Besprekingsartikel. Strategie en structuur in de Nederlandse politiek

Samenvatting

Change within institutions and systems is affected not only by goal-oriented strategies, but also by structural factors. This can be seen in reference to the Dutch political system, which has recently been discussed by G. Kuypers (Het politieke spel in Nederland: diagnoses, remedies en een suggestie. The political game in the Netherlands: diagnoses, remedies, and a suggestion, Meppel : J.A. Boom en zoon, 1967). When universal suffrage was accepted in the Netherlands, all groups involved were dedicated to not allowing any one group to govern. This led to measures which make it extremely difficult for a majority government to be formed by any particular party. The disadvantage is that cabinets must be formed in great haste, and the programs which are agreed upon by members of the coalition are determined under conditions which are far from ideal, but nonetheless binding. Kuypers makes the suggestion that the governing cabinet should be forced to declare, two months before the general election, whether it wishes to remain in power, and what its program will be; resulting in a more open and relaxed discussion of such matters. These and other suggestions made by Kuypers are all changes in rules under the present system, and are therefore no more than attempts to salvage an ossified institution. P. Tiersma