Many Dutch people, not least on this side of the country, want changes. Research shows that it is not radical enough for some.
Several times a year, the Social Cultural Planning Office (SCP) reports on how Dutch people view the functioning of society and politics. This was also the case last Friday. “Citizens who feel unheard are more likely to support tough actions,” the agency reported in a news report.
You could call it an understandable reaction; not only recognizable for parents with many children. Those who receive little or no attention will, after a period of surprise and silence, try to get that attention by shouting louder. And if that doesn’t help, make threats.
According to SCP researchers, almost one in five Dutch people believe that the government is functioning so poorly that the entire system would best be overthrown. This is literally what it says in the message upon the publication of a new edition of the so-called Continuous Research Citizen Perspectives .
Almost one in five Dutch people is an alarming number. The number makes the suggestion of the overthrow downright ominous. What does it mean? All hospitals, schools and courts closed? Abolished all subsidies and allowances? Parliamentary democracy abolished? Tribunals?
As is often the case with research, the outcome is subject to negotiation. For example, the SCP gauged the mood in August, a month after the fall of the Rutte IV cabinet, three months before the election victory by the PVV of Geert Wilders, a politician who called the House of Representatives a fake parliament when he did not get his way. Depending on the point of view, the overthrow has already begun.
On the other hand, four in five Dutch people – a very large majority – look at ‘the government’ and ‘the system’ differently. It raises the question why the SCP has not chosen that approach. Good news is not news, according to a well-known media law. It is possible that the presentation of the research, just before the traditional New Year’s Eve riots, is reminiscent of mood-mongering.
This does not mean that the outcome is negligible. Minorities must also be listened to seriously. If only to clarify the consequences.