Parliamentary democracy in the Netherlands

Dutch parliamentary democracy was shaken by 'the long year of 2002', a period of political instability related to the meteoric rise of the populist politician Pim Fortuyn, and his assassination. This has opened a window of opportunity for existing and newly developed proposals for constitutional change. The proposals have in common that they seek to strengthen relations between the electorate and parliament, and to emphasise the separation of powers between parliament and the government. The most important of these proposals that are currently debated are replacing the current electoral system of nation-wide Proportional Representation with a Mixed Member Proportional system, and the introduction of popularly elected executives at the local level (mayors), and possibly also at the national level (the prime minister). It remains to be seen whether such proposals, if implemented, will change the balance between consensus-seeking and competition in the Dutch system.