This article gives an overview of liberalism in the Netherlands. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Introduction

In the Netherlands the liberals were dominant since 1848, the moment Johan Rudolf Thorbecke came to power. It took until 1885 that liberals organise themselves in a party and for most of the time liberals are divided in traditional and more social liberals.

In Netherlands liberals fought in 1848 to gain a new parliament from King William II of the Netherlands. The new, liberal government was led by Johan Rudolf Thorbecke. Another prominent Dutch liberal from that time was Samuel van Houten. Dutch liberalism got divided at the end of the nineteenth century into a conservative liberal current and a radical (free-minded democratic) current.

The Netherlands has not had a government headed by a liberal since 1918, although liberals have participated in more than half the cabinet coalitions since 1918.

Though between 1946 and 1966 there was only one liberal party, since 1966 there are two liberal parties in the Netherlands: the left-of-center social-liberal Democrats 66 (Democraten 66, member LI, ELDR) and the right-of-center conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, member LI, ELDR). Furthermore, in 2004, the GreenLeft (Groenlinks) started profiling itself as a 'left-liberal' party, thus possibly breaking with its socialist roots.

The timeline

The Netherlands
This article is part of the series: Politics of the Netherlands

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From Liberal Union until People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

1885: Liberals formed the Liberal Union (Liberale Unie)
1892: A radical faction formed the ⇒ Radical League
1894: A conservative faction formed the ⇒ Free Liberals
1901: A radical faction seceded to merge with the ⇒ Radical League into the ⇒ Freethinking Democratic League
1921: The LU merged with the ⇒ Economic League, the ⇒ League of Free Liberals, the Neutral Party and the Middle Class Party into the Freedom League (Vrijheidsbond)
1922: A conservative faction seceded as the ⇒ Liberal Party
1928: The Vrijheidsbond is renamed in Liberal State Party (Liberale Staatspartij)
1929: Staalman, founder of the Middle Class Party, leaves the LSP and found the Middle Party for City and Country
1945: The LSP is reorganised into the Freedom Party (Partij voor de Vrijheid), including a faction of the ⇒ Freethinking Democratic League
1948: The Freedom Party merged with former members of the Freethinking Democratic League into the present-day People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie)

Radical League and Free-minded Democratic League

1892: A radical faction of the ⇒ Liberal Union formed the Radical League (Radicale Bond)
1901: A second radical faction of the ⇒ Liberal Union merged with the Radical League into the Free-minded Democratic League (Vrijzinnig Democratische Bond)
1917: A right-wing faction secededas the ⇒ Economic League
1946: The Free-minded Democratic League merged into the present-day Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid), a faction joined the ⇒ Freedom Party
1948: Some former members left the Labour Party and merged into the ⇒ People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

(League of) Free Liberals

1894: A conservative faction of the ⇒ Liberale Union formed the Free Liberals (Vrije Liberalen), since 1906 renamed the League of Free Liberals (Bond van Vrije Liberalen)
1921: The league merged into the ⇒ Freedom League

Economic League

1917: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Freethinking Democratic League formed the Economic League (Economische Bond)
1921: The league merged into the ⇒ Freedom League

Liberal Party

1922: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Freedom League formed the Liberal Party (Liberale Partij) and disappears in 1925

Democrats 66

1966: Independent progressive liberals formed the party Democrats 66 (Democraten '66), later without apostroph

Liberal leaders

Liberals in the nineteenth century: Johan Rudolf Thorbecke - Samuel van Houten - Joannes Kappeyne van de Coppello
Vrijzinnig-Democratische Bond: Dirk Bos - Pieter Jacobus Oud
Liberale Staatspartij: Benjamin Marius Telders
Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie: Pieter Jacobus Oud - Hans Wiegel - Frits Bolkestein - Mark Rutte (current)
Democraten 66: Hans van Mierlo - Jan Terlouw - Alexander Pechtold (current)

Liberal thinkers

In the Contributions to liberal theory the following Dutch thinkers are included:

Erasmus (1466-1536)
Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677)
Johan Rudolf Thorbecke (1798-1872)

References

p.m.

• • [ e] Liberalism in Europe
Sovereign states	Albania Andorra Armenia¹ Austria Azerbaijan² Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus¹ Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia² Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan² Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Republic of Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia³ San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey³ Ukraine United Kingdom
Dependencies, autonomies, and other territories	Abkhazia² Adjara¹ Akrotiri and Dhekelia land Azores Basque CountryCataloniaCrimea Faroe Islands Gagauzia Gibraltar Guernsey Jan Mayen Jersey Kosovo Man, Isle of Madeira⁴ Nagorno-Karabakh¹ Nakhchivan¹ Northern IrelandScotland South Ossetia² Svalbard Transnistria Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus^1, 5 Wales
¹ Entirely in West Asia; included here because of cultural, political and historical association with Europe. ² Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the border between Europe and Asia. ³ Partially in Asia. ⁴ Entirely in the African Plate, included here because of cultural, political and historical association with Europe. ⁵ Only recognised by Turkey.

• • [ e] Liberal political parties in the Netherlands
Progressive Liberal	RB - VDB - EB - D66
Classical Liberal	LU - LSP - PvdV - VVD
Conservative Liberal	BVL - LP

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Cultural liberalism is a liberal view of society that stresses the freedom of individuals from cultural norms. Some cultural liberals believe that society should not impose any specific code of behaviour, and they see themselves as defending the rights of non-conformists
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The liberal theory of economics is the theory of economics developed in the Enlightenment, and believed to be first fully formulated by Adam Smith which advocates minimal interference by government in the economy.
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For the school of international relations, see .

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Role of Governrights

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