Politics of the Netherlands

The Netherlands are a constitutional monarchy. The most important part of parliament, the Tweede Kamer (second chamber, or lower house), has 150 members, and is chosen once every four years by proportional representation. Like a number of other European countries with proportional representation, the Dutch have always had coalition governments.

The executive branch of government is headed by the Monarch, who appoints the Ministers and State Secretaries of the cabinet. The prime minister of the Netherlands (Dutch Minister-president or premier) is the head of the cabinet, and as such, coordinates the policy of the government. Although formally no special powers are assigned, the prime minister functions as the "face" of the government to the public. Usually, the prime minister is also minister of General Affairs (Minister van Algemene Zaken). Until 1945, the position of head of the council of ministers officially switched between the ministers, although practices differed throughout history. In 1945, the position was formally instituted.

In practice the cabinet requires the support of the lower house, otherwise it would not have any influence over legislation, so the Monarch will ask the representatives to form a coalition which will select a cabinet. The Constitution of the Netherlands does not permit somebody to be a member of both cabinet and the lower house, so any cabinet members appointed from the house are replaced from the party lists.

The present constitution--which dates from 1848 and has been amended several times--protects individual and political freedoms, including freedom of religion. Although church and state are separate, a few historical ties remain; the royal family belongs to the Dutch Reformed Church (Protestant). Freedom of speech also is protected.

Government Structure
The country's government is based on the principles of ministerial responsibility and parliamentary government. The national government comprises three main institutions: the Monarch, the Council of Ministers, and the States General. There also are local governments.

The Monarch. The monarch is the titular head of state. The Queen's function is largely ceremonial, but she does have some influence deriving from the traditional veneration of the House of Orange--from which Dutch monarchs for more than three centuries have been chosen; the personal qualities of the Queen; and her power to appoint the formateur, who forms the Council of Ministers following elections.

The Council of Ministers plans and implements government policy. The Monarch and the Council of Ministers together are called the Crown. Most ministers also head government ministries, although ministers-without-portfolio exist. The ministers, collectively and individually, are responsible to the States General (parliament). Unlike the British system, Dutch ministers cannot simultaneously be members of parliament.

The Council of State is a constitutionally established advisory body to the government which consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political, commercial, diplomatic, or military experience. The Council of State must be consulted by the cabinet on proposed legislation before a law is submitted to the parliament. The Council of State also serves as a channel of appeal for citizens against executive branch decisions.

States General (parliament). The Dutch parliament consists of two houses, the First Chamber[?] and the Second Chamber. Historically, Dutch governments have been based on the support of a majority in both houses of parliament. The Second Chamber is by far the more important of the two houses. It alone has the right to initiate legislation and amend bills submitted by the Council of Ministers. It shares with the First Chamber the right to question ministers and state secretaries.

The Second Chamber consists of 150 members, elected directly for a 4-year term--unless the government falls prematurely--on the basis of a nationwide system of proportional representation. This system means that members represent the whole country--rather than individual districts as in the United States--and are normally elected on a party slate, not on a personal basis. There is no threshold for small-party representation. Campaigns usually last 6 weeks, and the election budgets of each party tend to be less than $500,000. The electoral system makes a coalition government almost inevitable. The last election of the Second Chamber was in January 2003 (early elections).

The First Chamber is composed of 75 members elected for 4-year terms by the 12 provincial legislatures. It cannot initiate or amend legislation, but its approval of bills passed by the Second Chamber is required before bills become law. The First Chamber generally meets only once a week, and its members usually have other full-time jobs. The current First Chamber was elected following provincial elections in March 2003.

Courts. The judiciary comprises 62 cantonal courts, 19 district courts, five courts of appeal, and a Supreme Court which has 24 justices. All judicial appointments are made by the Crown. Judges nominally are appointed for life but actually are retired at age 70.

Local government. The first-level administrative divisions are the 12 provinces, each governed by a locally elected provincial council and a provincial executive appointed by members of the provincial council. The province is formally headed by a queen's commissioner appointed by the Crown.

The smallest administrative divisions are the gemeenten (municipalities) governed by a town council chosen by all adults for a four years term, and a burgemeester (mayor) appointed by the Crown. The appointment procedure was recently brought for dicussion. The appointment procedure is considered undemocratic and alternatives are:

• Direct election of the mayor by the people: two candidates are nominated by the Crown.
• Appointment by the town council from a nomination made by the Crown.

Given the consensus-based nature of Dutch Government, elections do not result in any drastic change in foreign or domestic policy.

Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of the Netherlands
conventional short form: Netherlands
local long form: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
local short form: Nederland

Data code: NL

Government type: constitutional monarchy

Capital: Amsterdam; The Hague is the seat of government

Administrative divisions: 12 provinces (provincies, singular - provincie); Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe, Overijssel, Flevoland, Gelderland, Utrecht, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Zeeland, Noord-Brabant and Limburg

Dependent areas: Aruba, Netherlands Antilles

Independence: 1579 (from Spain)

National holiday: Queen's Day[?], 30 April

Constitution: adopted 1814; amended many times, last time 17 February 1983

Legal system: civil law system incorporating French penal theory; constitution does not permit judicial review of acts of the States General; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard (since 30 April 1980); Heir Apparent Willem Alexander (born 27 April 1967), son of the monarch
head of government: Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following Second Chamber elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch; vice prime ministers appointed by the monarch
note: government coalition - CDA, VVD, and D66; there is also a Council of State composed of the monarch, heir apparent, and councilors consulted by the executive on legislative and administrative policy

Legislative branch: bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of the First Chamber or Eerste Kamer (75 seats; members indirectly elected by the country's 12 provincial councils for four-year terms) and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections:

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Hoge Raad, justices are nominated for life by the monarch

Political parties and leaders: See political parties of the Netherlands.

Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA (Jan Peter Balkenende); Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF (Mat Herben[?]), Labor Party or PvdA (Wouter Bos); People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Liberal) or VVD (Gerrit Zalm[?]); Democrats '66 or D'66 (Boris Diettrich[?]); a host of minor parties

Political pressure groups and leaders: Federation of Netherlands Trade Union Movement (comprising Socialist and Catholic trade unions) and a Protestant trade union; Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers Associations; Interchurch Peace Council or IKV; large multinational firms; the nondenominational Federation of Netherlands Enterprises

International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC[?], EIB, EMU, ESA, ESCAP, EU, FAO, G-10[?], IADB[?], IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA[?], IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, International Maritime Organization, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA[?], NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP[?], UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR[?], UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, Zangger Committee

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and blue; similar to the flag of Luxembourg, which uses a lighter blue and is longer

Dutch cabinets since World War II

Note: first party mentioned provided prime minister.

Before the two "purple" cabinets of Wim Kok, for 80 years the CDA (or the parties that later joined to form the CDA) had been in the government, sometimes with the socialists (PvdA), sometimes with the liberals (VVD) as their coalition partner.

See also

• Netherlands
• Dutch monarchy
• Drugs policy of the Netherlands
• Political parties of the Netherlands

External link

• extremely detailed statistics and historical facts about elections, cabinets, parties, etc (in Dutch) for whole 20th century can be found at www.geschiedenis.com (http://www.geschiedenis.com/index3)