The Netherlands are a
Constitutional monarchy. The most important part of parliament, the [Tweede Kamer]
? (Lower House), has 150 members, and is chosen once every four years by
Proportional representation.
At the moment (1998-2002), the following parties have representatives in the Tweede Kamer, with the given number of seats
PvdA? 45 Social Democratic
VVD? 39 right-wing Liberal
CDA? 29 [Christian Democratic]?
D66? 14 left-wing Liberal
GroenLinks? 11 left-wing Green Party
SP? 5 Post-Communistic
ChristenUnie? 5 Christian
SGP? 3 right-wing Conservative Christian
Like a number of other European countries with proportional representation, the Dutch have always had Coalition governments. Since 1994, the governing coalition consists of PvdA?, VVD and D66. Before that, for 80 years the CDA (or the parties that later joined to form the CDA) had been in the government, sometimes with the socialists (PvdA?), sometimes with the liberals (VVD) as their coalition partner.
See also
Government,
Drugs policy