation in 2006, however, it slipped to 2 percent and later recovered with results of around 10 percent.

Situation since the transformations in the 1990s

Election debate on television, 2006. Geert Wilders from the PVV on the left, the leader of the Socialist Party at the time , Jan Marijektiven , on the right .

In addition to the three to four traditional governing parties, others entered parliament, mostly around 10. The “minor right-wingers” are sectarian apart from right-wing populists. The right-wing conservative, fundamental Calvinist state-knowledgeable Gereformeerde Partij has been sitting in the chamber without government participation since 1918. More difficult to grasp in the left-right spectrum is the ChristenUnie , which emerged in 2001 from two predecessor parties. She is on the right on issues like abortion and drugs, on the left on the environment and refugees.

The “small left” were still strongly fragmented until 1989/1991, when they united in the GroenLinks , the Green Left. A medium-sized social protest party developed from the small Maoist Socialist Party . Interest parties and one-topic parties received seats in parliament less often, such as the conservative Boerenpartij of farmers and small self-employed people from 1963 to 1981 , senior citizens ' parties in the 1990s and 2012 and, since 2006, the animal welfare party Partij voor de Dieren .

The number of parties in the Dutch parliament increases if you add the first chamber of parliament, the provincial parliaments and the local councils. In the First Chamber, elected through the provincial parliaments, there is an " Independent Senate Group " (one person), which is mainly supported by regional parties. De Groenen is one of the small parties represented in this way . At best, the Fryske Nasjonale Partij became a force to be taken seriously in its province, but hardly the Partij voor het Noorden (Fryslân, Drenthe, Groningen) and even fewer other parties. However, local groups often play a significant role in the communities.

Parties on the right edge

Bust of Pim Fortuyn, murdered in 2002 in Rotterdam

In addition to the denominational and conservative-liberal parties, there were also right-wing populist and interest parties on the right. For a long time this role was played by the Boerenpartij, which from 1963 to 1981 had between one and seven seats in the Chamber. From 1982 to 1986 and from 1989 to 1998 Hans Janmaat represented far-right and xenophobic positions in parliament.

The Lijst Pim Fortuyn had an electoral success of 17 percent for the first time in 2002. That was the second place between the victorious Christian Democrats and the decimated right-wing liberals (VVD). She immediately came to the new government. However, this disintegrated soon afterwards, and after new elections in 2003, the quarreled LPF returned to the chamber, greatly reduced. In 2006 she lost the last seats.

Numerous splinter parties tried to win the LPF electorate. These are politicians who have been disappointed and see Muslim immigration to the Netherlands in particular as a threat. Economically and socially, they are on the left. However, these voters apparently do not want a dictatorship, so traditional right-wing extremist parties referring to National Socialism remain completely insignificant. An example of such a party is the Nederlandse Volks-Unie .

A former member of the right-wing liberal VVD has been the most successful so far: Geert Wilders with his Partij voor de Vrijheid (PVV). The PVV had nine mandates independently in 2006. The smaller Trots op Nederland (TON) party was only represented in the Second Chamber by its founder and former VVD integration minister Rita Verdonk herself until 2010 , with a mandate that was won with many preferential votes during the VVD times. While Verdonk had quite high poll numbers in 2008, it did not win a seat in the 2010 parliamentary elections, while the PVV was the third strongest party with 15.5 percent of the vote and received 24 seats. In 2017, the right-wing conservative party Forum voor Democratie (FVD) entered the Second Chamber as competition , which is more intellectual than the PVV. It is therefore also in competition with the VVD for voters. When it first moved into the Second Chamber, the FVD won two seats and, according to surveys, could now multiply this number.

The classification of the PVV causes problems for journalists and political scientists at home and abroad, whereby one vacillates between right-wing populist and right-wing extremist. A study by the Anne Frank Foundation from 2008 called the PVV moderately right-wing extremist. Lucardie sees a conceptual contradiction in this.

Geert Wilders from the Partij voor de Vrijheid , 2006

Geert Wilders had already advocated a “right-wing” course in the VVD in 2004. His intention to favor Dutch citizens in the social security system brings him close to Janmaat, wrote party researcher Lucardie. As long as the PVV does not want to restrict civil rights, the predicate right-wing extremist is not justified. Since Wilders placed national identity and independence as central, but linked this to rights for the individual, his nationalism was liberal, not collectivist as with fascism. However, at the PVV, liberalism is not very consistent, since it ultimately wants to drastically restrict freedom of belief and expression in the name of freedom. In the economic field, the PVV has moved to the left since it was founded.

