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64-636: Like some other liberal parties in Europe, such as the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland , the party did not have the word "liberal" in its name because of its connotation with conservative liberalism . Instead it used the term vrijzinnig , which is difficult to translate into English. The term, which literally translated would be "free-thinking" or "free-minded" has meanings in the Protestant church referring to more liberal or latitudinarian tendencies in

128-497: A radical democratic party was founded, Democrats 66 . In the foundation several progressive liberals from the VVD had been involved. The party sought to radically democratize the political system, the society and the economy. D66 was led by the charismatic Hans van Mierlo . The party joined forces with the social-democratic PvdA and the progressive Christian PPR to work for a more fair and democratic Netherlands. The party participated in

192-521: A commission, chaired by Thorbecke, which would draft a new constitution . The new constitution, which was introduced in October 1848, limited the power of the king by introducing ministerial responsibility and by giving parliament the right to amend laws and hold investigative hearings. It also extended the census suffrage and codified civil rights , such as the freedom of assembly , the privacy of correspondence , freedom of ecclesiastical organisation and

256-522: A group dissatisfied with the failed "Breakthrough" and the increasingly socialist tint of the PvdA left the party. These were all former VDB members, led by former VDB leader Pieter Oud . They joined with the conservative liberal Freedom Party (PvdV) to form the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . The VDB started out as a left , social or progressive liberal party, committed to universal suffrage and

320-503: A liberal minority cabinet led by Theo de Meester . The cabinet was supported by Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). In the 1909 election the Coalition regained its majority. The VDB lost two seats, making its total nine. In the 1913 election the Christian democrats lost their majority. The VDB lost four seats, because it was not the only liberal party in favour of universal suffrage;

384-699: A loose league of politicians and local caucuses . In liberal circles parties were seen as factionalist and incompatible with the common good. The VDB was a merger of two groups; one, the Radical League , was founded in 1892 as an Amsterdam secession of the Liberal Union ; they left the Union over the issue of universal suffrage . The second group was the Free-thinking Democratic political club (Dutch: Vrijzinnig Democratische Kamerclub or VD-kamerclub ). This

448-531: A real system of pillarised organisations around it. "Neutral" organisations, which were not linked to a pillar, often had friendly relations with the VDB. This included the general broadcasting association AVRO (Algemene Verenigde Radio Omroep, General United Radio Broadcasting Organisation), the general union ANWV (Algemene Nederlandse Werkelieden Vereniging, the General Dutch Workers' Association); furthermore,

512-544: A representation in parliament. The Netherlands has a long liberal political tradition. From the founding of the Dutch Republic in the 16th century to beginning of the 19th century the main political conflict was between the liberal urban patriciate and the supporters of the House of Orange , from the lower class and orthodox variants of Protestantism. The urban patriciate favoured religious tolerance . Between mid-19th century to

576-411: A second split with the establishment of the more conservative liberal League of Free Liberals in 1906. There are different names for these two tendencies. The more progressive liberals have been called "radical", "freeminded" or "democratic" liberals, while the more conservative liberals have been called "free" or "old" liberals. The issue which divided the liberals most was the question whether to extend

640-656: The Swiss National Council (first chamber of the Swiss parliament); 14 (out of 46) in the second chamber and two out of seven mandates in the Swiss Federal Council (executive body). By 2005, it held 27.2% of the seats in the Swiss Cantonal governments and 19.7% in the Swiss Cantonal parliaments (index "BADAC", weighted with the population and number of seats). At the last legislative elections , 22 October 2007,

704-495: The VVD , but the party remained small. It entered some administration coalitions as a junior party. A progressive liberal party, D'66 was founded in 1966. Since the 1970s however liberalism has been on the rise again electorally. Since 1977 the largest, more conservative, liberal party, VVD has been in government for twenty two years. In early 21st century the VVD saw major splits over the issue of integration and migration. In 2010, they won

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768-417: The census or even to introduce universal suffrage , the progressive liberals favoured universal suffrage, the conservative liberals did not. The progressive liberals also favoured government intervention in the economy, such as Van Houten's ban on child labour. Due to the two round electoral system the liberals were required to cooperate. In order to prevent the coalition of Catholics and Protestants win

832-554: The federal government . The FDP remained dominant until the introduction of proportional representation in 1919. From 1945 to 1987, it alternated with the Social Democratic Party to be the largest party. In 1959, the party took two seats in the magic formula . The party declined in the 1990s and 2000s (decade), as it was put under pressure by the Swiss People's Party . In response, the party formed closer relations with

