No political ambition, yet opinion maker Johan Derksen stands for election as a list pusher for the VVD in the municipality of Aa and Hunze. Well -known or remarkable people end up on this location on the electoral list during elections. But how fair is this actually towards the voter?
TV personality Maarten van Rossem, reality star Erica Meiland, former D66 leader Jan Terlouw, former PvdA member Hedy d’Acona, historian and professor Beatrice de Graaf and former Olympic champion Maarten van der Weijden. What do they have in common? They were all eligible as a list pusher during the parliamentary elections or the municipal elections. Resident of Grolloo Johan Derksen also reports in this list for the local VVD of AA and Hunze.
He announced this in TV program last week Today Inside. “I have been persuaded to be on the list of the municipality of Aa and Hunze.” Furthermore, the mustache does not intend to actually go into the city council, he explicitly said Today Inside. The VVD is also far from a voice of Derksen: “I do not rule out that I vote for another party, because I am not so enthusiastic for the VVD,” he said in the football program.
Is a well-known or striking list pusher primarily a PR stunt of political parties or does it have another position? According to Kees Aarts, professor of political institutions and behavior at the University of Groningen, the concept of list pusher is primarily a PR stunt, but one with a special history. “Until the 1970s, we had different lists in national elections per constituency (a smaller region, ed.), With our own party leader for each kieskring.”
For example, voters had a local bond with their party leader, explains Aarts. This changed about fifty years ago, when the electoral lists became the same for all constituencies, and all residents of the Netherlands had a choice of the same, national party leader in the Lower House elections. “It became more and more a national whole, with one face that must radiate that he or she is the leader.”
“In the 1980s they came up with the idea that you could do more with that list and that you could put someone at the bottom. It doesn’t bathe, then it doesn’t harm, the idea is in national elections.”
Moreover, something else plays a role in local elections, Aarts explains. “Most people hardly know anyone on the lists in the municipal elections. They may know the name of the mayor, but aldermen will stop. That has been the case for a long time. But to give voters a little sense of recognition, local parties started working with famous people at the bottom of the list. Especially to show: that also belongs to us.”
Whether a list pusher without political ambitions is not a form of voter illusion, opinions differ considerably, according to Aarts. “That is very different from that, even among political scientists,” says Aarts. “Many people say: you turn the voter in mind with a candidate who is not going to take a seat.” Aarts himself thinks differently. “I am much more positive. Whether it is Hedy d’Ancona or Johan Derksen, I think it helps people to keep people a bit interested in politics. That is difficult enough.”
The fact that the candidacy is too light is being done, that danger also exists, Aarts emphasizes. “I am the first to say that politics is serious, which serious people have to deal with. In addition, you should not make politics infantile. But it is extremely important to keep giving citizens the feeling that politics are concerned.”
Maarten van Rossem was on the PvdA’s list pusher on the PvdA in the House of Representatives in 2012 and with 5,929 votes received quite a few votes from the voter. At the age of 87, Hedy d’Ancona even received so many preferential votes in the European parliamentary elections that she won a seat. She didn’t take it. Yet Aarts does not think that voters actually expect that a list pusher will eventually go into politics. “As far as I know, list pushers usually get some preferential votes, and also more than the middle bracket of the list. But there are rarely a lot.”
“I don’t think many people think or hope that someone who is at the bottom of the list will go into politics. Don’t underestimate the voter, political scientists agree. People don’t know how to mention facts such as names of aldermen or councilors, but most voters really have a good idea how elections put together in the Netherlands.”