THE HISTORY OF GOVERNANCE IN THE NETHERLANDS: CONTINUITY AND EXCEPTIONS
| Date | 01 June 2006 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2006.00024.x |
| Published date | 01 June 2006 |
| Author | Michiel De Vries |
REVIEWS 511
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2006 Public Administration Vol. 84, No. 2, 2006 (479–515)
THE HISTORY OF GOVERNANCE IN THE NETHERLANDS:
CONTINUITY AND EXCEPTIONS
W . J . M . Kickert
Reed Elsevier, 2004, 121 pp., € 17.85 (pb) ISBN: 9059014359
In this book Walter Kickert goes through the history of The Netherlands in
order to argue that the governance practices, which received so much atten-
tion in the last decade because of their success in what is called the ‘ polder-
model ’ , are in fact not novel. They have fi rm roots in Dutch history. As
Kickert tells us: ‘ Wheeling and dealing between different interdependent
actors and compromising between different interests are age-old Dutch tra-
ditions and central state steering by a strong central State has hardly ever
existed in the Netherlands. Governance has almost always been a matter of
deliberation, persuasion and compromise ’ (p. 8).
In order to make the point outlined above the author fi rst addresses the
theoretical debate on governance and central state steering as well as its
short-term history since the second world war (Chapter 2). Kickert then
goes back in time to trace the ideological roots in the Dutch versions of
Catholic, Protestant, Socialist, Liberal and Corporatist theory. Central to this
discussion is the role of confessionalism, an important role because religious
divisions and antipathies made the Dutch state engage in a continuous
search for stability. That stability is to be found in the typical Dutch phe-
nomena of pillarization and consensus-seeking rather than an adoption of
the winner takes all approach (Chapter 3). In the chapters that follow, Kickert
goes back even further, addressing developments in the Dutch Republic in
the 17th and 18th century. He examines these developments in terms of
their impact on tolerance; pragmatism; persuasion; discussion; and the role
of regents. He then discusses the impact of the French occupation which
occurred around the turn of the 18th century and goes on to describe the
building of the constitution in the middle of the 19th century.
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