Editing Politics of the Netherlands (section)

==Political history==
{{Main|History of the Netherlands: modern history (1900-present)}}
{{see also|Anarchism in the Netherlands|Christian democracy in the Netherlands|Liberalism in the Netherlands|Socialism in the Netherlands}}

===1800–1966===
The Netherlands has been a [[constitutional monarchy]] since 1813 and a [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary democracy]] since 1848. Previously, it was a [[republic]] from 1581 to 1806, and a kingdom between 1806 and 1810 (it was part of [[France]] between 1810 and 1813).{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

Before 1917, the Netherlands had a [[two-round system]] with [[census suffrage]] (per the Constitution of 1814), in which only property-owning adult males had the right to vote. Under influence of the rising [[socialism|socialist]] movement the requirements were gradually reduced until in 1917 the present [[party-list proportional representation]] voting system with [[universal manhood suffrage]] was instituted, expanded in 1919 to include women.

Until 1966, Dutch politics was characterised by [[pillarisation]]. Society was separated into several segments (pillars) which lived separately from each other and there was only contact at the top levels, in government. These pillars had their own organisations, most importantly the political parties. There were four pillars, which provided the five most important parties, the socialist [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]] (PvdA), the conservative liberal [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]] (VVD), the [[Catholic People's Party]] (KVP) and the two conservative Protestant parties, the [[Christian Historical Union]] (CHU) and the [[Anti-Revolutionary Party]] (ARP). Since no party ever won an absolute majority, these political parties had to work together in coalition governments. These alternated between a centre-left "[[Roman/Red]]" coalition of PvdA, KVP, ARP and CHU and a centre-right coalition of VVD, KVP, ARP and CHU.

[[File:Dutchparlseats2.png|thumb|The seat distribution in the House of Representatives from 1946 to 2025. The [[Left (politics)|left-wing]] parties are on the bottom, the [[Christian democracy|Christian democratic]] parties in the center, with the [[Right (politics)|right-wing]] parties closer to the top. Occasionally [[One issue party|one-issue parties]] have arisen that are shown at the extreme top. Vertical lines indicate general elections.]]

===1966–1994===
In the 1960s, new parties appeared, which were mostly popular with young voters, who felt less bound to the pillars. The post-war [[babyboom]] meant that there had been a demographic shift to lower ages. On top of that, the voting age was lowered, first from 23 to 21 years in 1963 and then to 18 years in 1972. The most successful new party was the [[Social liberalism|progressive liberal]] [[Democrats 66]] (D66), which proposed democratisation to break down pillarisation.

Pillarisation declined, with the three Christian democratic parties losing almost half of their votes. In 1977 they merged into the [[Christian Democratic Appeal]] (CDA), which became a major force in Dutch politics, participating in governments uninterruptedly from 1977 until 1994. Meanwhile, the conservative liberal VVD and D66 made large electoral gains.

The Dutch [[welfare state]] had become the most extensive [[social security]] system in the world by the early eighties, but it came into crisis when spending rose due to dramatic high [[unemployment]] rates and poor economic growth. The early eighties saw unemployment rise to over 11% and the [[Government budget balance|budget deficit]] rose to 10.7% of the national income. The centre-right and centre-left coalitions of CDA–VVD and CDA–PvdA reformed the Dutch welfare state to bring the budget deficit under control and to create jobs. Social benefits were reduced, taxes lowered and businesses deregulated. Gradually the economy recovered and the budget deficit and unemployment were reduced considerably.

When the far-left parties lost much electoral support in the 1986 elections, they decided to merge into the new [[GroenLinks]] in 1989, with considerable success.

===Since 1994===
In the [[1994 Dutch general election|1994 general election]], the CDA lost nearly half its seats, while D66 doubled in size. For the first time in eighty years, a coalition was formed without the Christian democrats. The [[Purple (government)|purple coalition]] was formed between PvdA, D66 and VVD. The colour purple symbolised the mixing of socialist red with liberal blue. During the purple years, which lasted until 2002, the government introduced legislation on [[abortion]], [[euthanasia]], and [[gay marriage]]. The purple coalition also marked a period of remarkable economic prosperity.

