Politics of the Netherlands

The **politics of the Netherlands** is that of an indirect democracy. It has a constitution and a monarchy that operates within the constitution. The democratic structure is determined by a parliament (the legislative branch) and a government (the executive branch). The government depends on the confidence of the parliament, but the two branches aren't strictly separated (the parliamentary system).

The parliament is called the States General (Dutch: _Staten-Generaal_) and consists of two chambers: a lower house, the so-called Second Chamber (Dutch: _Tweede Kamer_), comparable with the House of Representatives in other countries, and a upper house, the so-called First Chamber (Dutch: _Eerste Kamer_), comparable with the Senate in other countries, and often called likewise.

At a lower level, there are provinces, municipalities and water boards.

On a higher level, the Netherlands makes part of the Benelux, Council of Europe, European Union, NATO and the United Nations.

The Netherlands is officially called the _Kingdom of the Netherlands_. It is composed of four countries: the Netherlands itself (the European part) and three island countries in the Caribbean: Aruba, Curaçao and Saint Martin. Three other islands in the Caribbean that belong to the Netherlands have a status of special municipalities of the Netherlands, the so-called Caribbean Netherlands.

## Government

Current government is the Fourth Rutte cabinet, a coalition of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD, a conservative liberal party), Democrats 66 (D66, a social liberal party), the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA, a Christian democratic party), and the ChristianUnion (CU, an orthodox Christian democratic party).

The Fourth Rutte Cabinet was established on January 10, 2022. Prime Minister has been VVD politician Mark Rutte since 2010.

## Political parties

The following 18 political parties are in parliament:

- **50+** - 50PLUS (Dutch: _50PLUS_), a party focused on the interests of elder people.
- **BBB** - FarmerCitizenMovement (Dutch: _BoerBurgerBeweging_), a party focused on the interests of the rural environment.
- **CDA** - Christian Democratic Appeal (Dutch: _Christen-Democratisch Appèl_), a Christian democratic party. Previous Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is a CDA member.
- **CU** - ChristianUnion (Dutch: _ChristenUnie_), an orthodox Christian democratic party.
- **D66** - Democrats 66 (Dutch: _Democraten 66_), a social liberal party, founded in 1966.
- **DENK** - DENK (Dutch: _DENK_), a party aiming at non-western citizens.
- **FVD** - Forum for Democracy (Dutch: _Forum voor Democratie_), a party critical about the current political situation.
- **GL** - GreenLeft (Dutch: _GroenLinks_), a leftist party that pays special attention to the environment.
- **JA21** - JA21 (Dutch: _JA21_), a conservative liberal and nationalist party.
- **NSC** - New Social Contract (Dutch: _Nieuw Sociaal Contract_), a centrist party focused on governmental renewal.
- **OPNL** - Independent Politics the Netherlands (Dutch: _Onafhankelijke Politiek Nederland_), till 2022 Independent Senate Group (Dutch: _Onafhankelijke Senaatsfractie_, shortened OSF), a collection of local parties, for example the Frisian National Party (FNP)
- **PvdA** - Labour Party (Dutch: _Partij van de Arbeid_), a social democratic party.
- **PvdD** - Party for the Animals (Dutch: _Partij voor de Dieren_), a party for animal rights and against global warming.
- **PVV** - Party for Freedom (Dutch: _Partij voor de Vrijheid_), a populist party, established by Geert Wilders.
- **SGP** - Reformed Political Party (Dutch: _Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij_), a conservative Calvinist party.
- **SP** - Socialist Party (Dutch: _Socialistische Partij_), a socialist party.
- **Volt** - Volt Netherlands (Dutch: _Volt Nederland_), a pan-European party.
- **VVD** - People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Dutch: _Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie_), a conservative liberal party. Current Prime Minister Mark Rutte is a VVD member.

No more in parliament:
- **AOV** - General Senior Alliance (Dutch: _Algemeen Ouderen Verbond_), a former party focused on the interests of elder people.
- **BIJ1** - BIJ1 (Dutch: _BIJ1_), a party focused on combatting racism and gender discrimination.
- **BP** - Farmers' Party (Dutch: _Boerenpartij_), a former party focused on the interests of farmers.
- **CD** - Centre Democrats (Dutch: _Centrum Democraten_), a former anti-immigration party.
- **DS'70** - Democratic Socialists 1970 (Dutch: _Democratisch-Socialisten 1970_), a former moderate social democratic party, a split from the PvdA.
- **LN** - Livable Netherlands (Dutch: _Leefbaar Nederland_), a former populist party.
- **LPF** - Pim Fortuyn List (Dutch: _Lijst Pim Fortuyn_), a former populist party established by the in 2002 murdered politician Pim Fortuyn.

## Political leaders

Political leaders since 13 December 2023, sorted by the number of seats in the House of Representatives.

Parties represented only in the Senate.

## Related pages

- List of Dutch cabinets
- House of Representatives (Netherlands)
- Senate (Netherlands)

## References

- www.parlement.com