Issues and Party Competition in the Netherlands

1999 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEES AARTS ◽  
STUART ELAINE MACDONALD ◽  
GEORGE RABINOWITZ
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Dutch Politics ◽  
Consociational Democracy ◽  
Party Choice ◽  
Low Threshold ◽  
Party Strength ◽  
Substantial Change ◽  
Voting Models ◽  
Homogeneous Culture

The Netherlands represents the prototypic case of a consociational democracy; in addition, the Dutch system has an extremely low threshold for obtaining representation in the legislature, making it open to challengers of any political persuasion. This article has two explicit goals: to compare two models of issue-based party choice, the directional and proximity models; and to understand the changing nature of electoral competition in the Netherlands. The article's analytic focus is the elections of 1971, 1986, and 1994. These elections, the only ones for which appropriate data are available for testing the issue theories, represent important points in the historical sequence. Tests of the alternate issue voting models generally favor directional over proximity theory. The broader analysis suggests substantial change in Dutch politics, away from the tight structuring of subcultural allegiances to a more politically homogeneous culture in which party strength appears rather fluid.

Spatial Voting Models of Party Competition in Two Dimensions

2019 ◽  
pp. 186-207
Author(s):  
James F. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Government Intervention ◽  
Income Redistribution ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Economic Dimension ◽  
Spatial Voting ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
Voting Models ◽  
Western Democracies

This chapter broadly surveys spatial voting models of party competition in two dimensions, where, in Western democracies, the first dimension is typically the left-right dimension pertaining to policy debates over income redistribution and government intervention in the economy. The second dimension may encompass policy debates over issues that cross-cut the left-right economic dimension, or it may encompass universally valued “valence” dimensions of party evaluation such as parties’ images for competence, integrity, and leadership ability. The chapter reviews models with office-seeking and policy-seeking parties. It also surveys both the theoretical and the empirical literatures on these topics.

The functions and positions of political parties in consociational democracies: theoretical and empirical contexts

2020 ◽  
pp. 28-33
Author(s):  
O. Morhuniuk
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Further Development

An article is devoted to the analysis of the functions and formats of political parties in consociational democracies. In particular, it is defined that parties that represent the interests of certain subcultures in society and that reach a consensus among themselves at the level of political agreements are called segmental. At the same time, parties that encapsulate different subgroups of the society that cooperate inside the party within main features of the consociational theory (grand coalition, mutual veto, proportionality in representations, and independence of segments or society subcultures) are called consociational. The theory of consociationalism has received a wide range of theoretical additions and criticism from political scientists over the past fifty years. And while political parties should have been, by definition, one of the key aspects of research within such democratic regimes (parties are part of large coalitions and agents of representation of certain subcultures), there is very scarce number of literature that focuses on this aspect. Therefore, the presented article provides a description of the functions of political parties that could be observed as inside their subcultures as well as in interaction with other segmental parties. Based on the experience of two European countries in the period of “classical” consociationalism (Belgium and the Netherlands), we explain the functions of the parties we have defined in such societies with examples of relevant consociational practices in them. Simultaneously with the analysis of segmental parties, the article also offers the characteristics of consociational parties. The emergence of such parties has its own institutional and historical features. The way of further development of the party system and the level of preservation of consociational practices makes it possible to understand the nature of changes in the societies. Similarly, the analysis of the forms of party competition and interaction between segmental parties makes it possible to outline the forms of those consociational changes that are taking place in the research countries.

The Patterns of Party Polarization in East Asia

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell J. Dalton ◽  
Aiji Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Party System ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Party Polarization ◽  
Party Choice ◽  
Party Positions ◽  
The Comparative Study

The alignment of parties within a party system shapes the nature of electoral competition, the process of representation, and potentially the legitimacy of the system. This article describes the distribution of parties and the levels of party polarization in the party systems of East Asian democracies. We examine the public's perceptions of party positions on a left-right scale to map the pattern of party competition. The evidence is based on two waves of surveys from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. We describe considerable variation in the polarization of Asian party systems, which has direct implications for the clarity of party choice and the behavior of voters. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings.

scholarly journals Transformacja społeczna i polityczna w Niderlandach w latach 1967–1971

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 225-236
Author(s):  
Łukasz Zweiffel
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
Dutch Politics ◽  
The Subject ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S

Social and Political Transformation in the Netherlands in 1967–1971 The author deals with the subject of social and political transformation that took place in the Netherlands at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s. This was a key transformation for the existence of the now tolerant and open Netherlands. It entailed permanent changes, not only in the cultural and social spheres, but also reflected in Dutch politics.

scholarly journals De BMGN als platform voor vernieuwing van de politieke geschiedenis

