The Netherlands

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Netherlands Motto: Je Maintiendrai (Dutch: Ik zal handhaven, English: I Shall Uphold) Anthem: Wilhelmus van Nassouwe Capital Amsterdam1 Largest city Amsterdam Official language(s) Dutch2 Government Parliamentary democracy Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Beatrix  - Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende Independence Eighty Years War   - Declared July 26, 1581   - Recognised January 30, 1648 (by Spain... Image File history File links Coat_of_arms_of_the_Netherlands. ... The Politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy and a constitutional monarchy. ...

Kingdom of the Netherlands Constitution Monarchy Queen Beatrix Cabinet Present cabinet Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende Ministry of General Affairs Coalition: CDA, VVD Parliament First Chamber Second Chamber Political parties Politicians Elections: 2006 Council of State Supreme Court Provinces EU Politics Drugs policy Foreign relations Terminology

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The League of Christian Socialists (in Dutch: Bond Christen-Socialisten, BCS) was a Dutch christian socialist political party. The BCS is historically linked to the Labour Party and the GreenLeft. The Netherlands have been an independent monarchy since March 16, 1815, and have been governed by members of the House of Orange-Nassau since. ... Queen Beatrix (I) of the Netherlands (born as Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard van Oranje-Nassau, Prinses der Nederlanden, Prinses van Oranje-Nassau, Prinses van Lippe-Biesterfeld) (born January 31, 1938), has been the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of the Netherlands since April 30, 1980. ... The cabinet of the Netherlands or council of ministers plans and implements government policy. ... The second cabinet of Jan Peter Balkenende has been in office in the Netherlands from May 27, 2003. ... The Prime Minister of the Netherlands (Minister-President in Dutch) is the chairman of the council of ministers and active executive authority of the Dutch government. ... Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende   (born 7 May 1956) has served as Prime Minister of The Netherlands since 22 July 2002. ... The Prime Minister of the Netherlands is also the political head of the Ministry of General Affairs (Ministerie van Algemene Zaken). With only about 400 employees this ministry is by far the smallest ministry in the Netherlands. ... The Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) (Dutch: Christen Democratisch Appèl) is a Dutch christian-democratic political party. ... The Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) (Dutch: Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie) is a Dutch liberal political party. ... The Estates-General (Staten-Generaal) is the parliament of the Netherlands. ... The Eerste Kamer (literally First Chamber in Dutch) is the Upper House or Senate of the Netherlands parliament, the States-General. ... The Tweede Kamer (second chamber) is the lower house of the Staten-Generaal, the parliament in the Netherlands. ... This article lists political parties in the Netherlands. ... Elections in the Netherlands gives information on election and election results in the Netherlands. ... The next Dutch general election will be held on 22 November 2006 after the fall of the cabinet Balkenende II, and will follow the interim minority cabinet Balkenende III . ... In the Netherlands, the Council of State is a constitutionally established advisory body to the government which consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political, commercial, diplomatic, or military experience. ... Hoge Raad der Nederlanden is the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, situated in The Hague. ... The modern day Netherlands are divided into twelve provinces (provincies in Dutch), listed below with their capital city: Map of the Netherlands, with provinces and capital cities See also the ranked list of Dutch provinces // Structure A Dutch province represents the administrative layer in between the national government and the... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Image File history File links European_flag. ... The drug policy of the Netherlands is based on 2 principles: Drug use is a public health issue, not a criminal matter A distinction between hard drugs and soft drugs exists It is a pragmatic policy. ... The Netherlands abandoned its traditional policy of neutrality after World War II. The Dutch have since become engaged participants in international affairs. ... There are several terms used in Dutch politics which are not easily translated into English. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... Christian socialism generally refers to those on the Christian left whose politics are both Christian and socialist and who see these two things as being interconnected, perhaps because one derives from the other. ... A political party is an organization that seeks to attain political power within a government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns. ... For the Belgian political party of the same name, see Partij van de Arbeid (Belgium). ... This article is about the Dutch political party. ...