Overviews

Parties in provinces and municipalities

The following parties are currently represented in provincial parliaments :

In the 2014 municipal council elections, local parties and electoral groups achieved a total of 27.77 percent of the vote and won over 2,600 seats. The nationally organized parties that only have municipal mandates include Trots op Nederland, the Verenigde Senioren Partij (VSP) and Ouderen Politiek Actief (OPA).

There is no party behind the Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie ; it is a member of the First Chamber who represents some smaller parties from the provincial parliaments. In 2015 there were only enough votes for one MP because 50plus signed up to the election agreement.

Historical election results

The table shows the election results for the Second Chamber and begins with the introduction of proportional representation in 1918. Only parties that have won at least one seat in an election are shown. Changes in the parliamentary groups between two elections are not taken into account.

  • Aufg .: dissolved
  • Founded
  • Verb .: forbidden
  • (CDA): common electoral list
  • Dark red: radical left parties
  • Light red: social democratic parties
  • Green: green and left-wing alternative parties
  • Yellow: left-wing Christian parties
  • Blue: liberal parties
  • Purple: Catholic parties
  • Light orange: Christian Democratic and Conservative parties
  • Light blue: right-wing populist parties
  • Dark orange: fundamental Christian parties
  • Braun: right-wing extremist parties
Dutch parties
... SDP
1909		 SP
1918		 SDAP
1894		 CDP
1905		 CSP
1907		 VDB
1901		 Bond
1904		 ARP
1879		 (Vrij.)
1906		 CHU
1908		 Flat.
1917		 ...
... ...
1918 SDP
2.3		 SP
0.7		 SDAP
22.0		 CDP
0.8		 CSP
0.6		 VDB
5.3		 Bond
30.0		 ARP
13.4		 (Vrij.)
15.1		 Weer.
0.5		 CHU
6.6		 Flat.
0.7		 established 1918
1919 1919
1920 1920
1921 established
Founded in 1922
established		 1921
1922 CPH
1.8		 SDAP
19.4		 CSP
0.7		 VDB
4.6		 established Bond
29.9		 ARP
13.7		 LSP
9.3		 LP
1.0		 CHU
10.9		 Flat.
1.6		 SGP
0.9		 1922
1923 1923
1924 1924
1925 CPH
1.2		 SDAP
22.9		 VDB
6.0		 RKVP
1.2		 Bond
28.6		 ARP
12.2		 LSP
8.7		 CHU
9.9		 Flat.
2.0		 HGS
1.0		 SGP
2.0		 1925
1926 CDP->
CDU		 up B .->
RKSP 		1926
1927 1927
1928 SP->
Rev.		 1928
1929 CPH
2.0		 SDAP
23.8		 VDB
6.2		 RKSP
29.6		 MSL
2.0		 ARP
11.6		 LSP
7.4		 CHU
10.5		 Flat.
1.0		 HGS
1.1		 SGP
2.3		 1929
1930 up 1930
1931 1931
1932
Founded in 1933		 1932
1933 CPH
3.2		 Rev.
1.3		 SDAP
21.5		 CDU
1.0		 VDB
5.1		 KDP
1.0		 RKSP
27.9		 ARP
13.4		 LSP
7.0		 CHU
9.1		 Flat.
1.0		 HGS
0.9		 SGP
2.5		 Nat.H.
0.8		 1933
1934 1934
1935 up 1941
verb.		 1935
1936
Founded in 1931		 1936
1937 CPH
3.3		 SDAP
22.0		 CDU
2.1		 VDB
5.9		 RKSP
28.8		 ARP
16.4		 LSP
4.0		 CHU
7.5		 SGP
1.9		 NSB
4.2		 1937
1938 1938
1939 up 1939
1940 verb. verb. 1940
1941 verb. verb. verb. verb. verb. verb. verb. verb. verb. verb. 1941
1942 1942
1943 1943
1944 1944
1945 verb. 1945
1946 CPN
10.6		 PvdA
28.3		 KVP
30.8		 ARP
12.9		 PvdV
6.4		 CHU
7.8		 SGP
2.1		 1946
1947 P .->
VVD
1947
1948 CPN
7.7		 PvdA
25.6		 KVP
31.0		 ARP
13.2		 VVD
7.9		 World.
1.3		 CHU
9.2		 established SGP