Since 2000, the Netherlands has largely supported the European Union and taken marked steps to integrate itself with it and improve its ties with [[NATO]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Rietbergen |first=P. J. A. N. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52849131 |title=A Short History of the Netherlands: From Prehistory to the Present Day |publisher=Bekking |year=2000 |isbn=90-6109-440-2 |edition=4th |location=Amersfoort |pages=148, 156 |oclc=52849131}}</ref> [[Globalization]], the [[Euro#History|introduction of the Euro]], the [[enlargement of the European Union]], the [[enlargement of NATO]], the [[Orange Revolution#Aftermath|aftermath of the Orange Revolution]] and other factors have contributed to that.

The purple coalition lost its majority in the [[2002 Dutch general election|2002 general election]] due to the rise of the [[Pim Fortuyn List]] (LPF), the new political party led by the flamboyant populist [[Pim Fortuyn]]. He campaigned on an anti-immigration programme and spoke of [[De puinhopen van acht jaar Paars|the "Purple Chaos"]] (Dutch: ''Puinhopen van Paars''). Fortuyn was shot dead nine days before the elections. The LPF entered the [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]] with one-sixth of the seats, while the PvdA lost half its seats. A [[First Balkenende cabinet|cabinet]] was formed by CDA, VVD, and LPF, led by [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Prime Minister]] [[Jan Peter Balkenende]]. It proved short-lived: after only 87 days in power, the coalition fell apart as a result of consecutive conflicts within the LPF and between LPF ministers.

In the ensuing [[2003 Dutch general election|January 2003 general election]], the LPF dropped to only five percent of the seats in the House of Representatives. The left-wing [[Socialist Party (Netherlands)|Socialist Party]] (SP) led by [[Jan Marijnissen]] became the fourth strongest party there. The centre-right [[second Balkenende cabinet]] was formed by the CDA, the VVD, and the D66. Against popular sentiment, the right-wing coalition initiated a programme of [[welfare state]] reforms, [[healthcare]] privatisation, and stricter [[immigration policy|immigration policies]]. On 1 June 2005, the Dutch electorate voted in a [[Dutch referendum on the European Constitution|referendum]] against the proposed [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe|European Constitution]] by a majority of 61.54%, three days after 57.67% of the French voters had [[2005 French European Constitution referendum|rejected the treaty]].

In June 2006, D66 withdrew its support for the coalition in the aftermath of the upheaval about the asylum procedure of [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]] instigated by immigration minister [[Rita Verdonk]]. As a result, the caretaker [[third Balkenende cabinet]] was formed by CDA and VVD. The ensuing [[2006 Dutch general election|November 2006 general election]] saw a major advance of the SP, which almost tripled in size and became the third largest party with 17% of the seats, while the moderate PvdA lost a quarter of its seats. At the other end of the spectrum, LPF lost all its seats, while the new anti-immigrant [[Party for Freedom]] (PVV) went from nothing to 6% of the seats, becoming the fifth largest party. This polarisation made the [[2006-2007 Dutch cabinet formation|formation negotiations]] very difficult. The talks resulted in the formation of the social-Christian [[fourth Balkenende cabinet]] supported by CDA, PvdA, and the [[Christian Union (Netherlands)|Christian Union]]. This cabinet was oriented at solidarity, durability, and "norms and values".

In February 2010, the PvdA withdrew its support for the fourth Balkenende cabinet. The PvdA disagreed with prolonging the Dutch military involvement in [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]]. In the following [[2010 Dutch general election|2010 general election]], the VVD became the biggest party with 31 seats, followed closely by the PvdA with 30 seats. The right-wing PVV went from 9 to 24 seats, while the CDA lost half of their support and was left with 21 seats. The SP lost 10 of its 25 seats, and both D66 and GroenLinks got 10 seats. The Christian Union, the smallest coalition party, lost 1 of its 6 seats. Both the SGP and the PvdD kept their 2 seats. The [[2010 Dutch cabinet formation|following cabinet formation]] eventually resulted in the [[first Rutte cabinet]], a [[minority government]] formed by VVD and CDA, supported in parliament by the PVV.

