What is the Dutch Polder Model?

What is the Polder Model?

The term relates to the tendency of Dutch politicians to go for consensus. The origin of this expression has to do with the making and maintaining of polders. Polders are pieces of land reclaimed from the sea or lakes and surrounded by a dike. Making polders was already done in the middle ages. It required coordinated action of many people. Those early dike-builders organized themselves in Hoogheemraadschappen, specialized organizations with local governmental powers, thus creating an early form of democracy. The Hoogheemraadschappen were also responsible for the maintenance of the dikes. An area of adjacent polders could turn into an urban area. Landowners were obliged to contribute to the Hoogheemraadschappen (Still today I pay tax to the Hoogheemraadschap of the area in which I live). The threat of inundation was equal for all the inhabitants of the lower regions, regardless of their creed. So Protestants and Roman Catholics had to cooperate.

The Polder Model today.
The Netherlands has many political parties such as CDA (Christian Democrats), VVD (Liberal right wing party), PvdA (Social Democrats), D66 (Left wing Liberals), GroenLinks (Green party), SP (Socialist Party, former Maoists), PVV (the party of the famous or infamous Geert Wilders), SGP (Fundamentalist Christian party), PvdD (Party for the animals -would you believe!-).
I may have forgotten a few independent one-man parties but this sums it up pretty well.

As you can imagine, forming a government after the elections is a difficult job. With so many parties the likelyhood of one party winning an absolute majority is negligible. So two, three or even more parties have to negotiate to form a coalition. After WWII until a few years ago the coalitions were either  right wing coalitions or a left wing coalition. In this period the Christian Democrats were always part of a coalition government. They belonged to the ruling class as well as other main parties who in turn were part of the coalition. These people got to know each other well and in the old polder tradition tried to reach a compromise. The general population grew discontent about the arrogance of power and the uncontrolled influx of foreigners who seem to take over the inner cities and drive out the original inhabitants.

What changed the situation?

Pim Fortuyn in a pensive pose

The arrival of Pim Fortuyn in the political arena changed everything. Fortuyn, a flamboyant homosexual, became very popular because of his clear and eloquently expressed political message. He understood the people and they understood him. He was murdered on the 6th of May 2002 by an animal rights activist, just before the general elections. His newly formed party won a landslide victory and they had to be part of the new government. Fortuyn's followers, now a flock without shepherd made a complete mess of it.

Next came Geert Wilders, just as the old political establishment recovered from the shattering blow Fortuyn had hit them with. First Wilders shook them with the Islam issue, which they so far ignored but now with the elections of September 2012 in sight, Europe and the Euro will be put on the political agenda by Geert Wilders, much to the chagrin of the established parties who are all confessed Eurocrats.