The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy.
Legislative power is vested in parliament, and the monarch has only nominal power.
The future of social welfare Depite cutbacks in the 1980s, the Dutch still had one of Europe's most generous welfare systems. Most political parties accepted that levels of welfare could not be maintained indefinitely. The debate thus focuses on how much and in which areas cuts should be made. In recent years, a rising number of people have sought political asylum in the Netherlands. Increasingly this has led to concerns over the costs involved, and worries that this trend might lead to a rise in support for extreme right-wing nationalist parties.