Abstract
The year 2017 was a period of contradictionary development in terms of political stability in the Netherlands. On te one hand, the Mark Rutte II cabinet, the longest serving cabinet since the Second World War, was the first since 1998 to complete the entire term. On the other hand, the highly volatile 2017 national elections yielded the most fractionalized parliament in Dutch history. The ensuing cabinet formation was the longest on to date.
Highlights
The year 2017 was a period of contradictory developments in terms of political stability in the Netherlands
A number of parties, among them the Socialist Party (SP), Freedom Party (PVV), GreenLeft (GL) and Labour Party (PvdA), proposed scrapping the healthcare deductible, that is, the requirement that citizens first pay for part of their healthcare costs themselves before being allowed to use their insurance
The Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) had increased the deductible while in government as an austerity measure
Summary
The year 2017 was a period of contradictory developments in terms of political stability in the Netherlands. The Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and the ChristianUnion (CU) proposed decreasing the deductible This left only Democrats 66 (D66) and the Liberal Party (VVD) to defend the policy. Cultural issues related to national identity, civic integration and immigration polarized the left and right This debate remained at a rather abstract level until the week before the election when the Dutch government came into conflict with the Turkish government. D66 campaigned as a progressive liberal party on cultural issues, in particular European Union integration, and on the aforementioned ‘accomplished life’ proposal. This brought it into conflict with the smaller conservative Christian parties, the CU and SGP.
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