In every community people are continually subjected to political power. This leads to counter-forces, which differ in quantity and quality. One of these counterforces — political protest — differs... Show moreIn every community people are continually subjected to political power. This leads to counter-forces, which differ in quantity and quality. One of these counterforces — political protest — differs in several respects from opposition and rebellion. Opposition and protest are both directed against the government and governmental policy, but not against the regime, as is the case with rebellion. Both are non-violent, while violence is an important element in a rebellion. Opposition takes place according to carefully prescribed rules while political protest does not make use of the existing institutional channels. Though often strongly expressed, opposition can always be seen as a form of cooperation, political protest is obstruction, breaking laws and regulations in order to provoke the authorities to actions (even the use of violence) which will give the protests greater publicity and discredit the opponents. Opposition is directed against the entire governmental policy; political protest is directed against one or several parts of that policy. However, the protest can be a tactical means of a wider activity, which does intend to undermine and eventually to overthrow the existing regime. The effectiveness of political decisions is based on the degree to which relevant reactions to these decisions are foreseen. By smothering or ignoring these reactions the effectiveness or authority is promoted only in appearance. The stability of a political system is based on the degree to which that system is able to register and digest dissatisfaction and renew impulses. In view of those considerations political protest should be seen as a constructive element for the very reason that it operates outside the institutionalized channels. The official political institutions are created and manned by the establishment; they may sincerely strive for legality and fairness, but in social and political aspects they are not unbiased. Political protest creates an outlet for criticism, which prevents an accumulation of sentiments of dissatisfaction; it provides the authorities with more extensive information about resistances within the population than the constitutional institutions can offer; it provides the citizen with a possibility for greater variance in his political behavior than would be possible otherwise. Political protests and the freedom of demonstration which is needed for it, should be hindered as little as possible. Show less
The praiseworthy intention of the authors of the Concept to pave the way for possible constitutional developments by a curtailment of the constitution’s size, has unfortunately not been accompanied... Show moreThe praiseworthy intention of the authors of the Concept to pave the way for possible constitutional developments by a curtailment of the constitution’s size, has unfortunately not been accompanied by a clear insight into future social, economic and political developments. These could stimulate, or even necessitate, an easier procedure of revision of the constitution. The Concept was drafted by a group of civil servants, assisted by juridical advisers, — a fact that made it only a technical revision with a conservative flavour. One of the important problems concerns the cabinet formation with its consultation procedure. The present system keeps the parties from binding themselves to coalition partners before the elections — a deplorable situation. The abolishment of political parties would not be very realistic, for political parties are more than mere rationalistic ‘channels of political opinion’ — their life and function is based above all upon their social roots. The same applies to a revision of our electoral system; the distribution of the votes is determined by these same social forces rather than by the system. These social factors also make the use of compromise and coalition inevitable. In the author’s view, the solution lies in a revision of the formation procedure, which would enable the parties to present to the electorate several alternative coalition governments before the elections (by way of combining their lists). On this point a revision of the constitution, although not formally required, deserves recommendation. Show less
This article is an extensive review of G. A. Almond and S. Verba, The civic culture: political attitudes and democracy in five nations, Princeton, N.J., 1963. The study is one of the first... Show moreThis article is an extensive review of G. A. Almond and S. Verba, The civic culture: political attitudes and democracy in five nations, Princeton, N.J., 1963. The study is one of the first important works in the new branch in political science — comparative politics. It certainly is a trend setter in the behavioral approach to the cross-cultural study op political phenomena and as such its value can hardly be overestimated. The central question asked by the researchers is whether a significant correlation or congruence between the subjective experience among citizens exists — political culture — and the working of the political systems they live in. An effort is being made to measure the attitudes of citizens in systems ‘democracies’ towards their governments and their own place and role as citizens. The main criticisms are directed against the use of the concept ‘culture’ — exclusively operationally defined —, the more or less arbitrary way in which the democracies are differentiated and the fact that the authors do not pay much attention to intervening variables between what they call the micro level of attitudes and the macro level of systems variables — in spite of their promise to do this. These criticisms are mainly an expression of disappointment,, in view of the importance, scope and costs of this study. Show less
