Polder model

The polder model (Dutch: poldermodel) is a method of consensus decision-making, based on the Dutch version of consensus-based economic and social policymaking in the 1980s and 1990s.^[1]^[2] It gets its name from the Dutch word (polder) for tracts of land enclosed by dikes.

The polder model has been described as "a pragmatic recognition of pluriformity" and "cooperation despite differences". It is thought that the Dutch politician Ina Brouwer was the first to use the term poldermodel, in her 1990 article "Het socialisme als poldermodel?" ("Socialism as Polder Model?"), although it is uncertain whether she coined the term or simply seems to have been the first to write it down.^[1]^[3]

Socioeconomic polder model

The Dutch polder model is characterised by the

universal validity of collective labour agreements

.

The current Dutch polder model is said to have begun with the

privatisation and budget cuts, has been held to be responsible for the Dutch economic miracle of the late 1990s.^{[citation needed}

]

An important role in this process was played by the Dutch

wage restraint, was an important argument, supportive for government and employers, that the unions could not easily counter. Many authors and researchers have argued that the importance of the Wassenaar Agreement has been largely overrated.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] Most of these writers have argued that considerable continuity can be seen from the 1950s onwards. Historian Stijn Kuipers, goes even further. In an article reliant on the work of Coen Helderman,^[9] Kuipers argues that the modern socioeconomic polder model already manifested itself in 1920 with the Dutch High Council of Labour. It follows that the polder model is therefore much older and could have had a larger influence on Dutch society and economy than previously thought.^[8]

Other uses

The term polder model and especially the verb polderen ("to

right-wing politicians and Pim Fortuyn in his book entitled De puinhopen van acht jaar Paars

(The Wreckage of Eight Years Purple').

Historical background

There is no consensus about the exact historical background of the polder model. In general, there are three views on this subject. One explanation points to the rebuilding of the

labour unions and employers' organizations. Important institutions of the polder model like the SER were founded in this period. No single political party has ever had anything approaching an overall majority in parliament, so a coalition government is inevitable. This makes parties extremely cautious, since today's enemy may be tomorrow's ally, all the more so in present times when the perceived death of ideology has made it possible for almost all the parties to work together.^{[citation needed}

]

Another explanation points to the dependency of the Netherlands on

dykes. Ever since the Middle Ages, when the process of land reclamation began, different societies living in the same polder have been forced to cooperate because without unanimous agreement on shared responsibility for maintenance of the dykes and pumping stations, the polders would have flooded and everyone would have suffered. Crucially, even when different cities in the same polder were at war, they still had to cooperate in this respect. This is thought to have taught the Dutch to set aside differences for a greater purpose.^{[citation needed}

]

References

^ ^a ^b Ewoud Sanders, Woorden met een verhaal (Amsterdam / Rotterdam, 2004), 104–06.
^ Stijn Kuipers, Het begin van het moderne Nederlandse poldermodel; De Hoge Raad van Arbeid van 1920 als eerste manifestatie van het Nederlandse tripartiete sociaaleconomische overlegmodel? (Nijmegen, 2015), 3.
^ Ewoud Sanders, "Poldermodel", NRC Handelsblad, 22 April 2002.
^ Elke van Riel, "Akkoord van Wassenaar keerpunt in relatie regering en sociale partners", SER Magazine, 2010 (versie 9) (archived 15 April 2015).
^ Agnes Akkerman, "Zo historisch was het Akkoord van Wassenaar niet" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Radboud University Nijmegen, 2007 (retrieved 25 February 2015).
^ Jaap Woldendorp, The Polder Model: From Disease to Miracle? Dutch Neo-corporatism 1965–2000 (Amsterdam, 2005), 267–69.
^ Piet de Rooy, Republiek van rivaliteiten; Nederland sinds 1813 (2nd printing Amsterdam, 2005), 216–17.
^ ^a ^b Stijn Kuipers, "Het begin van het moderne Nederlandse poldermodel; De Hoge Raad van Arbeid van 1920 als eerste manifestatie van het Nederlandse tripartiete sociaaleconomische overlegmodel?", Radboud University Nijmegen, 2015.
^ Coen Helderman, "De Hoge Raad van Arbeid, 1919–1940(–1950)", Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis I:2 (2004).

Polder model

Socioeconomic polder model

Other uses

Historical background

See also

References

Further reading