Stability and change in Dutch politics: Introduction to the Handbook of Dutch Politics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54195/plc.23203Keywords:
Dutch politics, Pillarisation, Populism, Consociational democracyAbstract
Notwithstanding its considerable degree of constitutional and institutional stability, Dutch politics has seen considerable step changes and occasional upheavals across the last half century. Influenced by long-term demographic, socio-economic, and cultural shifts, the old social cleavages have waned. New social identities and dividing lines - such as ethnicity, education, place, and gender - have influenced Dutch citizens' political attitudes and behaviours, including their voting patterns. The media landscape and the information environment have been altered by new technologies that politicians and citizens alike have to navigate. This has produced changes in such pivotal components as the party system, coalition formation and management process, executive-legislative relations, public policy making, and many others. In the Oxford Handbook of Dutch Politics, researchers take stock of what, if anything, has changed over time, how scholars have conceptualised and studied these dynamics, and what key factors can account for the developmental patterns found to be at play. In doing so, the Handbook provides a comprehensive longitudinal overview of the state of the art of academic research on the Dutch political system: its origins and historical development, its key institutions, main fault lines, pivotal processes, and key public policy dynamics, making an important contribution to the political science profession in the Netherlands, and beyond. In all, this volume provides unique and indispensable insights into stability and change in a political system that once gained notoriety as an archetype of a consensual or consociational democracy.
Downloads
References
Almond, G. A., & Verba, S. (1963). The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations. Princeton University Press.
Andeweg, R. B. (1992). ‘Executive-legislative relations in the Netherlands: Consecutive and co-existing patterns’. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 17(2), 161-182.
Andeweg, R. B. (2008). ‘Coalition politics in the Netherlands: From accommodation to politicization’. Acta Politica, 43(3), 254-277.
Andeweg, R. B., Irwin, G. A., & Louwerse, T. (2020). Governance and Politics of the Netherlands. Red Globe.
Andeweg, R. B., & Vis, J. J. (Eds.). (2015). Politicologie in Nederland: Van Politisering naar Professionalisering. NKWP.
Andeweg, R. B., De Winter, L., & Müller, W. C. (2008). ‘Parliamentary opposition in post-consociational Democracies: Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands’. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 14(1-2), 77-112.
Bosmans, J., & Van Kessel, A. (2011). Parlementaire Geschiedenis van Nederland. Boom.
Bovens, M., & Wille, A. (2008). ‘Deciphering the Dutch drop: ten explanations for decreasing political trust in The Netherlands’. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 74(2), 283-305.
CBS. (2023). https://opendata.cbs.nl/#/CBS/nl/dataset/83752NED/table?dl=17E05.
Celis, K., Outshoorn, J., Meijer, P., & Motmans, J. (2012). ‘Institutionalizing intersectionality in the Low Countries’. In A. Krizsan, H. Skjeie & J. Squires (Eds.), Institutionalizing Intersectionality (pp. 119-147). Palgrave Macmillan.
Daalder, H. (1974). Politisering en Lijdelijkheid in de Nederlandse Politiek. Van Gorcum.
Dahl, R. A. (1971). Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. Yale University Press.
De Blok, L., & Brummel, L. (2022). Gefundeerd politiek vertrouwen? Onderzoek naar de relatie tussen overheidsprestaties en het vertrouwen in politieke instituties. USBO Advies.
De Rooy, P. (2014). Republiek van Rivaliteiten: Nederland Sinds 1813. Boom.
De Swaan, A. (1973). Coalition Theories and Cabinet Formations. Jossey-Bass.
Den Ridder, J., Van ’t Hul, L., & Van den Broek, A. (2023). Burgerperspectieven, bericht 1/2023. https://www.scp.nl/onderzoeksprogramma/continu-onderzoek-burgerperspectieven/documenten/publicaties/2023/04/20/burgerperspectieven-2023-bericht-1.
Geuijen, C. H. M., ’t Hart, P., Princen, S. M. P., & Yesilkagit, A. K. (2008). The New Eurocrats: National Civil Servants in EU Policy Making. Amsterdam University Press.
