Good politics. Views of Dutch MPs on parliament and parliamentary culture, 1866–1940

Abstract

SUMMARY The cultural influences on political history at the end of the 1980s opened up the way to a broader study of politics beyond the conventional institutional approach to a discussion of the character and role of informal aspects of parliamentary politics. This article discusses the concept of ‘good politics’ as a research tool to gain an insight into the functioning of parliaments with a particular focus on the Dutch Second Chamber. Linked to the tradition of conceptual history and using anthropological approaches, the concept is used to study the views of Dutch MPs on their own behaviour and that of parliament as a whole between 1866 and 1940. The article originates out of doctoral research on the parliamentary culture of the Dutch Second Chamber, due for completion in 2010. The Dutch Second Chamber between 1866 and 1940 underwent some major political changes. These changes, and those in society, in turn influenced parliamentary culture. In this article they are discussed in addition to the theoretical treatment of the concept of good politics and the discussion of the relevant source material. First, the advent and formation of political parties in the last quarter of the nineteenth century affected views on representation. Slowly but surely, the ideal that the MPs should present themselves as independent of their voters and of those who shared their views came to be replaced by one in which they were to associate themselves with their electorate and vote along party lines. Second, the expansion of voting rights and the development of the welfare state had their influence on what was regarded to be good politics. Being a MP came increasingly to be considered a job, instead of a vocation for well-to-do civilians. The article concludes with an example of the expansion of women's voting rights. In this way, the existence of the parliamentary culture at a certain time is demonstrated, as well as the dynamic character of what constitutes good politics.