“They have just started and immediately there is bickering and disagreement. This can never last long.” It is just one of the many critical reactions about politics in The Hague that the Social and Cultural Planning Office (SCP) registered during its periodic research into the mood in the country.
The sigh of a participant in the latest edition of Citizen perspectives which will be published this Monday, underlines a phenomenon that the SCP has been observing for some time. In addition to problems that citizens traditionally list (migration, social security, housing, climate), there are also complaints about the country’s administration. What should provide a solution is actually experienced as a problem.
Although when the SCP measurement took place among around 2,200 voters in the spring and summer, confidence in politics was slightly higher than in previous measurements), but that certainly did not take away the concerns about ‘The Hague’. “The functioning of politics remains the most frequently mentioned priority for the new cabinet,” the SCP said.
According to many, our country is simply too small to turn its back on foreign countries and is highly dependent on other countries for its prosperity and defense
Disappointments
“The complaints partly arise from the high expectations that people have of the same politics,” says Josje den Ridder of the SCP. Disappointments about the problem-solving capacity of the national government come in waves. “Since 2021, at the end of the third Rutte cabinet, you have seen that trend becoming stronger again. There is a particular lack of understanding that some problems, such as those surrounding nitrogen, can continue to fester for decades. The question then is: ‘Why are we unable to tackle this?’
If disappointments continue to fester under the new Schoof cabinet, “illiberal sentiments will be fueled,” political scientist Den Ridder warns. “The idea is gaining support that democracy is not the most appropriate instrument to tackle problems. Populists are not the only ones who express that feeling. Voters who consider the climate problem urgent may also think so.”
Den Ridder refers to one study by the Verwey-Jonker Institute from 2021. It concluded that “a significant number of Dutch people believe that democracy can sometimes be pushed aside to tackle urgent problems.” The 2024 National Voter Survey showed that a third of voters entrust the country to a ‘strong leader’, even if he sometimes bends the rules to his will.
Abroad
Another dominant trend in public opinion in recent years is the weaker international focus, the SCP concludes. More than 60 percent believe that governments are too concerned with problems abroad. This is at the expense of care and attention for our own citizens, especially practically educated voters believe. There is also a strong need among respondents to gain more control over both asylum and labor migration.
At the same time, there is growing concern about insecurity abroad. “People are afraid that the war in Ukraine will also come to the Netherlands,” says the SCP report. The researchers see a strong awareness that this insecurity can only be combated jointly, in a NATO and European context. Many citizens also still see abroad as an important source of prosperity and income. Only a small minority (10 percent) wants to leave the EU. “According to many, our country is simply too small to turn its back on foreign countries and is highly dependent on other countries for its prosperity and defense,” the researchers write.
The voter is clearly struggling with this theme, analyzes Josje den Ridder. “On the one hand, he or she would like the Netherlands to be less dependent on foreign countries. On the other hand, the same voter is well aware that we cannot do without the same foreign countries.”
Den Ridder sees the same struggle in politicians such as Caroline van der Plas, party leader of the BoerBurgerBeweging. “Before the elections, Van der Plas said that the Netherlands should pay less attention to Europe and pound its fist on the table more in Brussels. Now that the BBB is co-governing, she sees how much the Netherlands needs the same Brussels. You can laugh about that, but many voters feel the same struggle.”
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Nuances
The new study by the SCP adds nuances to the discussion about polarization. A large number of respondents (about 70 percent) believe that mutual trust and social cohesion are among the strengths of the Netherlands. At the same time, more people experience lack of respect in dealing with each other and when exchanging views.
Perception and reality differ here, the SCP notes. “About three-quarters of people think that differences of opinion on social issues are increasing. However, scientific research shows that substantive views have generally not grown apart and that we have actually come closer together on many themes.” Den Ridder says he will return to this in the next edition of Citizen Perspectives, next spring.