Editing Democrats 66 (section)

=== Early years (1966–1986) ===
Democrats 66 was founded on 14 October 1966 by a group of 44 people. Its founders were described as ''[[Novus homo|homines novi]]'', although 25 of the 44 had previously been members of another political party. The initiators were [[Hans van Mierlo]], a journalist for the ''[[Algemeen Handelsblad]]'', and [[Hans Gruijters]], a [[Municipal council (Netherlands)|municipal councillor]] in Amsterdam for the [[People's Party for Freedom and Democracy]] (VVD). Van Mierlo became the party's political leader. The foundation of the party was preceded by the "Appeal 1966" on 10 October, in which the founders appealed to the people of the Netherlands to re-take their democratic institutions. The party renounced the 19th-century political ideologies, which dominated the political system and sought to end [[pillarisation]]. It called for radical democratisation of the Dutch political system, and for [[pragmatism|pragmatic]] and [[Technocracy (bureaucratic)|scientific]] policy-making.

[[File:H.A.F.M.O. van Mierlo, minister van Defensie.jpg|thumb|left|185px|[[Hans van Mierlo]], co-founder and leader between 1966–1973 and 1986–1998]]
The party participated in the [[1967 Dutch general election|1967 general election]], with Hans van Mierlo as its [[lead candidate]]. The party won an unprecedented seven seats in the [[House of Representatives (Netherlands)|House of Representatives]]. In the [[1971 Dutch general election|1971 general election]], the party won an additional four seats and it formed a [[Shadow Cabinet|shadow cabinet]] with the [[Labour Party (Netherlands)|Labour Party]] (PvdA) and the [[Political Party of Radicals]] (PPR). In the [[1972 Dutch general election|1972 general election]], the three parties formed a [[political alliance]] called the "Progressive Agreement" ({{Langx|nl|Progressief Akkoord}}; PAK) and presented the common electoral program "Turning Point '72" (''Keerpunt '72'').

In the election, D66 lost nearly half its seats, leaving only six. The alliance became the largest political force in the country, but it did not gain a majority. After long cabinet formation talks, the three PAK-parties formed an [[Cabinet of the Netherlands|extra-parliamentary cabinet]] joined by [[Progressivism|progressive]] members of the [[Anti-Revolutionary Party]] (ARP) and the [[Catholic People's Party]] (KVP). The cabinet was led by Labour politician [[Joop den Uyl]]. Co-founder Hans Gruijters became Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning. After the formation talks, Van Mierlo left politics, feeling that his political position within the parliamentary party was untenable. Van Mierlo was replaced by [[Jan Terlouw]], who became the new [[Parliamentary group leader|parliamentary leader]].

[[File:Jan Terlouw 1981 (1).jpg|thumb|right|185px|[[Jan Terlouw]], leader from 1973 to 1982]]
In the period 1972–1974, the party lost a dramatic number of members (from 6,000 to 300) and polled very poorly in the [[1974 Dutch provincial elections|1974 provincial elections]]. The party also lost half of its senators in the [[1974 Dutch Senate election|1974 Senate election]]. At one of the party congresses, a [[Motion (parliamentary procedure)|motion]] was put forth to abolish the party. A majority of the members voted in favour, but the two-thirds majority was not reached. In reaction, Terlouw started a campaign to revitalise the party, involving a membership drive and a [[petition]] to the electorate. He emphasised issues other than democratic reform and gave the party a more [[liberalism|liberal]] orientation. The party doubled its membership in 1975 and won two additional seats in the [[1977 Dutch general election|1977 general election]], despite losing all its seats in the [[Senate (Netherlands)|Senate]] in the same year.

In the [[1981 Dutch general election|1981 general election]], D66 gained 17 seats. The party formed a government with the Labour Party and the [[Christian Democratic Appeal]] (CDA), with Terlouw as [[List of Ministers of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands|Minister of Economic Affairs]]. The cabinet was characterised by the personal and ideological conflicts between Prime Minister [[Dries van Agt]] (CDA) and [[List of Ministers of Social Affairs of the Netherlands|Minister of Social Affairs]] Joop den Uyl (PvdA). The cabinet fell nine months after it was formed, when the Labour Party left the cabinet. D66 and the CDA continued to govern in a [[Cabinet of the Netherlands|caretaker government]]. In the subsequent [[1982 Dutch general election|1982 general election]], D66 lost two-thirds of its support, and was left with only 6 seats. After the election, Terlouw left politics and was replaced by [[Maarten Engwirda]]. The party was confined to [[opposition (politics)|opposition]].