Editing Constitution of the Netherlands (section)

=====§1: Organisation and composition=====
Article 50 states that there are [[States General of the Netherlands|States General]] and that these represent the whole of the people of the Netherlands. Thus a clear distinction is made to the situation under the confederal [[Dutch Republic]] when the States General represented the [[provinces of the Netherlands|provinces]]. Doctrine holds that the article also entails that [[political parties of the Netherlands|political parties]] have to give priority to the public interest, as opposed to the particular interests of their constituents. Article 51 specifies that the States General consist of a [[House of Representatives of the Netherlands]] ([[lower house]]), the Second Chamber of 150 members and a [[Senate (Netherlands)|Senate]] ([[upper house]]), the First Chamber of 75 members — the constitution deliberately mentions the House of Representatives first to emphasize its political primate. Subarticle 4 mentions that both Houses can gather in an indivisible United Assembly of 225 members, a joint session necessary to perform some acts, such as the appointment of a new King in absence of royal heirs. When in United Assembly the President of the Senate is President of the States General (Article 62); the House of Representatives has tried to change this in the revision of 1983 but has twice been defeated by the Senate defending its privilege. The Houses sit for four years (Article 52). They are elected on basis of [[proportional representation]] (Article 53) and by a secret ballot (Subarticle 2). The House of Representatives is elected by all Dutch citizens over the age of eighteen (Article 54), except those who have been disqualified by a court sentence as part of their punishment for a crime or those who have been declared incapable by court because of insanity (Subarticle 2). Formal law can limit the right to vote to resident nationals only but presently does not. The Senate is elected by the [[States Provincial (Netherlands)|States Provincial]] (Article 55).

To be eligible to be elected it is necessary to be of Dutch nationality, to be over eighteen in age and not to have been excluded from the right to vote (Article 56); there are also certain incompatibilities of function (Article 57), the most important of which is that a minister not belonging to a demissionary cabinet cannot be a member of the States General, a stark contrast with the situation in [[Politics of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] or [[Politics of Germany|Germany]], but in line with the [[Politics of the United States|United States]]. This principle underlies the [[political dualism]] of Dutch politics. The Houses investigate the [[letter of credence|Letters of Credence]] of new members, in this case a written affirmation by the central voting office that they have indeed obtained the necessary number of votes. After the investigation new members swear four oaths: the oath of purification, the oath of allegiance to the Constitution and the oath of loyal discharge of their office are demanded by Article 60; the oath of loyalty to King and Statute is demanded by Article 47 of the Statute of the Kingdom, the higher Constitution of the Realm. All other issues pertaining the elections are regulated by formal law; delegation is possible (Article 59).

Each House appoints its own President from its members (Article 61) and a clerk, not from its own members; no officials of the States General may be member of the States (Subarticle 2). Law regulates the remuneration of the members; delegation is possible; such law can only be approved by a two-thirds majority (Article 63).

Article 64 states that government can dissolve each House by Royal Decree. Within three months elections have to be held (Subarticle 2). The duration of a new House of Representatives after dissolution is determined by law and not to exceed five years (Subarticle 4). The dissolution only takes effect when the new House meets, to avoid a period without representation. Dissolution of Parliament was in the 19th century an instrument for government to decide a conflict with the House of Representatives by submitting the issue to the voter. Unwritten law developed between 1866 and 1868 that this should not be done more than once over the same issue. The last instance occurred in 1894. In the 20th century such "conflict resolution" was replaced by "crisis resolution" whenever a political coalition fell apart and could not be reconciled; the government then resigns and instead of trying to find a new coalition majority, decides on holding new elections, normally in accordance with the wishes of parliament itself. Earlier typically an "interim cabinet" was formed to arrange for the elections, but this hasn't happened since 1982.