Characteristic for the Concept as a whole is its — generally laudable — curtailment and simplification. In the field of ‘public bodies’ details as well as more important principles have become... Show moreCharacteristic for the Concept as a whole is its — generally laudable — curtailment and simplification. In the field of ‘public bodies’ details as well as more important principles have become victims of this modernization. Undoubtedly this opens new and valuable possibilities for the legislator, especially in the field of municipal and provincial administration. An essential lack, however, is the omission of a clear statement of the principle and the main instruments of functional and territorial decentralization, a principle that is called a postulate’ in the explanatory statement of the Concept itself. The author deplores especially the proposed omission of the constitutional guarantee of a certain amount of autonomy of the townships and provinces, as is provided in the present constitution. He rejects the argument that no program issues, however important, should be included in the constitution. A principle such as that of decentralization, essential as it is for our legislation, deserves a place in our constitution. 'The author uses quotations from the constitutions of several European countries to demonstrate that the principle of decentralization is usually embedded in their constitutions. In a detailed, flexible constitution this principle would deserve extensive elaboration; in a constitution such as the authors of the Concept would like to see — i.e. a rigid, concise and formally juridical one —, it should at least be mentioned as a main principle. Show less
(1) The Provinciale Staten (Provincial Estates) elections of March 23, 1966 resulted in the largest shifts in the relative strength of the participating political parties after the second world war... Show more(1) The Provinciale Staten (Provincial Estates) elections of March 23, 1966 resulted in the largest shifts in the relative strength of the participating political parties after the second world war (Table I). The following points are discussed; a. The number of floating voters, the directions of their floating and their motives; b. these changes more specifically as an explanation of the losses and gains in electoral strength of four parties (Labour, Pacifist Socialist, Farmers and Liberals); c. the influence on the floating voters of the newspaper combination De Telegraaf/Het Nieuws van de Dag. (2) Use has been made of relevant questions and answers in interviews from a research project intended to clarify the nature of the floating voter as such. (3) The project being a follow-up study confined to Amsterdam the conclusions are only applicable to Amsterdam and that part of the Amsterdam electorate that already had the right to vote in May 1963. (4) As far as party choice is concerned the sample appears to be reasonably representative of election results in 1966 and 1963 (Table III). Gomplementary data on first time voters (in 1966) were obtained from another research project. Addition of these data made the sample slightly more representative (Table IV). (5) In this sample of 764 voters at least 16,05% of them must have floated to obtain the changes between 1963 and 1966 in relative strength of the parties, as represented in the sample. The actual floaters in the sample add up to 31,7% of the sample. The minimal amount of floaters sufficient to explain the shifts in the Amsterdam electorate being 15,1%, the number of floaters in that electorate must have been somewhere in the neigbourhood of 30%. That is 30% of about 90% of the total electorate, the 10% first time voters nog having been taken into account. Therefore, between 35% and 40% of the total Amsterdam electorate must, for one reason or another, have changed its electoral behaviour in 1966 as compared to its behaviour in 1963 (Table V) (6) _ 7. — 8. — 9. A survey is made of the motives of the main groups of floaters in the sample. (10) About 45% of the sample either subscribes to or regularly reads one of the two newspapers of the Telegraaf combination; 60% of the floaters in the sample are to be found in this group. A relative large number of those who floated away from the Labour Party and of those who floated towards the Farmers Party are also found in this group. The two newspapers continuously attacked the Labour Part;’ over a period of a year and gave ample coverage to the Farmers Party since 1963. Show less
This article is a descriptive analysis of some data from a national survey, consisting of interviews with 4292 Dutch voters in 64 municipalities, held by the Free University (Amsterdam) immediately... Show moreThis article is a descriptive analysis of some data from a national survey, consisting of interviews with 4292 Dutch voters in 64 municipalities, held by the Free University (Amsterdam) immediately after the general elections of February 15, 1967, A distinction is made between primary and secondary party identification. Primary party identification is measured by the questions ’To which political party do you fee closest?’ (the direction dimension) and ’How close do you feel to this party? Very close, close, not close, not close at all?’ (the intensity dimension). Secondary party identification is measured by the question: ’If the party you just mentioned did not exist, to which party would you then feel closest?’ In table 1 the answers on the latter question are combined with party choice in 1967. The abbreviations of the names of the parties and their percentages of the total vote in 1967 are: KVP = Catholic People’s Party (26.5%); PvdA = Labour Party (23,6%); VVD = People’s Party for Liberty and Democracy (10,7%); ARP = Anti-Revolutionary Party (9,9%); CHU = Christian Historical Union (8,1%); BP = Farmers Party (4,8%); PSP = Pacifist Socialist Party (2,9%); CPN = Communist Party (3,6%); SGP = State Reformed Party (2,0%); CPV = Reformed Political League (0,9%); D’66 = Democrats ’66 (4,5%). The sum of the percentage of voters of party A which are secondary identifiers of party B and the percentage of voters of party B which ate secondary identifiers of party A is called the index of the extent of affinity between two parties (at the level of the voters). The remainder after subtraction of the two percentages is called the index of the direction (one-sidedness or two-sidedness) of affinity between two parties. The aversion against other parties is measured by the question: ’Against which two parties in the Netherlands do you have most objections?’ The sum of the relevant percentages of two parties is called the index of the extent of aversion between two parties. The remainder after subtraction of the two percentages is called the index of the direction of aversion between two parties. On the basis of closed questions directed to the voters of a particular party, on their images of that party, their reasons for voting to that party, a typology of Dutch political parties is developed. The types are: principle parties (KVP, ARP, CHU, SGP, GPV), interest parties (PvdA, VVD, BP, CPN) leader parties (KVP, ARP, VVD, GPV), traditional parties (KVP, CHU, SGP), nonpolitical parties (CHU, BP) effective political parties (PvdA) and international political parties (PSP, CPN). Other data on several kinds of perceptions of voters concerning patties are added. Show less
