Description of Electoral System:

(courtesy of IFES election guide)

The monarchy is hereditary. In the First Chamber (Eerste Kamer) 75 members are elected to serve 4-year terms. In the Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer) 150 members are elected by direct popular vote to serve 4-year terms.

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on links for definitions

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Most recent election

(courtesy of wikipedia)

The Dutch general elections 2006 were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday, November 22, 2006, and followed the call for new elections after the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet.

The elections proved relatively successful for the governing Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) which remained the largest party with 41 seats, a loss of only three seats. The largest increase in seats was for the Socialist Party (SP), which went from nine to 25 seats. The main opposition party, the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) lost nine of its 42 seats, while the right-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the progressive liberal Democrats 66 lost a considerable portion of their seats, six of 28 and three of six, respectively. New parties, such as the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) of former VVD MP Geert Wilders and the animal rights party Party for the Animals (PvdD) were also successful, with the PVV winning nine seats and the PvdD winning two, thereby becoming the first animal rights group to enter a European parliament.

The formation talks led to the installation of the Christian-social fourth cabinet Balkenende, composed of CDA, PvdA and ChristianUnion on February 22, 2007.