1.
Labour Party (Netherlands)
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The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1946 as a merger of the Social Democratic Workers Party, the Free-thinking Democratic League, Prime Ministers from the Labour Party have been Willem Drees, Joop den Uyl, and Wim Kok. Since 2012, the PvdA is the partner in the Second Rutte cabinet with the Peoples Party for Freedom. Since 2016, Lodewijk Asscher has been Leader of the Labour Party, the party won 9 seats in the House of Representatives in the 2017 general election. The Labour Party is a member of the European Party of European Socialists, in the European Parliament, where the Labour Party has 3 seats, it is part of the parliamentary group Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. They were joined by individuals from Catholic resistance group Christofoor and the Protestant parties Christian Historical Union, the founders of the PvdA wanted to create a broad party, breaking with the historic tradition of Pillarisation. This desire to come to a new system was called the Doorbraak. The party combined socialists with liberal democrats and progressive Christians, however, the party was unable to break Pillarisation. Instead the new party renewed the ties that SDAP had with other socialist organisations. In 1948 some conservative members, led by former VDB leader Pieter Oud, together with the Freedom Party, they formed the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, a conservative-liberal party. Between 1946 and 1958, the PvdA formed coalition governments with the Catholic Peoples Party, the KVP and the PvdA together had a large majority in parliament. Since 1948, these cabinets were led by PvdA Prime Minister Willem Drees, under his leadership the Netherlands recovered from the war, began to build its welfare state and Indonesia became independent. After the cabinet crisis of 1958, the PvdA was replaced by the VVD, the PvdA was in opposition until 1965. The electoral support of PvdA voters began to decline, in 1965 a conflict in the KVP-ARP-CHU-VVD cabinet made continuation of the government impossible. The three confessional, Christian-influenced parties turned towards the PvdA, together they formed the Cals cabinet. This cabinet was also lived and conflict ridden. The conflicts culminated in the fall of the Cals cabinet over economic policy, meanwhile, a younger generation was attempting to gain control of the PvdA. A group of young PvdA members, calling themselves the New Left, prominent New Left members were Jan Nagel, André van der Louw and Bram Peper
2.
House of Representatives (Netherlands)
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The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate. It has 150 seats which are filled through elections using a party-list proportional representation and it sits in the Binnenhof in The Hague. Although this body is called the House of Representatives in English, this is not a translation of its Dutch name. Rather than representatives, members of the House are referred to as Tweede Kamerlid, the House of Representatives is the main chamber of parliament, where discussion of proposed legislation and review of the actions of the cabinet takes place. Both the Cabinet and the House of Representatives itself have the right to propose legislation, review of the actions of the cabinet takes the form of formal interrogations, which may result in motions urging the cabinet to take, or refrain from, certain actions. No individual may be a member of parliament and cabinet, except in a caretaker cabinet that has not yet been succeeded when a new House is sworn in. The House of Representatives is also responsible for the first round of selection for judges to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands and it submits a list of three names for every vacant position to the Government. Furthermore, it elects the Dutch Ombudsman and his subsidiaries, the normal term of the House of Representatives is four years. Anybody eligible to vote in the Netherlands also has the right to establish a political party, parties wanting to take part must register 43 days before the elections, supplying a nationwide list of at most 50 candidates. The candidate lists are placed in the hands of the voters at least 14 days before the election, each candidate list is numbered, with the person in the first position known as the lijsttrekker. The lijsttrekker is usually appointed by the party to lead its election campaign, two or more parties can agree to combine their separate lists, which increases the chance of winning a remainder seat. Only large parties usually have some regional candidates at the bottom of their lists, a single vote can be placed on any one candidate. Many voters select one of the lijsttrekkers, but alternatively a preference vote may be made for a lower down the list. Once the election results are known, the seats are allocated to the parties, the number of valid national votes cast is divided by 150, the number of seats available, to give a threshold for each seat, 1/150th is approximately 0. 67% of the valid votes. Each partys number of votes is divided by this threshold to give a number of seats. Any party that received fewer votes than the threshold fails to gain representation in the House of Representatives, the threshold is one of the lowest for national parliaments in the world, and there are usually multiple parties winning seats with 2% or less of the vote. Any party that received more than 75% of the threshold will have its deposit refunded, after the initial seats are allocated, the remainder seats are allocated using the DHondt method of largest averages. This system slightly favours the larger parties, list combinations compete for the remainder seats as one list of the combined size of all parties in the combination, thus having more chance to gain remainder seats
3.