2.4		 1948
1949 1949
1950 1950
1951 1951
1952 CPN
6.2		 PvdA
29.0		 KVP
28.7		 ARP
11.3		 VVD
8.8		 KNP
2.7		 CHU
8.9		 SGP
2.4		 1952
1953 1953
1954 1954
1955 up 1955
1956 CPN
4.8		 PvdA
32.7		 KVP
31.7		 ARP
9.9		 VVD
8.7		 CHU
8.4		 SGP
2.3		 1956
1957 established 1957
1958 1958
1959 CPN
2.4		 PSP
1.8		 PvdA
30.4		 KVP
31.6		 ARP
9.4		 VVD
12.2		 CHU
8.1		 BP
0.7		 SGP
2.2		 1959
1960 1960
1961 1961
1962 1962
1963 CPN
2.8		 PSP
3.0		 PvdA
28.0		 KVP
31.9		 ARP
8.7		 VVD
10.3		 CHU
8.6		 BP
2.1		 GPV
0.7		 SGP
2.3		 1963
1964 1964
1965 1965
1966 established 1966
1967 CPN
3.6		 PSP
2.9		 PvdA
23.5		 D66
4.5		 KVP
26.5		 ARP
9.9		 VVD
10.7		 CHU
8.1		 BP
4.8		 GPV
0.9		 SGP
2.0		 1967
1968 established 1968
1969 1969
1970 established established 1970
1971 CPN
3.9		 PSP
1.4		 PPR
1.8		 PvdA
24.6		 D66
6.8		 DS70
5.3		 KVP
21.8		 ARP
8.6		 VVD
10.3		 NMP
1.5		 CHU
6.3		 BP
1.1		 GPV
1.6		 SGP
2.3		 1971
1972 CPN
4.5		 PSP
1.5		 PPR
4.8		 PvdA
27.3		 D66
4.2		 DS70
4.1		 KVP
17.7		 ARP
8.8		 VVD
14.4		 CHU
4.8		 BP
1.9		 GPV
1.8		 SGP
2.2		 1972
1973 1973
1974 2002 on
.		 1974
1975 1975
1976 1976
1977 CPN
1.7		 PSP
0.9		 PPR
1.7		 PvdA
33.8		 D66
5.4		 DS70
0.7		 (CDA) ( CDA )
31.9		 (CDA) VVD
18.0		 (CDA) BP
0.8		 GPV
0.9		 SGP
2.1		 1977
1978 2009 on
.		 1978
1979 1975
founded		 1979
1980 up up up established 1980
1981 CPN
2.1		 PSP
2.1		 PPR
2.0		 PvdA
28.3		 established D66
11.1		 CDA
30.8		 VVD
17.3		 RPF
1.2		 GPV
0.8		 SGP
2.0		 1981
1982 CPN
1.8		 PSP
2.3		 PPR
1.7		 PvdA
30.4		 EVP
0.7		 D66
4.3		 CDA
29.4		 VVD
23.1		 RPF
1.5		 GPV
0.8		 SGP
1.9		 CP
0.8		 1982
1983 up 1983
1984 1986 on
.		 1984
1985 1984
founded		 1985
1986 PSP
1,2		 PPR
1.3		 PvdA
33.3		 D66
6.1		 CDA
34.6		 VVD
17.4		 RPF
0.9		 GPV
1.0		 SGP
1.7		 1986
1987 1991 on
.		 1987
1988 1988
1989 (GL) (GL) ( GL )
4.1		 PvdA
31.9		 (GL) D66
7.9		 CDA
35.3		 VVD
14.6		 RPF
1.0		 GPV
1.2		 SGP
1.9		 CD
0.9		 1989
1990 1990
1991 up up up 1991
1992 established 1992
1993 1971
founded		 established 1993
1994 SP
1.3		 GL
3.5		 PvdA
24.0		 D66
15.5		 CDA
22.2		 VVD
20.0		 AOV
3.6		 U55 +
0.9		 RPF
1.8		 GPV
1.3		 SGP
1.7		 CD
2.5		 1994
1995 1995
1996 1996
1997 1997
1998 SP
3.5		 GL
7.3		 PvdA
29.0		 D66
9.0		 CDA
18.4		 VVD
24.7		 up up RPF
2.0		 GPV
1.3		 SGP
1.8		 1998
1999 established 1999
2000 2000
2001 up up 2001
2002 SP
5.9		 established GL
7.0		 PvdA
15.1		 D66
5.1		 CDA
27.9		 VVD
15.4		 LN
1.6		 CU
2.5		 LPF
17.0		 SGP
1.7		 up 2002
2003 SP
6.3		 GL
5.1		 PvdA
27.3		 D66
4.1		 CDA
28.6		 VVD
17.9		 CU
2.1		 LPF
5.7		 SGP
1.6		 2003
2004 2008 on
.		 2004
2005 2005
2006 SP
16.6		 PvdD
1.8		 GL
4.6		 PvdA
21.2		 D66
2.0		 CDA
26.5		 VVD
14.7		 CU
4.0		 PVV
5.9		 SGP
1.6		 2006
2007 up 2007
2008 2008
2009 established 2009
2010 SP
9.8		 PvdD
1.3		 GL
6.7		 PvdA
19.6		 D66
6.9		 CDA
13.6		 VVD
20.5		 CU
3.2		 PVV
15.4		 SGP
1.7		 2010
2011 2011
2012 SP
9.7		 PvdD
1.9		 GL
2.3		 PvdA
24.8		 D66
8.0		 CDA
8.5		 VVD
26.6		 50P.
1.9		 CU
3.1		 PVV
10.1		 SGP
2.1		 2012
2013 2013
2014 2014
2015 established 2015
2016 established 2016
2017 SP
9.2		 PvdD
3.2		 GL
8.9		 PvdA
5.7		 D66
12.0		 CDA
12.5		 VVD
21.3		 50P.
3.1		 THINK
2.0 		CU
3.4		 PVV
13.1		 SGP
2.1		 FvD
1.8 		2017

