Netherlands

V

Government

The Netherlands is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. It is governed under a constitution, first promulgated in 1814, and revised several times since, most recently in 1983. According to the constitution, the kingdom consists of the Netherlands, Aruba, and the Netherlands Antilles. Their relationship is regulated by a statute of December 1954, whereby they are united on a footing of equality.

A

Executive and Legislature

The head of state of the Netherlands is the hereditary monarch, who has had little real power since the constitution was revised in 1848. Queen Beatrix succeeded to the throne in May 1980, on the abdication of Queen Juliana, her mother; Juliana died in March 2004. The principal executive official is the prime minister, who is appointed by the monarch and heads a Cabinet that is responsible to the legislature, the States-General (Dutch Staten-Generaal).

The States-General has two chambers. The First Chamber (Eerste Kamer) is composed of 75 members elected to terms of up to four years by the provincial legislatures: the Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer) is made up of 150 deputies popularly elected to terms of up to four years under a system of proportional representation. Either or both chambers may be dissolved by the monarch on condition that new elections be held within 40 days. The Second Chamber is by far the more important of the two; the First Chamber has little more than a rarely exercised veto power over the legislative process. The Netherlands has universal suffrage for all citizens over the age of 18.

B

Political Parties

The Netherlands uses systems of proportional representation in electing municipal, provincial, and national assemblies. This allows even small political parties to win seats. In the 1994 Second Chamber elections, for example, some 25 parties took part and 9 won seats. On the national level, the Netherlands has always been governed by coalitions of parties, the formation of which has often proved difficult.

The largest political parties are the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA; Christen Democratisch Appèl), a conservative group; the left-of-centre Labour Party (PvdA; Partij van de Arbeid); the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD; Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie), a right-of-centre business-oriented party; Democrats 66 (D66; Democraten 66), a centre-left party seeking greater direct citizens’ participation in the political system; the Green Left party (GL; Groen Links); and the Socialist Party (SP; Socialistische Partij). A populist, anti-immigration party, List Pim Fortuyn (LPF), established in March 2002, unexpectedly took 26 seats in the Second Chamber election that year, making it the second largest grouping in the legislature. Its leader, Pim Fortuyn, was assassinated shortly prior to the elections. In the 2003 elections support for the LPF fell away. Of the many smaller parties, most are more to the extreme left or right.

C

Judiciary

The judicial system of the Netherlands includes four main levels of courts. The highest tribunal is the High Court of the Netherlands, which sits in The Hague. Other major judicial bodies are Courts of Appeal, district courts of justice, and canton courts. All Dutch judges are appointed for life by the monarch.

D

Local Government

The political identity of each of the Netherlands’ 12 provinces can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Today each is governed by a commissioner appointed by the crown and a popularly elected legislature (Provincial States). The country is further divided into more than 600 municipalities, ranging from the largest city to the smallest village. Each is governed by a popularly elected council and a burgemeester (mayor) appointed by the crown. These lower levels of government have only limited powers of taxation and depend on the central government for most of their finances.