Diederik Samsom
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Diederik Maarten Samsom is a Dutch politician, and the former leader of the Labour Party. He was an MP between 30 January 2003 and 14 December 2016, on 16 March 2012 he was elected parliamentary leader as well as party leader. He lost the Labour Party leadership election to Lodewijk Asscher in December 2016, before his election to parliament he was CEO of a green energy company and a campaigner for Greenpeace Netherlands. Diederik Maarten Samsom was born on 10 July 1971 in Groningen in the Netherlands and his father worked as an internist and his mother as a physiotherapist. Between 1983 and 1989, he attended the Stedelijk Gymnasium in Leeuwarden, there he became interested in physics, so he went on to study applied physics at Delft University of Technology. Samsom specialised in physics and became a level three radiation expert. He graduated in May 1997, obtaining a Dutch engineers degree and he was also on the board of the national students union LSVb and edited a yearly edition of the Poenboek, a students guide concerning monetary issues. Samsom had been involved in long before entering politics. Samsom joined environmental organisation Greenpeace Netherlands in September 1995 as a volunteer and he led several campaigns and projects until he quit in December 2001, when the PvdA approached him offering a career in politics. He also worked as the CEO of Echte Energie, a green energy trading company. Samsom became a member of the social democratic Labour party while a student in Delft and he left the party but rejoined in February 2001. He stood as a candidate in the 2002 Dutch general election, the party regained most of its seats in the 2003 election and this time Samsom was given a high position on the list of candidates. He was subsequently sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives on 30 January 2003, together with fellow PvdA parliamentarians Staf Depla and Jeroen Dijsselbloem he traveled around the country campaigning. They operated under the name The Red Engineers, referring to both their scientific backgrounds and their red overalls, NRC editor Coen van Zwol called their campaign fresh, clear and sharp. He was nineteenth on the list of candidates in the 2006 Dutch general elections, in April 2008, Samsom was a candidate for succeeding Jacques Tichelaar as fractievoorzitter, but eventually he lost the vote to Mariëtte Hamer. Jacques Tichelaar became the leader of the party shortly after the 2006 general election in February 2007. He had to undergo a bypass surgery and it took him three months to recuperate. On 16 April, he announced he had decided to resign from office for health reasons and he planned to return as a parliamentarian on 1 July 2008
4.
Lodewijk Asscher
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Lodewijk Frans Asscher is a Dutch politician of the Labour Party. He has been the Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands and Minister of Social Affairs and he previously served as acting Mayor of Amsterdam from 12 March 2010 to 7 July 2010 after Job Cohen resigned as mayor to become the Labour Party leader for the Dutch general election of 2010. Lodewijk Frans Asscher was born on 27 September 1974 in Amsterdam in a religious family, his father is of Jewish descent. His father is a member of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, Asscher went to the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague. He studied psychology and Dutch law at the University of Amsterdam in Amsterdam, in 2002, he received his PhD in law from the University of Amsterdam. Asscher entered the city council after the Dutch municipal elections of 2002, besides his role as the group leader of the Labour Party in the Amsterdam city council, he took part in the commission on General Affairs. Until 1 January 2006, Asscher taught information law at the University of Amsterdam, in his book New Amsterdam, Asscher advocated the eventual disappearance of the red light district. A few days after the release of the book, Asscher revoked that statement, stating that he was not against prostitution, after the Dutch municipal elections of 2006, where he led the Labour Partys campaign in Amsterdam, Asscher was installed as an alderman on 26 April. He served as alderman of Economics, Airport and Harbour, and served as Acting Mayor of Amsterdam from 12 March 2010 to 7 July 2010. He then became alderman of Finances serving until 5 November 2012, on 5 November 2012, he became Minister of Social Affairs and Employment and Deputy Prime Minister in the Cabinet Rutte II. In Amsterdam he was succeeded by Pieter Hilhorst, in September 2014, Asscher announced heightened scrutiny of four Dutch Turkish organisations that he suspected of hindering integration, including a religious group, Millî Görüş. This led to the expulsion of 2 Dutch Turkish MPs from the Labour Party after they harshly criticised the move, on 9 December 2016 Asscher won the leadership of the Labour Party in an election against Diederik Samsom. He obtained 54, 5% of the vote, lodewijk Asscher is married to Jildau Piena, with whom he has three sons
5.
