’Duidelijkheid’ in de Nederlandse politiek

Abstract

Two out of several possible interpretations of ’unambiguity’ in Dutch multiparty politics have been chosen for operationalisation. The nine, most important political parties were ranked accordingly. The first operational definition is in terms of the ’recognizability* of the party standpoints, the second considers the political colour of the parties. . One hundred and twelve respondents had to recognise the standpoints of the parties on the most important issues of the 1967 general election campaign. Two hundred and nineteen people ranked the parties from left to right. According to the first operationalisation a party is the more unambiguous the better its standpoints are recognised; according to the second a party is the more ’unambiguous’ the better the respondents agree on its location on the left-right dimension.