The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy and a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands is described as a consociational state. Dutch politics and governance are characterised by a common striving for broad consensus on important issues, within both of the political community and society as a whole.
The Christian Union is a Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU holds socially conservative positions on issues such as same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia, is Eurosceptic, while maintaining progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues. The party self-describes itself as "social Christian".
The Reformed Political Party is an orthodox Calvinist political party in the Netherlands. The term Reformed is not a reference to political reform but is a synonym for Calvinism—a major branch of Protestantism. The SGP is the oldest political party in the Netherlands in its current form, and has for its entire existence been in opposition. The party has, owing to its orthodox political ideals and its traditional role in the opposition, been called a testimonial party. Since the general election of 2017, it has held 3 of the 150 seats of the House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate. It has 150 seats which are filled through elections using a party-list proportional representation. It sits in the Binnenhof in The Hague.
A minority government, or minority cabinet or minority parliament, is a cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament. It is sworn into office, with or without the formal support of other parties, to enable a government to be formed. Under such a government, legislation can only be passed with the support of enough other members of the legislature to provide a majority, encouraging multi-partisanship. In bicameral parliaments, the term relates to the situation in chamber whose confidence is considered most crucial to the continuance in office of the government.
The Senate is the upper house of the States General, the legislature of the Netherlands. Its 75 members are elected on lists by the members of the twelve States-Provincial and three Caribbean electoral colleges for the Senate every four years, within three months of the provincial elections. All provinces and colleges have different electoral weight depending on their population.
Elections in the Netherlands are held for five territorial levels of government: the European Union, the state, the twelve Provinces, the 25 water boards and the 380 municipalities. Apart from elections, referenda are also held occasionally, a fairly recent phenomenon in Dutch politics. The most recent national election results and an overview of the resulting seat assignments and coalitions since World War II are shown at the bottom of this page.
Thomas Carolus "Thom" de Graaf is a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66) party. He is the Vice-President of the Council of State since 1 November 2018.
The European Parliament election of 1999 in the Netherlands was the election of MEP representing Netherlands constituency for the 1999–2004 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 1999 European election. It was held on 10 June 1999. Eleven parties competed in a D'Hondt type election for 31 seats.
Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands, on March 7, 2007. The election also determined the members of the Senate, since the 564 members of the twelve States-Provincial elect its 75 members. This election took place on May 29, 2007.
In European elections, the Netherlands is a constituency of the European Parliament, currently represented by twenty-six MEPs. It covers the member state of the Netherlands. Until 2009, it excluded the Dutch in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.
The European Parliament election of 2009 in the Netherlands took place on 4 June 2009. Seventeen parties competed in a D'Hondt type election for the available 25 seats. For the first time, all Dutch residents of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba were also entitled to vote in the election.
Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 2 March 2011. Eligible voters elected the members of the States-Provincial in the twelve provinces. These elections also indirectly determined the members of the Senate, since the 566 members of the twelve States-Provincial elected the Senate's 75 members in the Senate election on 23 May 2011.
Early general elections were held in the Netherlands on 12 September 2012 after Prime Minister Mark Rutte handed in his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix on 23 April. The 150 seats of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands were contested using party-list proportional representation. The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) received a plurality of the votes, followed by the Labour Party (PvdA).
General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 15 March 2017 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives.
The 2014 European Parliament election for the election of the delegation from the Netherlands was held on 22 May 2014. This is the 8th time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands.
Provincial elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 18 March 2015. Eligible voters elected the members of the States-Provincial in the twelve provinces. These elections also indirectly determined the members of the Senate, since the 566 members of the twelve States-Provincial will elect the Senate's 75 members in the Senate election on 26 May 2015. These provincial election were held on the same day as the Dutch water boards elections, 2015.
The next Dutch general election to elect the members of the House of Representatives is scheduled for 17 March 2021, but may be held at an earlier date if a snap election is called.
An election to the Senate of the Netherlands will be held on 27 May 2019, two months after the provincial elections.
The electoral colleges for the Senate are the electoral colleges of the three public bodies of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea. Their members choose the Senators of the Dutch Senate, in a manner similar to the members of the provincial councils in the European Netherlands. All Dutch inhabitants of the Caribbean Netherlands have the right to vote for the election of these electoral colleges. The first election of the colleges will take place on 20 March 2019, simultaneously with the island council elections, and the European Netherlands' provincial elections and general administrative elections for water boards. On 27 May 2019, the colleges will cast their votes for the Senate elections.