896-539: The freedom of education . In the period following the constitutional amendment, liberalism was the dominant political force in the Netherlands. Liberalism also dominated the universities, the media and business. The liberals supported a laissez-faire economy, free trade , civil rights and a gradual expansion of suffrage. Thorbecke became Prime Minister of the Netherlands in 1849, and would serve two more terms throughout his lifetime. Because of their dominant position,

960-624: The House of Representatives. In 1925, the party was instrumental in the fall of the cabinet led by Hendrikus Colijn : each year the orthodox Protestant Reformed Political Party (SGP) proposed that the Dutch representation at the Vatican be removed. The Protestant SGP was fervently anti-Catholic. This proposal was always supported by the Protestant Christian Historical Union (CHU), which

1024-720: The League Free Liberals as well as more conservative liberals from smaller parties, joined to form the Liberal State Party . The progressive liberals remained separate in the Freeminded Democratic League , a merger of the Radical League and progressive liberals, that had already been formed in 1901. In the interbellum the liberals grew even smaller. Under pressure of the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and

1088-682: The Liberal Union and the League of Free Liberals had also included in their programmes. Furthermore, the SDAP performed exceptionally well in these elections. The leader of the VDB, Dirk Bos , attempted to form a government with the liberals, free liberals, socialists and free-thinking democrats. The socialists refused to cooperate, because one of their major issues (unilateral disarmament of the Netherlands) could not be realised. A liberal extra-parliamentary cabinet

1152-455: The Liberal Union and the other liberal split, the League of Free Liberals, was against universal suffrage, they still needed each other to form a liberal alternative to the Christian democratic Coalition . In many districts there was only one liberal candidate supported by all three liberal parties. In 1905, the VDB won two additional seats. From 1905 to 1908 the Liberal Union and the VDB formed

1216-611: The Netherlands . In the European Parliament election of 2009, the VVD and D66 both won 3 seats each, while PVV picked up 4 seats. The PVV was assigned the additional seat that went to the Netherlands after the Treaty of Lisbon was signed. The VVD and D66 joined the Liberal fraction in the European Parliament, while the PVV did not register as member of any fraction. In the 2010 general election

1280-522: The PvdA and joined the Freedom Party to found the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in 1948. The VVD remained a small party until the 1970s, with about 10% of the vote. They did however form part of the government both in the grand coalition with social-democrats, Catholics and Protestants in the late 1940s early 1950s, and with the Catholics and Protestants over the course of the 1960s. The party

1344-448: The VDB, until he became major of Rotterdam in 1938. In 1937 , they managed to retain their seven seats. In 1941, the party was forbidden by the German occupying force. The VDB played a minor role in the 1940-1945 cabinets in exile. After the German occupation, there was a widespread feeling that a new political party was necessary, one that was not part of the pillarised system. This movement

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1408-423: The VVD has taken a more conservative course. The party began to criticize the large and inefficient welfare state . The party combined this economic liberalism with progressive positions on social issues, which characterized the 1970s, such as abortion , homosexuality and women's rights. The VVD capitalized the weakening of religious and depillarization of the 1970s and made considerable electoral gains: in 1967

1472-514: The VVD returned to previous strength and became the largest party the first time in history with 31 seats, leading to a liberal-led coalition for the first time since 1918 . Also D66 increased their number of seats to 10. Ultimately, the VVD opted for a coalition with the CDA, with VVD leader Mark Rutte as prime minister—the first liberal to hold the post since 1918. Note: The ⇒ sign denotes parties which never achieved any representation in parliament. In

1536-504: The bridge between liberals and socialists. This strategy resulted in the fall of the second Ruijs de Beerenbrouck cabinet in 1925. The VDB was unable to form a government of liberals, socialists and Catholics. In 1933 the relations between the SDAP and the VDB worsened as the VDB joined the Colijn cabinet, which had a very conservative economic policy. Their cooperation in World War II improved

1600-617: The centre-right government led by Colijn , which consisted of the Catholic RKSP, the Protestant CHU and ARP, and the liberal VDB and Liberal State Party. The VDB cooperated in the budget cuts and the strengthening of the Dutch armed forces. The previously good relations with the SDAP came under considerable strain from this. In 1933 the party's leader, Marchant, who also served as minister of Education, stepped down because he had turned Catholic. Pieter Oud took his place as political leader of

1664-431: The church, rather than secular freethought , as well as more progressive and social tendencies in liberalism, as opposed to classical liberalism . The term "Democratic" is included in the parties name because of its clear commitment to further democratisation of the Dutch political system. The term "League" is used instead of "Party" because the organisation was not a centralised, strictly organised mass party but rather