literature

  • Paul Lucardie: The party system in the Netherlands . In: Oskar Niedermayer u. a. (Ed.): The party systems of Western Europe . Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2006, pp. 331-350. ISBN 3-531-14111-2
  • Markus Wilp: The party landscape in the Netherlands . In: Frieso Wielenga / Markus Wilp (ed.): The Netherlands. A country report . Federal Agency for Political Education, Bonn 2015, pp. 181–217. ISBN 978-3-8389-0624-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tweede Kamert voor afschaffen lijstverbindingen. In: NRC. February 17, 2017, accessed March 17, 2017 (Dutch).
  2. ↑ Montesquieu-Instituut , accessed January 30, 2012.
  3. ^ Groupe d'Etats contre la corruption / Group of States against corruption [of the Council of Europe]: Evaluatierapport over Nederland inzake 'Transparantie in de financiering van politieke partijen' (Topic II) , Strasbourg, June 13, 2008, link via Novatv. nl ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 3/4. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.novatv.nl
  4. ^ Groupe d'Etats contre la corruption / Group of States against corruption [of the Council of Europe]: Evaluatierapport over Nederland inzake 'Transparantie in de financiering van politieke partijen' (Topic II) , Strasbourg, June 13, 2008, link via Novatv. nl ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Pp. 8, 10. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.novatv.nl
  5. ↑ The following figures from the Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen: Ledentallen van politieke partijen , last accessed on February 10, 2020.
  6. ↑ G. Voerman: De ledentallen van politieke partijen, 1945-1995. In: Jaarboek DNNP, 1995, pp. 192-206, here p. 197, p. 199. DNPP , last seen on April 2, 2010.
  7. ↑ Joep de Hart: Big ledenorganisaties over ontwikkelingen op het maatschappelijk middenveld. Civil society en vrijwilligerswerk IV. Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, The Hague, February 2005, p. 16.
  8. ↑ G. Voerman: De ledentallen van politieke partijen, 1945-1995. In: Jaarboek DNNP, 1995, pp. 192–206, here p. 202. DNPP  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last seen on April 2, 2010@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / dnpp.eldoc.ub.rug.nl  
  9. ↑ De stemming van 13 mei 2012 ( Memento of the original from July 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (subject to registration), last seen on May 16, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / n6.noties.nl
  10. ↑ Forum voor Democratie-kiezers komen van vooral PVV en VVD. NOS, accessed February 10, 2020 (Dutch).
  11. ↑ Tom Louwerse: Peilingwijzer: Laatste cijfers. Retrieved February 10, 2020 (Dutch).
  12. ↑ APM Lucardie: Right-extrémisme, populisme of Democratisch-patriotisme? Opmerkingen over de politieke plaatsbepaling van de Partij voor de Vrijheid en Trots op Nederland. In: Jaarboek van het Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen 2007 , pp. 176–190, here p. 176.
  13. ↑ APM Lucardie: Right-extrémisme, populisme of Democratisch-patriotisme? Opmerkingen over de politieke plaatsbepaling van de Partij voor de Vrijheid en Trots op Nederland. In: Jaarboek van het Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen 2007 , pp. 176–190, here p. 177, p. 185.
  14. ↑ APM Lucardie: Right-extrémisme, populisme of Democratisch-patriotisme? Opmerkingen over de politieke plaatsbepaling van de Partij voor de Vrijheid en Trots op Nederland. In: Jaarboek van het Documentatiecentrum Nederlandse Politieke Partijen 2007 , pp. 176–190, here pp. 179/180.