The Netherlands' Poltical System

956 Words2 Pages

The Netherlands' Poltical System The nature of the political system of the Netherlands is particularly interesting. Due to the fact that its system was particularly affected by World war II. The Netherlands suffered a brutal invasion by the Germans, during World War II. The Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830 Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I but suffered a brutal invasion and occupation by Germany in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The government of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands governance is based on a multi-party system. Some of the main political party systems are De Groenen, De Nimeegse Groenen, Natuurwetpartij Nederland-Dutch Natural Law Party, Partij van de Arbeid, PvdA afdeling Enschede, Socialistische Partij. For Example De Groenen is the ecologists political party in the Netherlands. It has around 400 members, 18 local and 2 provincial councilors and one member in the Senate. Netherlands clearly does not contain a two-party system. In order for a country to be considered a two-party system it must contain continual competition between different political parties, example "the two-party form exists in nations such as Germany, where competition between the Christian Democratic and Social Democratic parties is continual"(Grolier) Some of the strengths of a Two-Party system are majority rules, cyclical electoral regularities, and the political parties, of necessity, are umbrella parties embracing virtually every element of the society. In a Two-party system there is always a majority which rules, which some theorists say legitimizes all the constitutional actions of a political party because they are acting and governing on behalf of the majority. Under Cyclical electoral regularities citizens are given the opportunity to vote against the current majorities rule if dissatisfied with their governance. For example President Clinton is voted out office after seeking re-election, due to the dissatisfaction of voters on issues relating to gun-control. Thirdly Two-party political systems can claim to speak on behalf of the general welfare of a country. Due to the fact that Political party leaders are forced address demands, and develop and propose plans's of action in order to be elected. Two party systems differ in many aspects, first are where many small parties exist that are highly competitive and represent very particular points of

Open Document