Democracy in the Netherlands

The Netherlands: Is this country truly democratic?

The Netherlands is known for its free culture and fine democratic regime. The country ranks seventh on the ranking list of WorldAudit.org, a leading observer in the field of democracy, corruption and human rights. It seems to be a truly democratic country, but is it really democratic? Or is it just a country that is not too undemocratic? We will evaluate this, by looking at what democracy precisely is and how it is implemented in the Dutch society. The robustness of the Dutch democracy will also be looked at.

Definition of democracy

According to Locke, humans are naturally free, equal and independent beings, and if they are to be governed by anyone, it is only by their own consent . From this view onwards, it is easy to deduce that democracy is the only right form of government, where people can truly consent. In a democracy it is possible to choose the people that you want to rule you, but you can only do this once in a few years. For example, in the Netherlands it is only possible to elect representatives once every four years. The rest of the time you can only wait and hope that they will do the things you elected them for.

A form that would do more justice to the term democracy, would be that the people are able to vote on all decisions and laws made in the state. Some countries do have referenda for important decisions, like Switzerland. However there are two problems with this form of ruling the state:

• It would be impossible to organize all these referenda and count all the votes in time; representatives now all ready have a day job voting and amending laws.

• The problem of ignorance. As Plato pointed out in his anti-democratic arguments, if you’re sick, you go to a doctor, an expert, for advice. He claims that the large mob is ignorant on state affairs. A carpenter and a mason are able to build a house, but they don’t know how much tax should be levied. Plato means to say that ruling the state, just as building a house, is a skill. So ruling should be left to the experts.

Platonian guardians

To continue on that last thought, Plato is in favour of a system of guardians, expert rulers. The problem only with this system is that there is no control mechanism for the guardians. So what prevents them from being corrupt and acting in their own interest? Plato suggests a number of rules, like not being allowed to have private property, to prevent abuse of power. Furthermore, he claims that the guardians will choose to rule, because otherwise they will be ruled by the ignorant mass. Although this system seems to be the most efficient way of achieving the goal, it is probably not what most people would want. The mass wants to have control over what is happening to them, who is ruling them.

So here we are, with two conflicting thoughts. The true form of democracy being a way of ruling the state that is an organizational problem as well as the fact that not everyone is thinking in the best interest of the state in the long run, the other form of ruling the state being a way of tyranny, where the mass has nothing to say. This is where the modern form of democracy comes around the corner. In the western world there is a governing form that combines the best of both worlds. This is also the case in the Netherlands.

Democracy in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, people are able to elect representatives from a group of selected people. All of these people are seen as competent rulers. The mass elects 150 representatives, who in turn choose a government. This government rules the state for four years and is controlled by the 150 representatives. This implies that you need a willing mass that is able to compromise. They should be able to cope with the fact that sometimes the laws made are beneficial to them, and sometimes they are not. It requires trust in the people that rule the state. The mass should have the idea that the representatives are acting in the interest of the whole state and that if things go wrong, they can still intervene, by electoral power.

Unfortunately, this sort of mechanism alone is not enough. Plato stated stringent rules for his guardians. In our modern western society this is not enough. In one electoral period, representatives can gather and take over power of the mass. In this way a sound democracy can be turned into a dictatorship. A good example is Germany in 1933; People were living in a free, democratic society. They elected however, the wrong person: Adolf Hitler. When he came to power, he changed the whole system, and turned Germany from a democracy to a monocracy.

Control Mechanisms

Therefore,