1728-419: The construction of a welfare state . It favoured the democratisation of the Dutch political system. Female suffrage was one of its most important issues. It favoured government influence in the national economy by nationalising crucial industries. It also believed that government should play an important part in ensuring the welfare of the population; hence, it favoured the implementation of state pensions for

1792-491: The country's liberal tradition at further risk. In 2004 Geert Wilders left the VVD to form the Party for Freedom , which combined uncompromising criticism of Islam with a plea for lower taxation and skepticism towards European integration . In 2006 a conflict between Hirsi Ali and Verdonk over her status as an asylum seeker caused the downfall of the cabinet after D66 had revoked its confidence of Verdonk, whose positions on migration

1856-461: The elderly. In the 1930s, the leader of the party, Pieter Oud , was somewhat more conservative than his predecessors, at least fiscally, supporting as Minister of Finance the strict fiscally conservative line of the Cabinet. Before World War I , it favoured an army formed by national conscription . After the war and until the 1930s, it favoured unilateral disarmament. This position was abandoned with

1920-546: The elections. Liberalism in the Netherlands came under attack after the shock assassination of Fortuyn just days before the election. The VVD however joined a coalition cabinet with the heirs of Fortuyn and the CDA. The cabinet fell shortly. After the 2003 elections the D66 replaced the LPF. The centre-right cabinet implemented reforms of the welfare state and oversaw declining migration figures. Migration and integration and especially

1984-486: The following 1925 elections the party gained two seats. The party leader, Marchant , attempted to form a progressive government with the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP), the SDAP and the VDB. He failed, however, and a new Christian democratic cabinet was formed. In the 1929 elections, the VDB retained its seven seats. In 1933 , the party lost one seat. Nonetheless, the party was asked to cooperate in

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2048-432: The former more often espousing social liberalism and the latter more often espousing conservative liberalism . A common characteristic of these parties that they are nominally secular , in contrast to the traditionally dominant and still popular Christian democracy . This article gives an overview of liberalism in the Netherlands. It is limited to political parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had

2112-472: The late-1800 they were a dominant force in shaping the Dutch parliamentary democratic rechtsstaat . In the early 20th century the liberals split between progressive liberals and conservative liberals . Due to their political division and the introduction of universal suffrage the liberals disappeared from the political stage. After the Second World War the liberals were united again under one roof,

2176-410: The leftwing cabinet Den Uyl . Over the course of the 1980s however the party began to espouse a more progressive liberal course, especially under Jan Terlouw . The party remained an ally of the PvdA however, joining a short-lived centre-left coalition cabinet with the PvdA and the Christian democratic CDA in 1981. In the meanwhile the VVD had grown considerably. Under the leadership of Hans Wiegel

2240-399: The liberal alliance lost nearly half its seats. The VDB remains relatively stable with five seats, but they were nonetheless forced to a position in opposition to a Christian democratic cabinet. In 1919, however, VDB leader Henri Marchant initiated the law for female suffrage. In the 1922 elections the party retained its five seats. Betsy Bakker-Nort became the party's first female member of

2304-485: The liberals and the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). The SDAP supported two liberal minority cabinets, but the SDAP was unwilling to join a cabinet with these bourgeoise parties in 1913. After 1918, when the liberals lost more than half of their seats, the relations with Concentration dissolved and the two other concentration parties merged to form the Liberal State Party . The VDB continued to serve as

2368-488: The liberals did not deem it necessary to organise themselves in a political party. Instead there was a loose liberal parliamentary group and locally organised liberal caucuses . The liberals also did not organize their own pillar , a system of like-minded social organisations. The liberals were politically allied with the Catholics , whom the liberals granted considerable freedom of religion . After Thorbecke's death in 1872,

2432-468: The liberals followed suit. On 4 March 1885, the Liberal Union was established. In the 1890s some liberals, such as Samuel van Houten , Johannes Tak van Poortvliet and Kappeyne van de Coppello started to propose a more active role of the government, breaking with the Thorbeckian laissez-faire ideal. This led to the establishment of the progressive Free-thinking Democratic League in 1901. The liberals saw

2496-465: The liberals grew increasingly disunited. By 1897, a division had emerged between the supporters of the progressive liberal Jan Kappeyne van de Coppello on the one side, and those of the conservative liberal Johan George Gleichman on the other. Only in the late 19th century, when the opposition began to organise itself in the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Roman Catholic State Party ,

2560-543: The members of the VD-kamerclub , and some of the party caucuses left the party. The two groups, the Radical League and the VD-kamerclub , merged in 1901 to form the Free-minded Democratic League. In the 1901 elections they won nine seats. The party always remained rather small, but because of its strategic position and the quality of its MPs, the party was very influential. Although the VDB had split from

