The political framework of the Netherlands

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders: King: WILLEM-ALEXANDER (since 30 April 2013) - hereditary
Prime Minister: Dick SCHOOF (since 2 July 2024)
Next Election Dates: House of Representatives: May 2027
Senate: November 2027
Main Political Parties: The Netherlands has a two-tier parliament divided into two chambers. The main parties/alliances represented in the parliament include:

- Party for Freedom (PVV): right-wing, nationalist, known for hard stands on immigration. The party, led by Geert Wilders, obtained 37 seats of the 150-seat parliament in the latest election, more than doubling their seats from the previous one
- GroenLinks–PvdA: alliance between the Greenleft (GL - centre-left, eco-socialist and anti-capitalist political party) and the Labour Party (PvdA - centre-left, social-democratic party)
- People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD): centre-right, based on free market ideas, liberal
- New Social Contract (NSC): centre to centre-right, Christian democracy. A new party that obtained 20 seats in the 2023 election
- Democrats 66 (D66): centre, progressive-liberal and radical-democratic political party
- Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB): centre-right, agrarian, soft Euroscepticism
- Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA): centre, Christian democrats
- Socialist Party (SP): left-wing, extremely socialist
- DENK: centre-left, minority rights, identity politics
- Party For The Animals (PvdD): environmentalism, animal rights, soft-euroscepticsm
- Forum For Democracy (FvD): national conservatism
- Reformed Political Party (SGP): Christian right, social conservatism
- ChristianUnion (CU): centre, orthodox reformed political party with centre-left ideals
- Volt Netherlands (VOLT): centre, it is the Dutch branch of the political movement Volt Europa
- JA21: right to far right, conservative liberalism.
Executive Power: The Chief of State is the King, whose role is cerimonial. Following parliamentary (lower house) elections, the leader of the majority party or of a majority coalition is usually appointed Prime Minister (head of the Government) by the Monarch to serve a four year term. The Council of Ministers is formally appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Prime Minister.
Legislative Power: Legislative power is bicameral. The parliament is called States General and consists of two chambers: the First Chamber (Senate - upper house, 75 members indirectly elected) and the Second Chamber (House of Representatives - lower house, 150 members directly elected). Members of both chambers serve a four-year term. The Government has the constitutional right to dissolve one or both chambers of parliament.

Indicator of Political Freedom

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Political Freedom:: 1/7

Any Comment About This Content? Report It to Us.

Trade FiguresPrevious