The Netherlands - Government
The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, with a parliamentary system in which the government is formed by the Sovereign and the ministers. For historical reasons, the seat of government is in The Hague, but Amsterdam is the capital city. The present constitution -- which dates from 1848 and has been amended several times, most recently in 1983 -- protects individual and political freedoms, including freedom of religion. Although church and state are separate, a few historical ties remain; the royal family belongs to the Dutch Reformed Church (Protestant). Freedom of speech also is protected.
The country's government is based on the principles of ministerial responsibility and parliamentary government. The national government comprises three main institutions: the Monarch, the Council of Ministers, and the States General. There also are local governments.
The monarch is the titular head of state. The Queen's function is largely ceremonial, but she does have some influence deriving from the traditional veneration of the House of Orange, from which Dutch monarchs for more than three centuries have descended. Her influence also derives from her personal qualities as Queen and her power to appoint the "formateur," who forms the Council of Ministers following elections.
The Council of Ministers plans and implements government policy. The Monarch and the Council of Ministers together are called the Crown. Most ministers also head government ministries, although ministers-without-portfolio exist. The ministers, collectively and individually, are responsible to the States General (parliament). Unlike the British system, Dutch ministers cannot simultaneously be members of parliament.
The number of ministers varies. During the formation of a new government, the amount and nature of ministries reserved for each of the coalition parties is one of the hottest items under discussion, and less important ministries are frequently split up and merged so that the council of ministers reflects the current political situation. In addition to ministers, there are also secretaries of state, who are a kind of assistant-ministers and who are usually delegated part of a minister's responsibilities. Their numbers vary wildly; although in general most ministries have only one secretary of state, Education, in particular, commonly has three or four. In general there are slightly more secretaries of state than ministers. Ministers and secretaries of state are not members of parliament, and formally the MPs of the various coalition partners are supposed to check government actions without paying attention to the fact that members of their party happen to be ministers. In practice, party discipline is quite severe.
The Council of State is a constitutionally established advisory body to the government that consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political, commercial, diplomatic, or military experience. The Council of State must be consulted by the cabinet on proposed legislation before a law is submitted to the parliament. The Council of State also serves as a channel of appeal for citizens against executive branch decisions.
The Dutch States General (parliament) consists of two houses, the First Chamber and the Second Chamber. Historically, Dutch governments have been based on the support of a majority in both houses of parliament. The Second Chamber is by far the more important of the two houses. It alone has the right to initiate legislation and amend bills submitted by the Council of Ministers. It shares with the First Chamber the right to question ministers and state secretaries.
The Second Chamber consists of 150 members, elected directly for a 4-year term--unless the government falls prematurely--on the basis of a nationwide system of proportional representation. This system means that members represent the whole country--rather than individual districts as in the United States--and are normally elected on a party slate, not on a personal basis. There is no threshold for small-party representation. Campaigns are relatively short, lasting usually about a month, and the election budgets of each party tend to be less than $1 million. The electoral system makes a coalition government almost inevitable.
The First Chamber is composed of 75 members elected for 4-year terms by the 12 provincial legislatures. It cannot initiate or amend legislation, but its approval of bills passed by the Second Chamber is required before bills become law. The First Chamber generally meets only once a week, and its members usually have other full-time jobs.
In July 2012 the government announced plans to a bill to the House of Representatives to decrease the number of MPs in both the House and the Senate. The government would like to reduce the House from 150 to 100 members and the Senate from 75 to 50 members. According to Prime Minister Mark Rutte, this is in keeping with its aim to bring about more compact and effective government. Such a far-reaching change will not happen overnight, of course. It will require a constitutional amendment. This means that the bill must be given two readings in parliament, with a parliamentary election in between. Upon its second reading, the bill must achieve a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The judiciary comprises 62 cantonal courts, 19 district courts, five courts of appeal, and a Supreme Court that has 24 justices. All judicial appointments are made by the Crown. Judges nominally are appointed for life but actually are retired at age 70.
The first-level administrative divisions are the 12 provinces, each governed by a locally elected provincial council and a provincial executive appointed by members of the provincial council. The province is formally headed by a queen's commissioner appointed by the Crown.
The Seven Provinces ["Zeven Provinciën"] covered largely the same territory as that of the present Netherlands. During the Golden Age of the Republic, the Seven United Provinces were the foremost maritime and merchant power in Europe and there was a great flourishing of the arts and sciences in the Netherlands. The Statenbond or federation of seven northern Dutch provinces from 1579 were united in the Union of Utrecht. In order of size the provinces were 1. Holland (in the west); 2. Gelderland (in the mid-east); 3. Overijssel (in the east); 4. Friesland (above the Zuiderzee); 5. Groningen (in the north-east); 6. Utrecht (in the center); 7. Zeeland (in the south-west). During the age of the Republic of the United Provinces (1576-1795) the province of Holland was by far the largest and most important. This is probably why the whole country is still often referred to as Holland. The southern provinces of North Brabant and Limburg, and the mainland part of Zeeland (=Zeeuws-Flanders) belonged to the federation of southern Dutch provinces, united in the Union of Utrecht.
Between the formal and less formal assemblies - those which were held to increase the brilliancy on especially important occasions, and those which were simply called to give a tribute - there was a great difference, especially after the middle of the sixteenth century. At the solemn occasions seventeen provinces appeared: Brabant, Limburg with the land across the Meuse, Luxemburg, Guelders with Zutphen, Flanders, Artois, Hainaut, Holland, Zealand, Namur, Lille with Douay and Orchies, Tournay with Tournaisis, Mechlin, Friesland, Utrecht, Overyssel with Drenthe, Lingen, and Westerwolde, and Groningen. These were the famous seventeen provinces of the Netherlands.
In 1816 the Congress of Vienna re-established the kingdom of Holland and included the Belgian provinces. Independence was proclaimed by Belgium in 1830. The country, since the separation of Belgium, consisted of 11 provinces. Holland was divided into North Holland and South Holland. Drenthe was admitted as a province, along with North Brabant and Limburg.
Today Netherlands are divided into twelve provinces. Although most of these provinces have a venerable pedigree reaching back to the Middle Ages, nowadays they're the least important level of government. The newest province is Flevoland, which consists almost entirely of polders that were created between 1930 and 1957. In 1985 this territory was admitted as the twelfth Dutch province.
Until 10 October 2010 the Kingdom of the Netherlands consisted of three parts: the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The Netherlands Antilles consisted of the islands of Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. With effect from 10 October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles ceased to exist as a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Since that date, the Kingdom consists of four parts: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Curaçao and Sint Maarten enjoy internal self-government within the Kingdom, like Aruba and the former Netherlands Antilles.
These changes constitute a modification of the internal constitutional relations within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom of the Netherlands accordingly remains the subject of international law with which agreements are concluded. The modification of the structure of the Kingdom does not affect the international agreements concluded by the Kingdom that applied to the Netherlands Antilles. These agreements continue to apply to Curaçao and St Maarten. The other islands that formed part of the Netherlands Antilles – Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba – became parts of the Netherlands, thus constituting ‘the Caribbean part of the Netherlands’. The agreements that applied to the Netherlands Antilles also continue to apply to these islands; however, the Government of the Netherlands is now responsible for implementing these agreements.
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