In April 2012, the PVV withdrew its support for the Rutte cabinet after failed negotiations about the government budget for 2013. A political crisis followed, in which the parliamentary fractions of the VVD, CDA, D66, GroenLinks and the Christian Union, together disposing of a parliamentary majority, came to a temporary agreement for the 2013 budget. What followed in September 2012 was the [[2012 Dutch general election|2012 general election]], in which both the VVD and the PvdA won considerably, gaining 41 and 38 seats respectively.

The three parties that lost most were the PVV, sinking from 24 to 15 seats, the CDA, continuing their 2010 loss and winning only 13 seats, and GroenLinks, sinking from 10 to only 4 seats. The SP (15 seats), Christian Union (5 seats) and PvdD (2 seats) were stable, whereas D66 (10 to 12 seats) and SGP (2 to 3 seats) won mildly. Newcomer was [[50PLUS]], a pensioners' party, gaining 2 seats. In November 2012, after a relatively short cabinet formation, the [[second Rutte cabinet]] was formed by VVD and PvdA.

The second Rutte cabinet was followed by the [[third Rutte cabinet]] in October 2017, after the [[2017 Dutch general election|2017 general election]]. It consisted of the VVD, CDA, D66 and CU.

In 2019, [[Dutch farmers' protests|protests commenced with thousands of Dutch farmers]] who consider that  "green policies" are a threat to their livelihood due to nitrogen consumption being limited and other policies which impose additional burdens on the ability to farm.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tullis |first=Paul |date=2023-11-16 |title=Nitrogen wars: the Dutch farmers' revolt that turned a nation upside-down |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/16/nitrogen-wars-the-dutch-farmers-revolt-that-turned-a-nation-upside-down |access-date=2023-12-19 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tanno |first=Sophie |date=2023-03-19 |title=Trump and Le Pen backed these Dutch farmers -- now they've sprung an election shock |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/19/europe/netherlands-farmers-protest-party-intl/index.html |access-date=2023-12-19 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

On 15 January 2021, the Rutte cabinet resigned in the face of the [[Dutch childcare benefits scandal]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Dutch Rutte government resigns over child welfare fraud scandal |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55674146 |access-date=4 June 2021 |date=15 January 2021}}</ref> In March 2021, centre-right VVD of Prime Minister [[Mark Rutte]] was the winner of the [[2021 Netherlands general election|elections]], securing 35 out of 150 seats. The second biggest party was the centre to centre-left D66 with 24 seats. [[Geert Wilders]]' radical-right party lost a few seats, while [[Thierry Baudet]]'s radical-right party [[Forum for Democracy]] grew.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-03-18 |title=Dutch election: PM Mark Rutte claims victory and fourth term |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56436297 |access-date=2021-05-18}}</ref> The ensuing [[fourth Rutte cabinet]] failed to reach a compromise on asylum policy and fell in July 2023, triggering [[2023 Dutch general election|November snap election]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-12 |title=NOS - Einde kabinet-Rutte IV |url=https://nos.nl/collectie/13942-einde-kabinet-rutte-iv |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=nos.nl |language=nl}}</ref> The [[Right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] Party for Freedom (PVV), led by [[Geert Wilders]], won the largest number of seats, and it formed the right-wing [[Schoof cabinet]].<ref>{{cite news| last=Henley | first=Jon | title=Geert Wilders is in coalition talks but far from forming Dutch government | newspaper=The Guardian | date=21 December 2023 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/21/geert-wilders-is-in-coalition-talks-but-far-from-forming-dutch-government}}</ref>

The Netherlands were in 2023 considered the 17th most electoral democratic country in the world according to the [[V-Dem Democracy indices]].<ref name="vdem_dataset">{{cite web |last=V-Dem Institute |date=2023 |title=The V-Dem Dataset |url=https://www.v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/ |access-date=14 October 2023}}</ref>