2624-457: The ministers, not the King, had executive power. In 1844, nine liberal representatives led by the jurist and historian Johan Rudolph Thorbecke attempted in vain to amend the constitution and introduce parliamentary democracy. In 1848, amidst a wave of revolutions across Europe, the balance of power shifted in favour of the liberals. In order to prevent civil unrest in the Netherlands, William II formed

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2688-503: The national elections for the first time in its history. In the early years of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (1814–1848) the House of Representatives was dominated by conservatives supportive of the policy of government of William I and later William II . From 1840 onward, the amount of liberals in the House gradually increased. These liberals advocated a parliamentary democracy with a directly elected House of Representatives and in which

2752-540: The neutral employers' organisation VNO and the financial paper Het Handelsblad had good relations with the League. Together with the other liberal party, the Liberal State Party, these organisations formed the weak general pillar. The VDB was part of the Concentration the alliance with the liberal Liberal Union and League of Free Liberals . These parties had good relations. The VDB served as bridge between

2816-707: The other major parties in agreeing the ' magic formula ' to divide up the seats of the Federal Council , with the FDP permanently receiving two of the seven seats. After the 2003 elections , lawmakers of FDP and Liberal Party formed a common parliamentary group in the Federal Assembly . In June 2005, they strengthened their cooperation by founding the Radical and Liberal Union . They merged on 1 January 2009 to form FDP. The Liberals . In 2003, it held 36 mandates (out of 200) in

2880-434: The party had already distanced itself from. In the 2006 general election the VVD and D66 lost considerably: D66 lost three of its six seats, the VVD six of its 28 seats. Wilders' PVV won nine seats. Rita Verdonk, second on the list of the VVD won more preference votes than the party's lead candidate Mark Rutte . After demanding the leadership of the party, Verdonk left the VVD to form her own nationalist party, Proud of

2944-547: The party provided various mayors . The former VDB leader Oud was mayor of Rotterdam between 1938 and 1941. In 1919, Maria Elisabeth Stellwag-Bes became party leader for the VDB in the municipal elections in Delft and was elected to the Delft municipal council. Deputy leader Corry Tendeloo , who later became instrumental in the legal advancement of women's rights, was a member of the municipal council in Amsterdam. The VDB lacked

3008-662: The party won 15.6% of the popular vote and 31 out of 200 seats. National groups: * observer *associate member **observer Liberalism in the Netherlands Liberalism in the Netherlands started as an anti-monarchical effort spearheaded by the Dutch statesman Thorbecke , who almost single-handedly wrote the 1848 Constitution of the Netherlands that turned the country into a constitutional monarchy . In contemporary politics, there are both left and right-wing parties that refer to themselves as " liberal ", with

3072-403: The party won just over 10% in 1981 this had more than doubled to 23%. Between 1982 and 1986 the VVD cooperated in the centre-right cabinets Lubbers , which implemented a far reaching reform of the welfare state the VVD had advocated since the 1970s. In 1994 the Christian democratic CDA lost its traditional electoral power base. The VVD and D66 won considerably. A progressive purple cabinet

3136-615: The place of the Islam in the Netherlands , however, remained controversial issues. In 2003 the VVD had invited social-democratic critic of Islam, Ayaan Hirsi Ali to join their parliamentary party. She together with MP Geert Wilders caused considerable controversy with her direct criticism of the Islam. In the cabinet VVD minister Rita Verdonk sought to limit migration and stimulate integration of minorities. Two years after Fortuyn's assassination, another murder, this time of filmmaker Theo van Gogh , put

3200-521: The radical movement on the 'left' of the political spectrum . It was not until the rise of the Social Democratic Party in the early 20th century that the FDP found itself on the centre-right. The FDP was the dominant party until the 1919 election, when the introduction of proportional representation led to a leap in the representation of the Social Democrats. In 1959, the Free Democrats joined

3264-611: The relations between SDAP and VDB considerably. This led to the Doorbraak and the formation of the Labour Party with the SDAP and the VDB is its major components. Free Democratic Party of Switzerland The Free Democratic Party ( German : Freisinnig-Demokratische Partei , FDP ; Romansh : Partida liberaldemocrata svizra , PLD ), also called Radical Democratic Party ( French : Parti radical-démocratique , PRD ; Italian : Partito liberale-radicale svizzero , PLR )

