Liberalism in the Netherlands

This article gives an overview of liberalism in the Netherlands. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Background

Liberalism has always been an important current in Dutch politics since the Dutch Republic. Between mid-1800s to the late-1800 they were a dominant force in shaping the Dutch parliamentary democratic "rechtsstaat". In the early 1900s the liberals split between progressive liberals and conservative liberals. Due to their political division and the introduction of universal suffrage the liberals disappeared from the political stage. After the Second World War the liberals were united again under one roof, the VVD, but the party remained small. A progressive liberal party, D'66 was founded in 1966. Since the 1970s however liberalism has been on the rise again electorally. Since 1977 the largest, more conservative, liberal party, VVD has been in government for twenty two years. In early 2000s the VVD saw major splits over the issue of integration and migration.

Before 1918

The Netherlands has a long liberal political tradition. From the founding of the Dutch Republic in the sixteenth century to beginning of the nineteenth century the main political conflict was between the liberal urban patriciate and the supporters of the House of Orange, from the lower class and orthodox variants of Protestantism. [Andeweg, R.B. and G.A. Irwin (2002) "Governance and Politics of the Netherlands" Basingstoke: MacMillan, p.47] The urban patriciate favoured religious tolerance.

In the early years of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1814-1848) the (conservative) monarchists were in control. In 1848, while revolutions swept through Europe, the balance of power shifted in favour of the liberals. In order to prevent revolution in the Netherlands, King William II of the Netherlands asked the Leiden professor of law, Johan Rudolf Thorbecke, a liberal, to draft a new constitution. The new constitution limited the power of the king by introducing ministerial responsibility and by giving parliament the right to amend laws and hold investigative hearings. It also extended the census suffrage and codified civil rights, such as the freedom of assembly, the privacy of correspondence, freedom of ecclesiastical organisation and the freedom of education.

In October 1848 the constitution was adopted and in 1849 Thorbecke became prime minister of the Netherlands. From that moment on liberalism was the dominant political force in the Netherlands. Thorbecke would be remain a powerful liberal and he was prime minister of the Netherlands three times until his death in 1872. The liberals also dominated the universities, the media and business. [Andeweg, R.B. and G.A. Irwin (2002) "Governance and Politics of the Netherlands" Basingstoke: MacMillan, p.48] Because the liberals were so dominant they did not feel the need to organize themselves in a political party. Instead there was a loose liberal parliamentary group and locally organized liberal caucuses. The liberals also did not organize their own pillar, a system of like-minded social organizations. The liberals were politically allied with the Catholics, whom the liberals granted considerable freedom of religion.

In the late 1800s the socialists, protestants and catholics began to organize their own political parties. The liberals under pressure from these new groups followed suit. In 1885 they founded a liberal party, the Liberal Union. In 1893 it saw its first split, in the progressive liberal Radical League. In 1906 the conservative liberals split to form the League of Free Liberals. There are different names for these two tendencies. The more progressive liberals have been called "radical", "freeminded" or "democratic" liberals, while the more conservative liberals have been called "free" or "old" liberals. The issue which divided the liberals most was the question whether to extend the census or even to introduce universal suffrage, the progressive liberals favoured universal suffrage, the conservative liberals did not. The progressive liberals also favoured government intervention in the economy, such as the ban on child labour proposed by Samuel van Houten.

Due to the two round electoral system the liberals were required to cooperate. In order to prevent the coalition of Catholics and protestants win the second round of the elections, all the liberals united behind their candidates in the second round, often joined by social democrats. This alliance was called the concentration. On basis of concentration pluralities, often supported by social-democrats for a majority several cabinets were formed in the early 1900s.

In 1918 under one of these liberal minority cabinets universal male suffrage was introduced, as well as a proportional electoral system and equal finance for religious schools, this compromise was called the pacificatie of 1918. The extension of suffrage however severely weakened the position of the liberals. Of the 37 seats they had in 1917, they were left with 14 in 1918. The liberals never recovered from this electoral defeat.