Groenleer, M., & Hendriks, F. (2020). ‘Subnational mobilization and the reconfiguration of central-local relations in the shadow of Europe: the case of the Dutch decentralized unitary state’. Regional & Federal Studies, 30(2), 195-217.
Hoogerwerf, A. (1981). ‘Schets van de Nederlandse politicologie’. Ons Erfdeel, 24, 39-46.
Hout, W., & Andeweg, R. B. (1993). ‘Sleutelen aan het systeem: Institutionele vernieuwingsvoorstellen in de Nederlandse politiek’. Acta Politica, 28(3), 241-249.
Hufen, J. A. M., & Ringeling, A. B. (Eds.). (1990). Beleidsnetwerken. VUGA.
Karsten, N., & Hendriks, F. (2017). ‘‘Don’t call me a leader, but I am one’: The Dutch mayor and the tradition of bridging-and-bonding leadership in consensus democracies’. Leadership, 13(2), 154-172.
Keane, J. (2020). The New Despotism. Harvard University Press.
Jones, G. R. (2012). ‘Dutch politicians, the Dutch nation and the dynamics of postcolonial citizenship’. In U. Bosma (Ed.), Post-Colonial Immigrants and Identity Formation in the Netherlands (pp. 27-48). Amsterdam University Press.
Kessenich, E., Van der Brug, W. (2022). ‘New parties in a crowded electoral space: the (in)stability of radical right voters in the Netherlands’. Acta Politica, doi-org.proxy.library.uu.nl/10.1057/s41269-022-00269-0.
Kickert, W. J. M., Klijn, E. H., & Koppenjan, J. F. M. (Eds.). (1997). Managing Complex Networks: Strategies for the Public Sector. Sage.
Kickert, W. J. M., & Van Vught, F. A. (Eds.). (1995). Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands. Prentice-Hall.
Kriesi, H. P. (1998). ‘The transformation of cleavage politics’. European Journal of Political Research, 33(2), 165-185.
Leyenaar, M. (2013). ‘Netherlands: Gender balance here to stay?’ In D. Dahlerup & M. Leyenaar (Eds.), Breaking Male Dominance in Old Democracies. (pp. 172-196). Oxford University Press.
Lijphart, A. (1968). The Politics of Accommodation: Pluralism and Democracy in the Netherlands. University of California Press.
Lijphart, A. (1984). ‘The Politics of accommodation: Reflections fifteen years later’. Acta Politica, 19(1), 9-18.
Linz, J. J. & Stepan, A. (Eds.). (1978). The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Louwerse, T., & Timmermans, A. (2021). ‘The Netherlands: Old Solutions to New Problem’s. In T. Bergman, H. Bäck & J. Hellström (Eds.), Coalition Governance in Western Europe (pp. 448–481). Oxford University Press.
Mair, P. (2008). ‘Electoral volatility and the Dutch party system: A comparative perspective’. Acta Politica, 43(3), 235-253.
Meeus, T. J. (2016). Haagse Invloeden. Nieuw-Amsterdam.
Mügge, L. M. (2016). ‘Intersectionality, recruitment and selection: Ethnic minority candidates in Dutch parties’. Parliamentary Affairs, 69(3), 512-530.
Mügge, L. M., Van der Pas, D. J., & Van de Wardt, M. (2019). ‘Representing their own? Ethnic minority women in the Dutch Parliament’. West European Politics, 42(4), 705-727.
OECD. (2014). ‘Multi-level water governance in the Netherlands’, In Water Governance in the Netherlands: Fit for the Future. OECD Publishing.
Oostindie, G. (2011). Postcolonial Netherlands: Sixty-Five Years of Forgetting, Commemorating, Silencing. Amsterdam University Press
Otjes, S. (2021). ‘Parliamentary Election in the Netherlands, 17 March 2021’. Electoral Bulletins of the European Union, 1, 52-60.
Parlement.com. (2022). ‘Twaalf jaar premierschap: Hoe alles verandert maar Rutte stand houdt.’ https://www.parlement.com/id/vlutbjxck2wd/nieuws/twaalf_jaar_premierschap_hoe_alles.
Pellikaan, H., De Lange, S. L., Van der Meer, T. W. G. (2018). ‘The centre does not hold: Coalition politics and party system change in the Netherlands, 2002–12’. Government and Opposition, 53(2), 231-255.
