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Politics of the Netherlands facts for kids

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Mark Rutte 2015 (1)
Prime Minister Mark Rutte

The politics of the Netherlands is that of an indirect democracy. It has a constitution and a monarchy that operates within the constitution. The democratic structure is determined by a parliament (the legislative branch) and a government (the executive branch). The government depends on the confidence of the parliament, but the two branches aren't strictly separated (the parliamentary system).

The parliament is called the States General (Dutch: Staten-Generaal) and consists of two chambers: a lower house, the so-called Second Chamber (Dutch: Tweede Kamer), comparable with the House of Representatives in other countries, and a upper house, the so-called First Chamber (Dutch: Eerste Kamer), comparable with the Senate in other countries, and often called likewise.

At a lower level, there are provinces, municipalities and water boards.

On a higher level, the Netherlands makes part of the Benelux, Council of Europe, European Union, NATO and the United Nations.

The Netherlands is officially called the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is composed of four countries: the Netherlands itself (the European part) and three island countries in the Caribbean: Aruba, Curaçao and Saint Martin. Three other islands in the Caribbean that belong to the Netherlands have a status of special municipalities of the Netherlands, the so-called Caribbean Netherlands.

Government

Current government is the Third Rutte cabinet, a coalition of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD, a conservative liberal party), the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA, a Christian democratic party), Democrats 66 (D66, a social liberal party), and the ChristianUnion (CU, an orthodox Christian democratic party).

The Third Rutte Cabinet was established on October 26, 2017. Prime Minister has been VVD politician Mark Rutte since 2010.

Political parties

The following 14 political parties are in parliament:

No more in parliament:

  • DS'70 - Democratic Socialists '70 (Dutch: Democratisch Socialisten '70), a former moderate social democratic party, a split from the PvdA.
  • LPF - Pim Fortuyn List (Dutch: Lijst Pim Fortuyn), a former populist party established by the in 2002 murdered politician Pim Fortuyn.

Political leaders

Political leaders since 2021, sorted by the number of seats in parliament.

Related pages

Images for kids

  • Verenigde Vergadering bijeen in Ridderzaal (11192673163)

    Joint session of the States General in the Ridderzaal, 2013

  • Dutch election results 1918-2012

    This figure shows the seat distribution in the Dutch House of Representatives from the first general elections after the First World War (1918), to the current situation. The left wing parties are on the bottom, the Christian democratic parties in the center, with the right wing parties closer to the top. Occasionally one issue parties have arisen that are shown at the extreme top. Vertical lines indicate general elections.

  • Johan Heinrich Neuman - Johan Rudolf Thorbecke (cropped)

    Johan Rudolph Thorbecke (1849–1853; 1862–1866, 1871–1872)

  • Jan Heemskerk Azn (1818-1897), after Heinrich Wilhelm Wollrabe

    Jan Heemskerk (1874–1877; 1883–1888)

  • Abraham Kuyper 1905 (1)

    Abraham Kuyper (1901–1905)

  • Hendrik Colijn (1925)

    Hendrikus Colijn (1925–1926; 1933–1939)

  • Willem Drees 1958

    Willem Drees (1948–1958)

  • Piet de Jong 1970

    Piet de Jong (1967–1971)

  • Ruud Lubbers 1985 (1)

    Ruud Lubbers (1982–1994)

  • Wim Kok 1983 (1)

    Wim Kok (1994–2002)

  • Mark Rutte-6 (cropped)

    Mark Rutte (2010–present)

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