A political arena or a chambre de réflexion? An examination of the reflective role of Dutch senators

Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviou

When do political parties prioritize labour? Issue attention between party competition and interest group power

This article analyses the conditions under which political parties spend attention to labour issues. This article compares the dominant partisan perspective, which proposes that attention to issues is shaped by party competition, to an interest group perspective, which proposes that strong interest groups, in particular when their power is institutionalized in corporatist systems, can force parties to spend attention to their issue. We use the Comparative Agenda Project data set of election manifestos to examine these patterns in seven West-European countries and corroborate our findings in the Comparative Manifesto Project data set for 25 countries. The evidence supports the interest group perspective over the partisan perspective. This shows that the study of party attention to issues should not isolate party competition from the influence of other political actors.Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviou

The Netherlands: political developments and data in 2019

Institutions, Decisions and Collective Behaviou

Europe in The Netherlands:political parties

Het doel van deze studie is een overzicht te geven van de standpunten van de politieke partijen aangaande Europese politiek

Two shades of Green? The electorates of GreenLeft and the Party for the Animals

The Netherlands has two electorally significant parties that might be considered to be part of the Green' family: GreenLeft and the Party for the Animals. These two parties appeal to different niches of the Green electorate, identified on the basis of issue dimensions, demographics, and their trust in government. GreenLeft tends to attract voters from the traditional Green niche: those with egalitarian, cosmopolitan, environmentalist, and libertarian values. The Party for the Animals attracts another type of Green voter: significantly less cosmopolitan and evincing lower levels of political trust.</p

Delayed school progression and mental health problems in adolescence:A population-based study in 10,803 adolescents

Background Accumulating evidence suggests that several adult mental disorders, particularly psychoses, are preceded by impairments in cognitive function, reflected in scholastic underachievement. This study investigates the association between scholastic underachievement and general mental health problems in adolescence, using delay in school progression as a marker of poor scholastic performance.MethodCross-sectional secondary school survey comprising 10,803 adolescents. Participants completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to assess mental health problems. The association of delayed school progression with the SDQ was investigated using logistic regression with SDQ as outcome and delayed school progression as primary exposure of interest while adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics, adverse life events, school-related factors, risk taking behaviour, healthy lifestyle and physical health.ResultsUnadjusted analysis showed an association between delayed school progression and total mental health problems (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.27 - 2.63) in adolescents. After adjusting for other risk factors (socio-demographic factors and life events) in a logistic regression model the association between delayed school progression en mental health problems was attenuated (OR 1.33, 95% CI 0.86 - 2.05).ConclusionDelayed school progression is associated with general mental health problems in adolescence, but this relationship is heavily confounded by other factors. A causal relationship between impaired cognitive function such as poor scholastic performance and general mental health at adolescence is less likely and delayed school progression may merely be considered an indicator of risk for mental health problems.</p

Old Voters on New Dimensions:Why Do Voters Vote for Pensioners' Parties? The Case of the Netherlands

This article analyzes the electoral support of the Dutch pensioners’ party 50Plus. Due to its open electoral system and aging population, the Netherlands is a key case to study pensioners’ parties. Our study shows that this pensioners’ party appeals to voters who are characterized by their age and their dependence on the welfare state as well as their policy positions on new lines of political conflict. In particular, their position on the new economic dimension (which concerns welfare state reform) and the new cultural dimension (which concerns immigration and EU integration) is distinct. Moreover, even when the majority of voters for this new party once supported the larger mainstream parties, they are now dissatisfied with the established politics. With rapidly aging populations across established democracies, this study is not just relevant for those studying pensioners’ parties, but rather gives an important insight into the electoral dynamics and popular support for mainstream politics, the welfare state, and social security