Politics Beyond Accommodation? The May 2002 Dutch Parlimentary Elections

Abstract

The events ‘leading up to the May 2002 Dutch parliamentary elections—including both the rise and assassination of Pim Fortuyn and the resignation of Wim Kok's ‘purple’ cabinet over its predecessor's handling of the massacre in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica—signal a shift in Dutch attitudes toward political consensus. Where old-style Dutch consociational democracy enforced consensus, and where the more contemporary polder model encouraged it, the predominant trend in Dutch political life now appears to favor a more assertive and conflictive approach. This move away from consensus is not sudden. The increasingly adversarial tenor of Dutch politics has been analysed since the 1960s. In many ways, the persistence of Dutch consensus is more surprising than its demise. The move away from consensus is also not without cost. Dutch voters may feel empowered by a sense of greater freedom and choice, but Dutch politicians are likely to be confronted by increasing obstacles in their attempts at macroeconomic adjustment and welfare state reform. The shift toward a more conflictive style of politics may nevertheless prove unavoidable; indeed in many ways it is the product of past emphasis on consensus.