1918-1994

In 1922 the liberal parties reorganized: all conservative liberals, from the Liberal Union and the League Free Liberals as well as more conservative liberals from smaller parties, joined to form the Liberal State Party. The progressive liberals remained separate in the Freeminded Democratic League, a merger of the Radical League and progressive liberals, that had already been formed in 1901. In the interbellum the liberals grew even smaller. Under pressure of the crisis of 1929 and the rise of the National Socialist Movement. The liberals did cooperate as junior partners in several cabinets in the crisis.

After the Second World War the conservative liberal Liberal State Party refounded itself as Freedom Party. The progressive liberal Freeminded Democratic League joined the new "Doorbraak" leftwing Labour Party. Several progressives were unhappy with the social-democratic course of the PvdA and joined the Freedom Party to found the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in 1948.

The VVD remained a small party until the 1970s, with about 10% of the vote. They did however form part of the government both in the grand coalition with social-democrats, Catholics and Protestants in the late 1940s early 1950s, and with the Catholics and Protestants over the course of the 1960s. The party was led by the former leader of the Freeminded Democratic League, Pieter Oud. In the Dutch pillarized political system the liberals mainly appealed to urban, secular upper and middle class. The liberals did not have a strong pillar of social organization, such as trade unions and news papers, like the other political families had. Instead they were aligned with the weak neutral pillar [Andeweg, R.B. and G.A. Irwin (2002) "Governance and Politics of the Netherlands" Basingstoke: MacMillan, p.25]

In 1966 a radical democratic party was founded, Democrats 66. In the foundation several progressive liberals from the VVD had been involved. The party sought to radically democratize the political system, the society and the economy. D66 was led by the charismatic Hans van Mierlo. The party joined forces with the social-democratic PvdA and the progressive Christian PPR to work for a more fair and democratic Netherlands. The party participated in the leftwing cabinet Den Uyl. Over the course of the 1980s however the party began to espouse a more progressive liberal course, especially under Jan Terlouw. The party remained an ally of the PvdA however, joining a short-lived centre-left coalition cabinet with the PvdA and the Christian democratic CDA in 1981.

In the meanwhile the VVD had grown considerably. Under the leadership of Hans Wiegel the VVD has taken a more conservative course. [Andeweg, R.B. and G.A. Irwin (2002) "Governance and Politics of the Netherlands" Basingstoke: MacMillan, p.48] The party began to criticize the large and inefficient welfare state. The party combined this economic liberalism with progressive positions on social issues, which characterized the 1970s, such as abortion, homosexuality and women's rights. The VVD capitalized the weakening of religious and depillarization of the 1970s and made considerable electoral gains: in 1967 the party won just over 10% in 1981 this had more than doubled to 23%.

Between 1982 and 1986 the VVD cooperated in the centre-right cabinets Lubbers, which implemented a far reaching reform of the welfare state the VVD had advocated since the 1970s.

After 1994

In 1994 the Christian democratic CDA losts its traditional electoral power base. The liberal VVD and D66 won considerably. A progressive purple cabinet was formed by D66, the VVD and the PvdA. The cabinet managed a thriving Dutch economy, implemented progressive social legislation on euthanasia, gay marriage and prostitution. In the 2002 election campaign the purple coalition came under heavy criticism of the populist politician Pim Fortuyn for mismanaging the public sector, migration and the integration of migrants. The two liberal parties lost considerably in the elections.

The VVD however joined a coalition cabinet with the heirs of Fortuyn and the CDA. The cabinet fell shortly. After the 2003 elections the D66 replaced the LPF. The centre-right cabinet implemented reforms of the welfare state and oversaw declining migration figures.

The issue of migration and integration however, and especially the place of the Islam in the Netherlands. In 2003 the VVD had invited social-democratic critic of Islam, Ayaan Hirsi Ali to join their parliamentary party. She together with MP Geert Wilders caused considerable controversy with her direct criticism of the Islam. In the cabinet VVD minister Rita Verdonk sought to limit migration and stimulate integration of minorities.

