Abstract
The Netherlands has been a decentralised unitary state since the early nineteenth century, grounded, however, on federal underpinnings. The United Provinces, which in 1581 declared their independence from Spanish Habsburgian rule, formed a relatively loose confederation of provinces and embedded powerful cities and towns. The present system consists of a national, provincial and municipal layer, which all display more or less dualistic relations between representative councils, based on proportional representation, and executive cabinets, rooted in consensualism and coalition politics. Local mayors and provincial ‘King’s Commissioners’ are formally unelected and thus rather a-political guardians of democratic processes, which illustrates the often-mentioned shift to interactive, multi-actor, public-private network governance.
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Sources and Further Reading
As general sources of empirical data, the following works have been used, most notably the papers by Hendriks referred to below. Quite useful were also the documents and materials provided by the editors of this volume. General references are used in this section, as almost each of the following works touches on each of the paragraphs presented above.
References
Blaas H, Dostál P (1989) The Netherlands: changing administrative structures. In: Bennett R (ed) Territory and Administration in Europe. Pinter, London, New York, pp 230–241
van Deth J, Vis J (1995) Regeren in Nederland. Het politieke bestuurlijke bestel in vergelijkend perspectief. Van Gorcum, Assen
Harloff EM (1987) The structure of local government in Europe: survey of 29 countries, Chapter ‘The Netherlands’. International Union of Local Authorities, Den Haag, pp 96–102
Hendriks F (2001) The Netherlands: reinventing tradition in local and regional democracy. In: Loughlin J (ed) Subnational democracy in the European Union: challenges and opportunities. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 143–173
Hendriks F, Tops PW (2003) Local public management reforms in the Netherlands: fads, fashions and winds of change. Public Administration 81(2):301–323
Scheuch M (1992) Atlas zur Zeitgeschichte: Europa im 20. Jahrhundert, Chapter 'Niederlande'. Wien, Verlag Christian Brandstätter, pp 162–163
van Stipdonk V, Hendriks F, Tops PW (2001) Getting it together: a study of innovative forms of cooperation between local and regional authorities. Provincie Noord-Brabant, Den Bosch
Toonen T (1990) The unitary state as a system of co-governance: the case of the Netherlands. Public Adm 68:281–296
Toonen T (1993) Dutch Provinces and the Struggle for the Meso. In: Sharpe LJ (ed) The rise of Meso-Government in Europe. Sage, London, pp 117–153
Toonen T, Hoetjes B, Hendriks F (1994) Federalism in the Netherlands, The Federal Approach to Unitarism or the Unitary Approach to Federalism? In: Knipping F (ed) Federalist traditions and perspectives in EC member states. Nomos, Baden-Baden
Sources
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (1950) 12e Volkstelling, annex woningtelling, 31 mei 1947. Serie B, Deel. Plaatselijke indeling, Utrecht, Zeist, p 1
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (1964) 13e algemene volkstelling, 31 mei 1960. Deel. Bevolking van gemeenten en onderdelen van gemeenten, Utrecht, Zeist, p 2
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (annual). Bevolking der gemeenten van Nederland op 1 januari [This publication annually provides lists and maps of Dutch municipalities and regional units]
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Hendriks, F., Goossens, J. (2021). The Netherlands. In: Martí-Henneberg, J. (eds) European Regions, 1870 – 2020. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61537-6_4
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