Raad voor het Openbaar Bestuur (2010). Vertrouwen op democratie. ROB.
Scholten, P. W. A. (2012). ‘Agenda dynamics and the multi-level governance of intractable policy controversies: The case of migrant integration policies in the Netherlands’. Policy Sciences, 46(2), 217-236.
Sharpe, M. O. (2022). ‘Extending postcolonial sovereignty games: The multilevel negotiation of autonomy and integration in the 2010 dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles and Dutch kingdom relations’. Ethnopolitics, 21(3), 299-324.
Snel, E., El Farisi, B., Engbersen, G., & Krouwel, A. (2022). ‘Sociaaleconomische status en institutioneel vertrouwen in een tijd van Corona.’ Tijdschrift Sociologie, 3(March), 30-52.
Stuurman, S. (1983). Verzuiling, Kapitalisme en Patriarchaat: Aspecten van de Ontwikkeling van de Moderne Staat in Nederland. SUN.
Swinkels, E. M., Van Zuydam, S., & Van Esch, F. A. W. J. (2017). ‘Modern prime ministerial leadership in the Netherlands: Consensus or confrontation?’ In M. Bennister, P. ’t Hart & B. Worthy (Eds.), The Leadership Capital Index: A New Perspective on Political Leadership (pp. 164-182). Oxford University Press.
Staatcommissie Parlementair Stelsel. (2018). Lage Drempels, Hoge Dijken: Democratie en Rechtsstaat in Balans. Boom.
’t Hart, P., Metselaar, M., & Verbeek, B. (Eds.). (1995). Publieke Besluitvorming. VUGA.
’t Hart P., & Schelfhout, D. (2016). ‘Assessing prime-ministerial performance in a multiparty democracy: The Dutch case’. Acta Politica, 51(2), 153-172.
’t Hart, P., & Ten Hooven, M. (2004). Op Zoek Naar Leiderschap: Regeren na de Revolte. De Balie.
Te Velde, H. (2002). Stijlen van Leiderschap: Persoon en Politiek van Thorbecke tot Den Uyl. Wereldbibliotheek.
Timmermans, A., & Andeweg, R. B. (2000). ‘The Netherlands: Still the politics of accommodation?’ In W. C. Muller & K. Strøm (Eds.). Coalition Governments in Western Europe. (pp. 356-298), Oxford University Press.
Thomassen, J. & Van Ham, C. (2014). ‘Failing political representation or a change in kind? Models of representation and empirical trends in Europe’. West European Politics, 37(2), 400-419.
Van der Harst, J., Voerman G., & Vollaard, J. (Eds.). (2014). De Nederlandse opstelling in Europa, 1970-2010. Lemma.
Van der Meer, T., Lubbe, R., Van Elsas, E., Elff, M., & Van der Brug, W. (2012). ‘Bounded volatility in the Dutch electoral battlefield: A panel study on changing vote intentions in a changing party system, the Netherlands 2006-2010’. Acta Politica, 47(4), 333-355.
Van Ham, C., Thomassen, J., Aarts, K., & Andeweg, R. B. (Eds.). (2017). Myth and Reality of the Legitimacy Crisis: Explaining Trends and Cross-National Differences in Established Democracies. Oxford University Press.
Van Putten, J. (1981). Haagse Machten. Staatsuitgeverij.
Van Schendelen, M. P. C. M. (1983). ‘Critical comments on Lijphart’s theory of consociational democracy’, Politikon, 10(1), 6-32.
Van Schendelen, M. C. P. M. (1984). ‘The views of Arend Lijphart and collected criticisms’. Acta Politica, 19(1), 19-56.
Voermans, W. (2021). Het Land Moet Bestuurd Worden: Machiavelli in de Polder. Prometheus.
Witteveen, W. J., Bovens, M., Derksen, W., Kalma, P., & Becker, F. (1995). De verplaatsing van de politiek: een agenda voor democratische vernieuwing. Wiardi Beckman Stichting.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Sarah de Lange, Tom Louwerse, Paul 't Hart, Carolien van Ham (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