In 2004 Geert Wilders left the VVD to form the Party for Freedom, which combined uncompromising criticism of Islam with a plea for lower taxation and skepticism towards European integration. In 2006 a conflict between Hirsi Ali and Verdonk over her status as an asylum seeker caused the downfall of the cabinet after D66 had revoked its confidence of Verdonk, whose positions on migration the party had already distanced itself from.

In the 2006 the liberal VVD and D66 lost considerably: D66 lost three of its six seats, the VVD six of its 28 seats. Wilders' PVV won nine seats. Rita Verdonk, second on the list of the VVD won more preference votes than the party's top candidate Mark Rutte. After demanding the leadership of the party, Verdonk left the VVD to form her own nationalist party, Proud of the Netherlands.

Individual Liberal Parties

From Liberal Union until People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

*1885: Liberals formed the Liberal Union ("Liberale Unie")
*1892: A radical faction formed the ⇒ Radical League
*1894: A conservative faction formed the ⇒ Free Liberals
*1901: A radical faction seceded to merge with the ⇒ Radical League into the ⇒ Freethinking Democratic League
*1921: The LU merged with the ⇒ Economic League, the ⇒ League of Free Liberals, the Neutral Party and the Middle Class Party into the Freedom League ("Vrijheidsbond")
*1922: A conservative faction seceded as the ⇒ Liberal Party
*1928: The Vrijheidsbond is renamed in Liberal State Party ("Liberale Staatspartij")
*1929: Staalman, founder of the Middle Class Party, leaves the LSP and found the Middle Party for City and Country
*1945: The LSP is reorganised into the Freedom Party ("Partij voor de Vrijheid"), including a faction of the ⇒ Freethinking Democratic League
*1948: The Freedom Party merged with former members of the Freethinking Democratic League into the present-day People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ("Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie")

Radical League and Free-minded Democratic League

*1892: A radical faction of the ⇒ Liberal Union formed the Radical League ("Radicale Bond")
*1901: A second radical faction of the ⇒ Liberal Union merged with the Radical League into the Free-minded Democratic League ("Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond")
*1917: A right-wing faction secededas the ⇒ Economic League
*1946: The Free-minded Democratic League merged into the present-day Labour Party ("Partij van de Arbeid"), a faction joined the ⇒ Freedom Party
*1948: Some former members left the Labour Party and merged into the ⇒ People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

(League of) Free Liberals

*1894: A conservative faction of the ⇒ Liberale Union formed the Free Liberals ("Vrije Liberalen"), since 1906 renamed the League of Free Liberals ("Bond van Vrije Liberalen")
*1921: The league merged into the ⇒ Freedom League

Economic League

*1917: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Freethinking Democratic League formed the Economic League ("Economische Bond")
*1921: The league merged into the ⇒ Freedom League

Liberal Party

*1922: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Freedom League formed the Liberal Party ("Liberale Partij") and disappears in 1925

Democrats 66

*1966: Independent progressive liberals formed the party Democrats 66 ("Democraten '66"), later without apostrophe

Liberal leaders

*Liberals in the nineteenth century: Johan Rudolf Thorbecke - Samuel van Houten - Joannes Kappeyne van de Coppello
*Vrijzinnig-Democratische Bond: Dirk Bos - Pieter Jacobus Oud
*Liberale Staatspartij: Benjamin Marius Telders
*Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie: Pieter Jacobus Oud - Hans Wiegel - Frits Bolkestein - Mark Rutte (current)
*Democraten 66: Hans van Mierlo - Jan Terlouw - Alexander Pechtold (current)

Liberal thinkers

In the Contributions to liberal theory the following Dutch thinkers are included:

*Erasmus (1466–1536)
*Hugo Grotius (1583–1645)
*Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677)
*Johan Rudolf Thorbecke (1798–1872)

ee also

* History of the Netherlands
* Politics of the Netherlands
* List of political parties in the Netherlands
* Socialism in the Netherlands
* Christian democracy in the Netherlands

References