Here's good old J.J. standing in front of the palace where the royals used to live until the 1970's.

    

Queen Beatrix and the late prince Claus in happier times.

      Dutch

Wax statutes of Juliana and her mother Wilhemina, in the Amsterdam Madame Tussaud museum.

 

  

The uninspiring Dutch parliament buildings in the Hauge. The Dutch government has made it illegal to openly advertise that a cafe sells marijuana. However, it's usually not too hard to tell. The Dutch government has made it illegal to openly advertise that a cafe sells marijuana. However, it's usually not too hard to tell. The Dutch government has made it illegal to openly advertise that a cafe sells marijuana. However, it's usually not too hard to tell. The Dutch government has made it illegal to openly advertise that a cafe sells marijuana. However, it's usually not too hard to tell. The Dutch government has made it illegal to openly advertise that a cafe sells marijuana. However, it's usually not too hard to tell.

 

 

Pim A massive Allied war cemetary in Arnhem. The interior of the Second Chamber of Parliament. I was told they seat people in order from most left wing to most right wing. I've never visited Holland when tulips were in season, so unfortunately you'll have to make do with this postcard. I've never visited Holland when tulips were in season, so unfortunately you'll have to make do with this postcard. I've never visited Holland when tulips were in season, so unfortunately you'll have to make do with this postcard.

 


The Dutch government features most of the stereotypical elements of a European democracy, including a royal family, a parliament, and a strange electoral system.

THE DUTCH MONARCHY- TIMELINE
Holland has only been a monarchy for a relatively short period of time, as the history page explains. Originally a republic, Napoleon turned the country into a kingdom in 1806 to provide a job for his brother Louis. When King Louis was deposed the monarchy was kept, and the influential Orange-Nassau family was installed as the nation's new royal dynasty. The Orange-Nassau family is still in power to this day, and this is why the color orange is so widely associated with Dutch patriotism.

The first king of Holland was William the First, followed by his son William the Second, and then his son William the Third. Their reigns were mostly about consolidating the authority of the monarchy and introducing democratic reforms.

William III died in 1880 with only one child, a 10-year-old daughter, Whilemina. Whilemenia became Queen, but William's widow, Emma, ruled as acting Queen until Whilemina turned 18. Whilemenia's decades-long reign ended up being a symbol of stability at a time when everything else in Europe was a mess of chaos.

When Hitler conquered Holland in 1940, Whilemia, like most European monarchs of the time, fled to England to preside over a government-in-exile. Today she is well remembered for broadcasting patriotic messages via radio to her occupied homeland.

Juliana was Whilemenia's eldest daughter, and became Queen when her mother abdicated in 1948 (Dutch monarchs almost always abdicate rather than rule until death). Though Juliana looks like a humorless old bag in most of her official portraits, in reality she was a very casual, fun-loving queen. She would famously dress in casual clothes and ride her bike around town to visit her people. To this day you'll often hear British conservatives use the term "bicycle monarch" to negatively describe overly progressive, undignified monarchs.

Juliana abdicated in 1980 and her eldest daughter Beatrix assumed the throne. The former Queen would go on to live for many more years, but her retirement was mostly spent in quiet seclusion, as she quickly became crippled with Alzheimer's. She passed away in 2004.

THE DUTCH MONARCHY- TODAY
Queen Beatrix remains the current Dutch monarch. She is now in her 25th year on the throne. As seems to be the case in most contemporary European monarchies, the Queen is the least interesting member of the royal family. Basically, she is proper, dignified woman who enjoys wearing large garish hats, cutting ribbons, waving to crowds, and having face-lifts. The Dutch monarchy has no real political power, so these sorts of figurehead duties are about all she has to do.

Beatrix used to be married to Prince Claus, a German prince. Though he was initially a controversial figure (he briefly served in the Nazi army) over time he grew to be one of the nation's most beloved royals, and won many hearts with his carefree antics. His death in 2002 was widely mourned.

Beatrix and Claus had several children, whom, along with Beatrix's brothers and sisters, form a large, dysfunctional Dutch royal family. Their eldest kid is Prince William-Alexander, who is the heir to the throne. He is married to a beautiful woman from Argentina named Maxima, and together they form quite the glamorous couple. When Beatrix decides to abdicate William-Alexander will become the first Dutch king in over a century.

Many Dutch people are enthusiastic monarchists, especially the older generation and the gay community (for some reason). The royal family are treated as a leading symbol of the Dutch nation and most museums on Dutch history or nationalism will often devote sizable exhibits to their antics. That being said, there are republicans in Holland, mainly youths and academics. The irony of having a royal family in a nation that prides itself on its liberal progressiveness does not go unnoticed.

THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT

Since the monarchy no longer holds power, Holland is today ruled by an elected parliamentary government.

The Executive Branch of the Dutch government consists of a cabinet, which is composed of party officials who are appointed by the ruling coalition in the parliament. However, unlike in the British system, the cabinet members are not actually sitting members of the parliament, but rather completely independent from the legislative branch. The cabinet makes decisions as a group, and the collective body is usually portrayed as the nation's active law-making institution. A typical news headline could be something like "cabinet to make windmills illegal" or whatever.

The head of the cabinet is the Minister-President, who is the leader of the entire Dutch government. "Minister-President" is usually translated as "Prime Minister" in English, even though the Dutch actually use a different word to describe Prime Ministers of other countries. The MP is the leader of whatever party forms the largest part of the ruling coalition.

The current Minister-President is Jan-Peter Balkenende (pronounced something like "Bal-kuh-nen-day"). He's the leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Party (or CDA). Balkenende is considered pretty right-wing by Dutch standards and since being elected in 2002 he's made a fair share of controversial decisions, such as slashing the budget of social programs and sending Dutch troops to Iraq.

PARLIAMENT
The Dutch legislative branch is made up of a two-chamber parliament. The Second Chamber is elected through a popular vote, which is conducted through the European "Proportional Representation" system. Basically, voters vote for party "lists," and then a number of people from that list get sent to the parliament depending on what percent of the popular vote they win. So a party that wins 50% of the vote gets 50% of the seats and sends 50% of their list.

Holland has a lot of different politicial parties (some might say too many) and this fact, coupled with the crazy electoral system, ensures that seats in the Second Chamber are always divided amongst five or six different blocs. To get things done, the parties who are roughly ideologically similar get together and form a coalition. The biggest coalition picks the cabinet and the Prime Minister, and thus controls which bills become law.

There is a First Chamber as well, but it does not do as much. It's members are elected by the provincial governments of Holland's 12 provinces. It has to approve all legislation before it becomes law, but it usually does this quickly, and without much fuss.

Each province in Holland has it's own elected parliament as well. However Holland is not a strongly federal state, and as a result these parliaments have fairly limited powers that can be over-ruled by the national government. They are generally quite unknown and overshadowed.
     


A collection of monarchist knick-knacks in a museum, including busts of Emma, William III, and Wilhemenia. They put these crest things on stores where the royal family shops. President Balkenende is said to resemble Harry Potter. As you can see he is not universially beloved. Pim Fortuyn was a controversial but charismatic leader of a conservative political party. He was assasinated in 2002 by a left-wing extremist and is still widely mourned.