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3328-511: The rise of international tensions after 1933. The VDB was mainly supported by atheists and liberal protestants from higher classes : the party was supported by civil servants, intellectuals and educated teachers. Regionally, the VDB received most of its support form the large cities Amsterdam and Rotterdam , but also from provincial centres in Groningen , Drenthe , North and South Holland . In its strongholds of Amsterdam and Rotterdam,

3392-487: The rise of the National Socialist Movement . The liberals did cooperate as junior partners in several cabinets in the crisis. After the Second World War the conservative liberal Liberal State Party refounded itself as Freedom Party . The progressive liberal Freeminded Democratic League joined the new Doorbraak leftwing Labour Party . Several progressives were unhappy with the social-democratic course of

3456-411: The second round of the elections, all the liberals united behind their candidates in the second round, often joined by social democrats . This alliance was called the concentration . On basis of concentration pluralities, often supported by social democrats for a majority several cabinets were formed in the early 20th century. In 1917 under one of these liberal minority cabinets universal male suffrage

3520-544: The smaller Liberal Party , leading to their formal merger in 2009. The elements ' liberal ', ' radical ' and freisinnig (an obsolete German word for 'liberal', or literally "free thinking" ) in the party's name originate from the conflicts during the period of Swiss Restoration between the Catholic-conservative cantons and the liberal cantons. This conflict led to the foundation of the Swiss federal state in 1848 after

3584-669: The victory of the predominantly Protestant and liberal cantons over the conservative and Catholic ones in the Sonderbund war . From 1848 until 1891, the Federal Council was composed entirely of Radicals. The radical movement of the restoration was anti-clerical , and stood in opposition to the Catholic Conservative Party, the ancestor of the modern Christian Democratic People's Party . They were otherwise heterogeneous, including and classical liberal 'Liberals', federalist 'Radicals', and social liberal 'Democrats': placing

3648-698: Was a liberal political party in Switzerland . Formerly one of the major parties in Switzerland, on 1 January 2009 it merged with the Liberal Party of Switzerland to form FDP. The Liberals . The FDP was formed in 1894 from the Radicals , who had dominated Swiss politics since the 1830s, standing in opposition to the Catholic conservatives , and who from the creation of the federal state in 1848 until 1891 formed

3712-417: Was a club of Liberal Union MPs (in 1901, it had about 25 members, out of 35 Liberal Union MPs and 100 MPs in total). The second group left the Union over the same matter. In 1901, the board of the Liberal Union, supported by the VD-kamerclub , proposed that all its candidates would stand on a platform of universal suffrage. The party congress rejected this proposal. In reaction to this the party's board, some of

3776-618: Was called the Breakthrough . Willem Schermerhorn became the first Prime Minister after the Second World War. He led a cabinet composed out of progressives of all parties. In 1946 the VDB merged with the Social Democratic Workers' Party and the progressive Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to form the modern-day Labour Party (PvdA). However, this party soon strengthened its ties to democratic-socialist organisations. In 1948,

3840-444: Was formed with D66 and the VVD under the lead of PvdA. The cabinet managed a thriving Dutch economy , implemented progressive social legislation on euthanasia , gay marriage and prostitution . In the 2002 election campaign the purple coalition came under heavy criticism of the populist politician Pim Fortuyn for mismanaging the public sector, migration and the integration of migrants . The two liberal parties lost considerably in

3904-521: Was formed, led by Pieter Cort van der Linden . It implemented universal suffrage and proportional representation . During this cabinet, a conflict between the VDB parliamentary party and minister Willem Treub led to his resignation. Treub left the party and founded the Economic League , which would merge with the Liberal Union to form the Liberal State Party . In the 1918 elections, with universal suffrage and proportional representation in place,

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3968-407: Was introduced, as well as a proportional electoral system and equal finance for religious schools , this compromise was called the pacification of 1917 . The extension of suffrage however severely weakened the position of the liberals. Of the 37 seats they had in 1917 , they were left with 14 in 1918 . In 1922 the liberal parties reorganized: all conservative liberals, from the Liberal Union and

4032-474: Was led by the former leader of the Freeminded Democratic League, Pieter Oud . In the Dutch pillarized political system the liberals mainly appealed to urban, secular upper and middle class. The liberals did not have a strong pillar of social organization, such as trade unions and news papers, like the other political families had. Instead they were aligned with the weak neutral pillar. In 1966

4096-508: Was part of the Catholic-Protestant cabinet, but nonetheless had an anti-Catholic history. For the Catholic leader Nolens , this Papal representation was of utmost importance. In 1925 the VDB had convinced the other opposition parties that this was their chance to let the government fall and create a progressive cabinet. The entire opposition voted with the SGP and CHU, and the cabinet fell. In

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