Party System of the Netherlands: between Pillarization and European Integration

Abstract

In the article, the party system of the Netherlands is examined in the focus of two key factors: the historically inherent pillarization system that shaped the current party segmentation, and the European integration that left its impact on the party programs (the authors’ intention was to analyze especially Euroscepticism of several Dutch parties). The Dutch party system was shaped under the influence of the early 20th century corporatism, and, unlike other elements of the pillarization that was eroded in 1960-1970 years under the pressure of exogenous and endogenous factors, it is still based on the pillars backbone. This backbone largely remains as a form of institutionalization, while the party ideologies (except for orthodox Calvinist parties) moved to the center; it should also be noted here that, as a part of the depillarization process and the pan-European tendency of antiestablishment party formation, several “new type” and “new wave” parties were created. The European integration, intensively institutionalized after 1992, left an impact on the programs of all parties, old and new; soft Euroscepticism is inherent in all of them, being largely a reflection of the fear that small EU countries have towards supra-nationalization and the loss of sovereignty (in the case of clerical parties, it is also fear of the further liberalization of societal order). However, in most cases, Euroscepticism is just a background element (except for right-wing populist parties); programs are largely focused on socio-economic aspects, and the Eurosceptic features do not influence directly electoral mobilization.