12.06.2025

New publication: The Netherlands: Political Developments and Data in 2024 – An Experimental Government with the Radical Right

Authors: Léonie de Jonge & Simon Otjes

Following the 2023 national elections, the first half year of 2024 focused on negotiations between four parties from the centre-right to the radical right, resulting in the formation of the Schoof Cabinet. With an independent former top civil servant as Prime Minister, the new government proposed more stringent migration measures, budgetary discipline, democratic reforms and a long-term perspective for Dutch farmers, as well as a more open and transparent relationship between Parliament and the Cabinet. This marked the first time in over a century that the Prime Minister was not affiliated with one of the coalition parties. This arrangement paved the way for the most right-wing government in the Netherlands since the postwar era. In the second half of the year, however, the coalition's fragile nature became evident, as the Cabinet found itself on the brink of collapse on three separate occasions.

The article was published Open Access on 4 June 2025 in the European Journal of Political Research Political Data Yearbook.