The Netherlands: still a consociational democracy?

After a short introduction on the genesis and development of the general consociational democracy model, the paper discusses: 1. the extent to which the Netherlands did embody the consociational democracy model as developed by Arend Lijphart at the end of the 1960s; 2. social changes since then which have caused the crumbling of the once distinct subcultures; 3. attempts at a majoritarian restructuring of the Dutch political system; 4. attacks on corporatist structures in the name of partisan) electoral primacy; 5. persisting consociational features of the system, rooted in elite political culture on the one hand, and strong traditions of autonomy for minorities on the other. A separate appendix discusses the extent to which changed social circumstances have affected the role of political parties. [author's abstract

Beyond the merchant and the clergyman: assessing moral claims about development cooperation

This article proposes to move beyond the categories of altruism and self-interest in the analyses of the motives for development cooperation. This opposition ignores the inherently moral nature of development policy. The article illustrates the shortcomings of such a perspective by tracing the metaphor of the merchant and the clergyman as archetypical figures shaping Dutch development policy. Through these images the suggestion of an opposition between moral and amoral motives in the history of development has gained a strong foothold within the interplay of scholars, policy makers and public opinion. We go on to assess claims about economy, security, solidarity, prestige and guilt, and ecology, which have been brought forward to legitimise Dutch foreign aid. This analysis calls for research on the dynamics of the transnational exchanges of ideas, interests and expectations, especially during episodes when the moral validity of policy has been explicitly contested

The Netherlands: Still a Consociational Democracy? IHS Political Science Series No. 33, April 1996

After a short introduction on the genesis and development of the general consociational democracy model, the paper discusses: 1. the extent to which the Netherlands did embody the consociational democracy model as developed by Arend Lijphart at the end of the 1960s; 2. social changes since then which have caused the crumbling of the once distinct subcultures; 3. attempts at a majoritarian restructuring of the Dutch political system; 4. attacks on corporatist structures in the name of partisan) electoral primacy; 5. persisting consociational features of the system, rooted in elite political culture on the one hand, and strong traditions of autonomy for minorities on the other. A separate appendix discusses the extent to which changed social circumstances have affected the role of political parties

The Netherlands: Still a Consociational Democracy?

Abstract: After a short introduction on the genesis and development of the general consociational democracy model, the paper discusses: 1. the extent to which the Netherlands did embody the consociational democracy model as developed by Arend Lijphart at the end of the 1960s; 2. social changes since then which have caused the crumbling of the once distinct subcultures; 3. attempts at a majoritarian restructuring of the Dutch political system; 4. attacks on corporatist structures in the name of partisan) electoral primacy; 5. persisting consociational features of the system, rooted in elite political culture on the one hand, and strong traditions of autonomy for minorities on the other. A separate appendix discusses the extent to which changed social circumstances have affected the role of political parties.

Parties and political mobilization : an initial mapping

Digitised version produced by the EUI Library and made available online in 2020