The Dutch Parliamentary elections of September 2012

In: Electoral Studies, Band 34, S. 321-326

Abstract

On September 12, 2012, Dutch voters trudged to the polls for the fifth time in the still young 21st century in order to elect the 150 members of the Second Chamber of Parliament. The fact that the formal electoral cycle is four years demonstrates that since the meteoric rise of Pim Fortuyn prior to the elections in 2002, electoral calm has not yet returned to the Netherlands. None of the four coalitions of varied composition under the leadership of Jan Peter Balkenende (Christian Democratic Appeal/Christen Democratisch Appel, CDA) during the first decade of the century managed to stay the full course of four years. In 2003, 2006, and 2010, early elections were called. By emerging as the largest party at the June 2010 elections, the Liberal Party (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD) obtained the initiative in the difficult task of forming a new Cabinet. The party's leader, Mark Rutte, eventually became the first Liberal Minister-President since 1918. However, Rutte was unable to break the pattern set by Balkenende and in the early spring of 2012 his Cabinet fell after only 558 turbulent days in office. [Copyright Elsevier Ltd.]