2021 ◽  
Vol 136 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-149
Author(s):  
Dirk Jan Wolffram
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Political History ◽  
The Political ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
History Writing ◽  
Dutch Politics ◽  
Cultural Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
History Of

De politieke geschiedenis van Nederland en België zoals bestudeerd in de BMGN had verschillende gezichten. Aanvankelijk domineerde een zekere traditionele geschiedschrijving over beide landen, die als een steeds dunner wordende rode draad door de inhoud van de afgelopen vijftig jaar loopt. Vanaf het midden van de jaren tachtig verschoof de nadruk naar de geschiedschrijving over de Nederlandse politiek, en ontwikkelde de BMGN zich tot platform voor de vernieuwing van de politieke geschiedenis van de moderne tijd. Deze politieke-cultuurbenadering manifesteerde zich vanaf het midden van de jaren negentig in een aantal baanbrekende artikelen en bracht ook de moderne Belgische politieke geschiedenis opnieuw onder de aandacht. In het afgelopen decennium ontpopte de BMGN zich tot podium voor een jonge generatie politieke historici. Studies of the political history of the Netherlands and Belgium as examined in the BMGN had various manifestations. Initially a somewhat traditional historiography about the two countries dominated, surfacing in the content of the past fifty years, albeit progressively less pronounced. From the mid 1980s the focus shifted to the historiography of Dutch politics, and the BMGN evolved into a platform for innovating political history writing of the modern period. This political-cultural approach manifested from the mid 1990s in several pioneering articles and restored interest in modern Belgian political history. In the past decade the BMGN has become a platform for a young generation of political historians.

Modern Prime-Ministerial Leadership in the Netherlands

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marij Swinkels ◽  
Sabine van Zuydam ◽  
Femke Van Esch
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Leadership Style ◽  
Political System ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Dutch Politics ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Prime Ministers ◽  
System P ◽  
Ministerial Leadership

This chapter discusses the leadership style of Dutch prime ministers (PMs) and asks the question what type of leadership skills, relations, and reputations are most effective in modern Dutch politics: a consensual or confrontational style. While Dutch politics traditionally favors leaders who employ a consensus-oriented leadership style, prime ministers Balkenende (2002–2010) and Rutte (2010–present) served at a time when socio-cultural changes and mediatization of politics were challenging this political practice. By applying a modified version of the Leadership Capital Index (LCI), the chapter shows that to ensure re-election, both PMs struck a careful balance between the consensual and confrontational leadership styles. Whereas the study indicates that prime ministers have considerable leeway in how to strike that balance, the results suggest that it is essential that they maintain constructive relations with their peers in government and parliament to be electorally successful in the Dutch political system.

Why politicians react to media coverage

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luzia Helfer ◽  
Peter Van Aelst
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Political Action ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Investigative Reporting ◽  
News Reports ◽  
Micro Level

Abstract Why do politicians react to some stories in the news and ignore others? We attempt to answer this question by integrating the micro-level politician perspective with a macro-level country approach. Using a unique experimental approach, we test when politicians in the Netherlands and Switzerland (N = 80) take political action based on a (fictional) news report. We find that all politicians react more to negative coverage, but not if the information is merely presented as investigative reporting. Results also reveal a systematic variation that we ascribe to two key differences in the electoral systems. In The Netherlands, with its large single voting district, politicians react to news reports covering issues they are specialized in. In Switzerland, where between-party competition is more important, politicians are more likely to capitalize on the party’s profile. Overall, this study shows when and how politicians react to news coverage also depends on the institutional context.

Constitutional Uncertainties

2020 ◽  
pp. 129-154
Author(s):  
Albert Weale
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Choice ◽  
Decision Rules ◽  
Original Position ◽  
High Threshold ◽  
Simple Majority ◽  
Consociational Democracy ◽  
Majority Principle ◽  
Low Threshold ◽  
Modern Era

The Calculus of Consent by Buchanan and Tullock was the first book to apply the contract method to questions of public choice, particularly in respect of voting, in the modern era. Their contractual construction imagines individuals in an original position of a laissez-faire economy, where the individuals have to determine rules for the making of collective choices in respect of the reduction of economic externalities and the provision of public goods. Those individuals calculate the costs and benefits of different decision rules. Faced with proposals with which they disagree, individuals would prefer a high threshold of agreement; faced with proposals with which they agree, individuals would prefer a low threshold of agreement. The constitutional question such individuals confront is to determine a general decision rule when they are uncertain about the future stream of choices the members of their community will face. Buchanan and Tullock are defended against the criticism that their original position lacks justification and that it presupposes a requirement of unanimity to secure change. However, they are less convincing in their attack on the simple majority principle, and in their attempt to show that supermajority decision-making does not give too much power to minorities. Indeed, sometimes the supermajority devices they support should be used to protect minorities, as shown in the literature on consociational democracy.

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