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IN MANY DUTCH AND COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF EXECUTIVE-LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS THE DUTCH CASE ELUDES STRAIGHTFORWARD CLASSIFICATION. APPLICATION OF KING'S TYPOLOGY OF MODES OF EXECUTIVE-LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS SHOW THAT THE PATTERN OF INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT HAS EVOLVED FROM A PRIMARILY NONPARTY MODE TO A PREDOMINANTLY INTERPARTY MODE. HOWEVER, DUTCH EXECUTIVE-LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS APPEAR AMBIGUOUS PRIMARILY BECAUSE ALL MODES STILL EXIST TO SOME EXTENT.

Abstract. In political science the field of cabinet decision‐making is still largely terra incognita, and there is no theoretical framework to help us interpret the available material in a meaningful way. As a first step, this article suggests that cabinet decision‐making is structured by two sources of disagreement: the departments headed by the cabinet ministers, and the parties or factions these ministers represent. After a brief overview of different combinations of departmental and political heterogeneity in different countries, the Dutch cabinet is examined in more detail. It is characterized by strong departmental heterogeneity and more recently by political heterogeneity as well. Various attempts to contain these centrifugal forces ‐ recognition of the cabinet, a strong position for the Prime Minister and for the Minister of Finance, cabinet committees, and an Inner Cabinet ‐ have not been successful. This could be because political and departmental heterogeneity are mutually reinforcing. However, there is also some evidence that, in the Dutch case at least, these centrifugal forces are counterbalancing, or even completely unrelated to each other.

In the Netherlands there has been very little privatization, despite the government's commitment to it. Reasons for this lack of success are explored, & it is concluded that the potential for privatization is small, given the nature of the Dutch public sector: there are fewer public business enterprises in the Netherlands, & their share of the national economy is small. In the mixed sector where government & private sector are intertwined, a form of hidden privatization is taking place. Modified HA