Party History

The BCS was founded in 1907. In the 1918 elections, the first election with a system of proportional representation and male universal suffrage the restriction to get into the Tweede Kamer were relatively low, one needed more than half of a percentage of the vote to be elected. Consequently the BCS was elected with only 8000 votes (that is .6% of vote). Introduction The 1918 elections were the first elections under universal male suffrage and proportional representation. ... Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation, or PR), is an electoral system delivering a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies). ... Universal suffrage (also general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of suffrage to all adults, without distinction as to race, sex, belief, or social status. ...

In parliament the party worked together with Socialist Party and the Social Democrat Party (later Communist Party Holland) in the revolutionary parliamentary party. In 1919 the SP MP had left the parliamentary party, disaffected with the cooperation. The BCS representative however embraced the cooperation and left his own party with to join the Communist Party Holland. Some members joined him, while others joined the social-democratic SDAP, a third group continued separately and founded the Christian Democratic Union with the Christian Social Party and the Christian Democratic Party in 1926. The Socialist Party (in Dutch: Socialistische Partij, SP) was a Dutch revolutionary syndicalist libertarian socialist political party. ... The Communist party of the Netherlands (CPN, in Dutch Communistische Partij Nederland) was a communist party of the Netherlands. ... The Christian-Democratic Union (in Dutch: Christelijk-Democratische Unie) was a minor christian left party in the Netherlands in the interbellum. ...

Ideology & Issues

The BCS was both a marxist and a christian party. In its manifesto of principles called "God, Thyself, Thy neighbour", the BCS took the second commandment of Christ from the Gospel of Matthew, "Thou shall love thy neighbour like thyself", as its leading principle. Marxism refers to the philosophy and social theory based on Karl Marxs work on one hand, and to the political practice based on Marxist theory on the other hand (namely, parts of the First International during Marxs time, communist parties and later states). ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ... This page is about the title or the Divine Person. For the Christian figure, see Jesus. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally, according to Matthew; Greek, Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ...

The party had a traditional socialist program, including the abolition of monarchy and the Eerste Kamer, equal rights for men and women, free education, the implementation of better labour laws, a minimum wage and social security, disarmament, legalisation of conscientious objection against military service and independence of the Dutch Indies. The Netherlands have been an independent monarchy since March 16, 1815, and have been governed by members of the House of Orange-Nassau since. ... The Eerste Kamer (literally First Chamber in Dutch) is the Upper House or Senate of the Netherlands parliament, the States-General. ... The minimum wage is the minimum rate a worker can legally be paid (usually per hour) as opposed to wages that are determined by the forces of supply and demand in a free market. ... Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ... Disarmament means the act of reducing or depriving arms i. ... A conscientious objector is an individual whose personal beliefs are incompatible with military service, or sometimes with any role in the armed forces. ... The Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, (Dutch: Nederlands Indië) was the name of the colonies set up by the Dutch East India Company, which came under administration of the Netherlands during the 19th century (see Indonesia). ...

Representation

In this table the election results of the BCS in Tweede Kamer and Eerste Kamer elections is represented, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter, the chair of the parliamentary party and the lijsttrekker, the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader.

The Tweede Kamer (second chamber) is the lower house of the Staten-Generaal, the parliament in the Netherlands. ... The Eerste Kamer (literally First Chamber in Dutch) is the Upper House or Senate of the Netherlands parliament, the States-General. ... There are several terms used in Dutch politics which are not easily translated into English. ... There are several terms used in Dutch politics which are not easily translated into English. ... Introduction The 1918 elections were the first elections under universal male suffrage and proportional representation. ...

Electorate

The BCS had only a limited support, which it drew protestants from lower classes.

International Comparison

The BCS is as Christian socialist party comparable to the members of the International League of Religious Socialists. The International League of Religious Socialists is an umbrella organization of religious socialist movements in political parties throughout the world. ...