“The Dutch political system is a parliamentary democracy with the king as the formal head of state. Provided by the Constitution, the legislative power is exerted by two chambers: the First Chamber (“Eerste Kamer” or Senate) and the Second Chamber (“Tweede Kamer” or House of Representatives). The primate is with the Second Chamber, whose task it is to amend and approve bills put forward by the government. The First Chamber has a supervisory role as it can only approve or reject laws that have been passed by the Second Chamber. The 150 members of the Second Chamber are directly elected by Dutch nationals over 18 years; in principle every four years but earlier if a government has fallen. The 75 members of the First Chamber are elected for four years by the 12 provincial councils. The head of state, currently King Willem Alexander, has no executive power (overheid.nl, 2016; den Exter et al., 2004).

“A consequence of the fragmented political landscape in the Netherlands is that governments are normally based on a coalition of parties that jointly can rely on a majority in the parliament and that have agreed on a programme for the coming four years and how to fill the posts in the government. The formation of such an agreement can be a complex and time-consuming process (Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, 2016). Members of the Cabinet (the Ministers and Secretaries of State) cannot be members of the parliament.”

Source: Kroneman M, Boerma W, van den Berg M, Groenewegen P, de Jong J, van Ginneken E (2016). The Netherlands: health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2016; 18(2):1–239.

“The Netherlands is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a head of government – the prime minister – and a head of state – the monarch. A council of ministers holds executive power. The country is divided into 12 provinces and 388 municipalities. It is also divided into 22 water districts, governed by an executive board that has authority in matters of water management. The Netherlands also includes 6 overseas countries and territories in the Caribbean. These territories are not part of the EU.”

Source: EU Member Countries In Brief: Netherlands. European Union. Last accessed Nov. 14, 2020.

Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated Nov. 10, 2022 by Doug McVay, Editor.