Editing Constitution of the Netherlands (section)

===Later revisions===
In 1938 there was a minor revision, introducing some elements of the then fashionable [[corporatism]] by giving a constitutional base to public bodies regulating sectors of the economy. A proposal to make it possible to impeach "revolutionary" members of representative bodies, directed against communists and fascists, failed to get a two-thirds majority.

After [[World War II]] in 1946 a revision failed attempting to simplify the revisional procedure. However, a change was accepted allowing to send conscripts to the colonial war in the [[Dutch East Indies]]. In the revision of 1948 a complete new chapter was added to facilitate the incorporation of the new state of [[Indonesia]] within the Kingdom under the [[Netherlands-Indonesia Union]]. Soon it would become irrelevant as Indonesia severed all ties with the Netherlands in 1954. The revision also created the office of [[secretary of state]], a kind of [[junior minister]] but one fully subordinate to a certain minister. In 1953 new articles were introduced concerning international relations, as the Netherlands was abandoning its old policy of strict neutrality. In the revision of 1956 the constitution was changed to accommodate the full independence of Indonesia. The number of members of the House of Representatives members was brought up to 150, of Senate members to 75. The revision of 1963 accommodated the loss of [[Dutch New Guinea]] to Indonesia. The [[voting age]] was lowered from 23 to 21. In 1972 there was a minor revision; the main change was a lowering of the voting age to 18.

In 1983 the constitution was almost entirely rewritten. Many articles were abolished. [[Social rights]] were included, most articles were reformulated (the main exception being article 23 about the still sensitive freedom of education) using a new uniform legal terminology and their sequence was changed. The bill of rights was expanded with a [[prohibition of discrimination]], a [[prohibition of the death penalty]], a general [[freedom of expression]], the [[Demonstration (people)|freedom of demonstration]] and a general [[right to privacy]].

In 1987 there was a minor revision. In the revision of 1995 the introduction of a professional army, replacing the conscript army, was regulated. In the revision of 1999 a proposal to introduce an [[advisory referendum]] was rejected by the Senate. After a minor revision in 2002, the last changes were made in 2005; a proposal to introduce an elected mayor was rejected by the Senate.