States General of the Netherlands
States General Staten-Generaal | |
---|---|
Bicameral | |
Houses | Senate House of Representatives |
Leadership | |
Structure | |
Seats | Senate: 75 House of Representatives: 150 |
political groups | Coalition (demissionary) (24) Opposition (51) |
House of Representatives political groups | Government (demissionary) (41) Opposition (109) |
Elections | |
Indirect election | |
Party-list proportional representation | |
Last Senate election | 31 May 2023 |
Last House of Representatives election | 22 November 2023 |
Meeting place | |
Binnenhof The Hague, Netherlands | |
Website | |
staten-generaal |
The States General of the Netherlands (Dutch: Staten-Generaal [ˈstaːtə(ŋ) ˌɣeːnəˈraːl] ⓘ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate (Eerste Kamer) and the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague.
The States General originated in the 15th century as an assembly of all the provincial states of the
Since 1918, the members of the House of Representatives are elected for four years using
Etymology
The archaic Dutch word staten originally related to the feudal classes ("
Several geographic place names are derived from the States General. In 1609,
History
Burgundian and Habsburg rule
Historically, the convocation of the States General consisted of delegates from the States of the several provinces, like the
Dutch Republic
At the start of the
This was a
Due to the vagaries of the Eighty Years' War in which territories were lost and (partially) reconquered, not all territories that had originally signed up for the Union of Utrecht remained represented in the States General. The States of Brabant and of Flanders lost their representation after 1587 as most of their territory had been conquered by the Army of Flanders, and it was not restored after part of that territory (together with parts of the Duchy of Limburg) was reconquered by the Dutch Republic. The Drenthe territory was never directly represented in the States General. Twenty per cent of the new Republic's territory, known as the
The "southern" States General after 1579 were a continuation of the States General as they had been under the Habsburg Netherlands. After the (re)conquest of most of the territory of the States of Brabant and of Flanders these States again sent representatives to these States General for the Southern Netherlands, together with the "obedient" provinces of the Union of Arras. The southern States General only occasionally came in session, however. The last regular session was in 1634, when Philip IV of Spain dissolved them.[2]: 315–321
The States General in both The Hague and Brussels came to an end after 1795; the South was annexed by France, and the North saw the proclamation of the Batavian Republic and the subsequent convocation of the National Assembly (1 March 1796).
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The name Staten-Generaal was resurrected in the title of subsequent Dutch parliaments in and after 1814, after the end of the annexation to the
After the Belgian Revolution of 1830 under the Kingdom of the Netherlands the States General remained bicameral, but after the revision of the Constitution of the Netherlands in 1848, the (now 39) members of the Senate were elected by the States-Provincial, and the members of the House of Representatives were directly elected in electoral districts (one for every 45,000 electors, so the number of members of that House became variable for a while). The House of Representatives became more powerful at the same time, as it received the important rights of inquiry and amendment, while its budgetary rights were strengthened. Formally, the position of the States General was strengthened, because henceforth the ministers of the Crown became politically accountable to them, making the role of the King largely ceremonial.[7]: 142–145
With the constitutional revision of 1888 the number of members of the House of Representatives was fixed at 100, while the Senate was enlarged to 50 members. The
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The Dutch Senate (Eerste Kamer)
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The Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer)
Functions
Tweede Kamer
|
Eerste Kamer
|
Verenigde Vergadering
(joint session of both houses) |
Part of the Politics series |
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The States General meets in joint session at least once a year, at the opening of the parliamentary year, when the
Constitutionally, all functions of the parliament are given to both houses, except for the rights of initiative and amendment, which only the Tweede Kamer has. The Joint Session also appoints the monarch if there is no heir to the throne and the regent is unable to exercise his or her powers.[8]
An important question is whether the relationship between cabinet and parliament should be dualistic or monistic. That is, whether ministers and leaders of governing parliamentary parties should prepare important political decisions. According to the dualistic position, members of parliament of governing parties should remain independent of the cabinet. The term 'monism' is used to refer to a stance that important decisions should be prepared by the people of the governing coalition in order to promote political stability.
Notes
References
- ^ Unlike the Estates General of France, which were organised by estate.
- ^ a b c d e f g Koenigsberger, H.G. (2001). Monarchies, States Generals and Parliaments: The Netherlands in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. Cambridge U.P.
- ^ In treaties, such as the Treaty of Westminster (1654), the States General were called:"Celsos Potentesque Dominos Ordines Generales Foederatarum Belgii Provinciarum", or "High and Mighty Lords States General of the united Netherlands' Provinces", where ordines corresponds with "states."
- ^ Martin, Kimberly. "The Political Institutions of the Dutch Republic, 1572–1672" (PDF). umassd.edu. University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ a b c Israel, Jonathan I. (1998). The Dutch Republic: Its Rise, Greatness and Fall, 1477–1806. Clarendon Press.
- superlativeof the adjective mogend(e)) Heren was translated into Latin in international treaties not as potentissimos (superlative of potens) Dominos, as it should have been, but as Celsos Potentesque Dominos, and the latter wording was rendered in English as "high and mighty lords", which is still the standard translation.
- ^ a b c d Pot, C.W. van der; et al. (2006). Van der Pot, Handboek van het Nederlandse staatsrecht, 15th edition. Kluwer.
- ^ "Democracy in the Netherlands". www.houseofrepresentatives.nl. April 12, 2011.
See also
- Edmundson, George (1911). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 413–421. . In