A polder is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes and requiring drainage by pumps to prevent the water table within it from rising too high. The best known examples are those polders that constitute areas of land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the sea, and are consequently below the surrounding water level.
Polders are most commonly found, though not exclusively so, in the Netherlands, the country they are frequently associated with. This also leads the expression used to describe Dutch decision making - the Polder Model.
A polder is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes.
The best-known examples are those polders that constitute areas of land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the sea, and are consequently below the surrounding water level.
POLDER is also the acronym used for the name of an environmental satellite radiometer developed by the French space agency CNES.
The Dutchpolder model is characterized by the tri-partite cooperation between employers' organizations, labour unions and the government.
The current polder model is said to have begun with the Wassenaar Accords of 1982 when unions, employers and government decided on a comprehensive plan to revitalize the economy involving shorter working times and less pay on the one hand, and more employment on the other.
The word poldermodel and especially the verb "polderen" (english: to polder) has been used pejoratively by some politicians to describe the slow decision making process, where all parties have to be heard, which characterizes Dutch politics.
Feeds |
Contact