We all know politics can be a dangerous topic, therefore, I am simply going to give you all an overview of some of the major national political parties in the Netherlands, and I’ll try to keep my own political opinions mostly out of it.\u00a0 But!\u00a0 I thoroughly encourage you all to have a lively debate with one another in the comments section.\u00a0 Also keep in mind that many cities have their own local political parties, and those tend to do quite well in the local elections.\u00a0 I couldn’t possibly list them all here.<\/p>\n
Therefore, in no particular order, the major Dutch national political parties:<\/p>\n
PvdA, Partij van de Arbeid <\/strong> : Labor Party The Labor Party in the Netherlands is a fairly old and respected party.\u00a0 They are a social-democratic party, which means they have a focus on social services and welfare.\u00a0 Their talking points include improving education and access to education, social benefits, and as of late, stabilizing the economy. PvdA were responsible for the recent collapse of the cabinet, as they decided to quit due to their conflicting views on continued Dutch involvement in Afghanistan.\u00a0 PvdA had repeatedly promised its voters that they would pull troops out of Afghanistan, but this had not happened.\u00a0 CDA wanted to continue involvement. \u00a0 In making the tough decision to stand by their political promises, PvdA quit, which in turn meant that the coalition was defunct.\u00a0 It is possible that this issue was a bit of the “straw that broke the camel’s back” as PvdA has had a rocky history with CDA, and there were many other problems between the two parties at the time this issue came to a head.<\/p>\n The most recognizable member of this party is Wouter Bos, the former minister of finance who saw the Netherlands through the economic crisis during 2008-2009.\u00a0 Within the last week he stepped down from politics altogether, stating that he has not had enough time for his family since joining politics.\u00a0 Wouter Bos will be replaced by Mayor Job Cohen of Amsterdam, and at the time of this writing, many people feel favorable about Cohen as his replacement.\u00a0 Because of his widespread support, he is quite possibly the next Prime Minister, but only time will tell.<\/p>\n VVD, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie <\/strong> : People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy The VVD is the largest economically conservative party in the country, and like the PvdA, are a long-standing and respected party.\u00a0 They are what I would call in American terms more libertarian, but let me be clear about some terminology.\u00a0 In Europe the term “economically liberal” means that there is less government involvement, hence you will also hear this party called “economically liberal” in European terms.\u00a0 This means that they focus on less government regulation for businesses, a free-market economy, individual responsibility and freedom and less government rules and regulations overall.\u00a0 This party did not make up the most recent coalition government with CDA and PvdA, though they have been a member of many coalition governments in the past.\u00a0 Interestingly enough, some of the more populist political party leaders were originally members of the VVD and then moved on to form their own parties.\u00a0 They are currently led by Mark Rutte, who, in a poll of the opinions of parliament members last year, was considered the best politician by his peers.<\/p>\n CDA, Christen-Democratisch Appel <\/strong> : Christian Democratic Appeal CDA is a Christian-democratic party that generally remains centrist on many issues.\u00a0 In 1980 they were formed from the fusion of one Catholic political party, and two Protestant parties.\u00a0 Although they were founded out of three Christian political parties, they focus on religious tolerance, and being Christian is not a requirement for membership in this party.\u00a0 They use the Bible in a very general sense as a moral compass for their values, and because of this they do appeal to members of other religions as well.\u00a0 CDA has held the majority in the cabinet for many years now, and the current Prime Minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, who has had four terms as prime minister, is from CDA.\u00a0 With elections coming up on June 9th, we all wait to see if Balkenende will return as prime minister for a fifth coalition government, though many people, both within and outside of CDA, feel it might be time for something new.\u00a0 Balkenende has received quite a bit of backlash in the last few months over a number of important issues, and the recent fall of the cabinet was the second fall of the cabinet that has occurred under his leadership.\u00a0 Although his leadership skills have been under fire, CDA still remains one of the dominant political parties.<\/p>\n D66, Democraten 66 <\/strong> : Democrats 66 D66 was formed, if you hadn’t already guessed, in 1966, by journalist Hans van Mierlo.\u00a0 Sadly, the founder of D66 recently passed away at the age of 78 after a very long and successful political career.\u00a0 The main goals of D66 have been further democratization of the Dutch political system, and more political involvement from citizens.\u00a0 They are therefore progressive, because they want to change the political system itself, socially liberal because they believe that the backbone of the society is it’s ability to help it’s citizens, and radically democratic because they believe that citizens should be able to have a physical vote on issues and political positions.\u00a0 They would like citizens to be able to vote for the mayor of their city, the prime minister, and on specific issues, just to name a few things.\u00a0 They focus on citizen outreach through “livingroom chats” with citizens in their own homes, where they figure out what the constituency wants through one-on-one interaction.\u00a0 They like to consider themselves politically flexible on the issues, therefore they do not take a strong philosophical stand and prefer to deal with issues on an “as they come” basis.\u00a0 Historically they have remained a bit more economically conservative and have a focus on supporting smaller business, while being socially liberal and fairly outspoken champions of gay rights.<\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/nu.pvda.nl\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.vvd.nl\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.cda.nl\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.d66.nl\/<\/a><\/p>\n