Groningen
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Groningen is the main municipality as well as the capital city of the eponymous province in the Netherlands. With a population of 201,865 as of 2016, it is the largest city in the north of the Netherlands, an old city, Groningen was the regional power of the northern Netherlands, a semi-independent city-state and member of the German Hanseatic League. Groningen is a university city, it houses the University of Groningen, the city was founded on the northernmost point of the Hondsrug area. The oldest document referring to Groningens existence dates from 1040, in the 13th century, when Groningen was an important trade centre, its inhabitants built a city wall to underline its authority. The city had a influence on the surrounding lands and made its dialect a common tongue. The most influential period of the city was the end of the 15th century, during these years, the Martinitoren was built, which loomed over the city at 127 metres tall. The citys independence came to an end when in 1536, it chose to accept Emperor Charles V, later, it joined the Republic of the Seven United Provinces. In 1614, the University of Groningen was founded, initially only for religious education, in the same period the city expanded rapidly and a new city wall was built. That same city wall was tested during the Third Anglo-Dutch War in 1672, the city walls resisted, an event that is still celebrated with music and fireworks on August the 28th. The city did not escape the devastation of World War II, in particular, the main square, the Grote Markt, was largely destroyed in April 1945 in the Battle of Groningen. However, the Martinitoren, its church, the Goudkantoor, the University of Groningen has a rich academic tradition that dates back to 1614. After the University of Leiden, it is the second oldest Dutch university,200,000 people were either students, teachers or researchers at the university. Groningen has the highest percentage of students by total population, approximately 25 percent, the city is nationally known as the Metropolis of the North and as Martinistad referring to the tower of the Martinitoren, named after its patron saint Martin of Tours. The large number of living in Groningen also contributes to a diverse cultural scene for a city of its size. The most important and most famous museum in Groningen is the Groninger Museum, with the construction of its current building, designed by Alessandro Mendini, the museum has been transformed into one of the most modern and innovative of its kind in the Netherlands. In addition, the city has a museum, a university museum, a comics museum. Groningen is also home of Noorderlicht, a photographic platform that runs a photo gallery. Groningen has a city theatre, located on the Turfsingel, a big theatre and concert venue called Martini Plaza, vera is located on the Oosterstraat, the Grand Theatre on the Grote Markt, and Simplon on the Boterdiep
6.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
7.
Civil service
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A civil servant or public servant is a person so employed in the public sector employed for a government department or agency. The extent of civil servants of a state as part of the service varies from country to country. In the United Kingdom, for instance, only Crown employees are referred to as civil servants whereas county or city employees are not, many consider the study of service to be a part of the field of public administration. Workers in non-departmental public bodies may also be classed as servants for the purpose of statistics and possibly for their terms. Collectively a states civil servants form its service or public service. An international civil servant or international staff member is an employee who is employed by an intergovernmental organization. These international civil servants do not resort under any national legislation but are governed by internal staff regulations, All disputes related to international civil service are brought before special tribunals created by these international organizations such as, for instance, the Administrative Tribunal of the ILO. Specific referral can be made to the International Civil Service Commission of the United Nations and its mandate is to regulate and coordinate the conditions of service of staff in the United Nations common system, while promoting and maintaining high standards in the international civil service. The origin of the modern civil service can be traced back to Imperial examination founded in Imperial China. The Imperial exam based on merit was designed to select the best administrative officials for the states bureaucracy and this system had a huge influence on both society and culture in Imperial China and was directly responsible for the creation of a class of scholar-bureaucrats irrespective of their family pedigree. In the areas of administration, especially the military, appointments were based solely on merit, after the fall of the Han Dynasty, the Chinese bureaucracy regressed into a semi-merit system known as the Nine-rank system. This system was reversed during the short-lived Sui Dynasty, which initiated a civil service bureaucracy recruited through written examinations, the first civil service examination system was established by Emperor Wen of Sui. The examination tested the candidates memorization of the Nine Classics of Confucianism and his ability to compose poetry using fixed and traditional forms, the system was finally abolished by the Qing government in 1905 as part of the New Policies reform package. The Chinese system was admired by European commentators from the 16th century onward. In the 18th century, in response to changes and the growth of the British Empire, the bureaucracy of institutions such as the Office of Works. Each had its own system, but in general, staff were appointed through patronage or outright purchase, by the 19th century, it became increasingly clear that these arrangements were falling short. The origins of the British civil service are better known, during the eighteenth century a number of Englishmen wrote in praise of the Chinese examination system, some of them going so far as to urge the adoption for England of something similar. The first concrete step in this direction was taken by the British East India Company in 1806, in that year, the Honourable East India Company established a college, the East India Company College, near London to train and examine administrators of the Companys territories in India
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