In the last two posts we’ve talked about the basic structure of the government, and the different political parties (Part One, Part Two).  In this post I’m going to give you some terminology that should be helpful if you want to pick up a Dutch newspaper, watch the news in Dutch, or read Dutch news online.  And I thoroughly encourage you to do these things, regardless of your level of understanding Dutch.  In the least of things, you have to hear the language in order to master it.  What starts out sounding like an endless stream of unfamiliar sounds will at some point turn into words that make sense to you.  Nope, the language didn’t change, you just learned it.  So pick up some Dutch news in any form, and see if you can find or hear these words…I bet you can!

de regering : government

regeren : to govern

het bestuur : government, management, administration

de overheid : government, authority

de wet : the law

het beleid : the policy

het parlement : the parliament

het parlementslid : the member of parliament (het lid : member)

de politiek : the politics

de politicus : the politician

de partij : the party, side  This is only for parties as a group of people with a set of views.  A party as in a celebration is “feest”

de economie : the economy

de economische crisis : the economic crisis

het milieu : the environment

de vervuiling : the pollution

de gezondheidszorg : the healthcare

de verzekering : the insurance

de samenleving : the society, literally:  together + living

de maatschappij : the society

de gemeenschap : the community

de gemeente : municipality, city or town government

het stadsdeel : the district in a city

het welzijn : the welfare/well-being

de welvaart : the prosperity

de actie : the action, campaign, movement

het actiepunt : the issue to be acted on

de discriminatie : the discrimination

de immigratie : the immigration

de buitenlander : the foreigner, literally: outside + country

het ongeluk / het ongeval : both mean the accident

het openbaar vervoer : the public transportation