The Dutch Socialist Party (SP) has often been categorised as a populist and (soft) Eurosceptic party. Lately, however, the party’s Eurosceptic and populist degree have been called into question....Show moreThe Dutch Socialist Party (SP) has often been categorised as a populist and (soft) Eurosceptic party. Lately, however, the party’s Eurosceptic and populist degree have been called into question. Some scholars claimed that the party’s Euroscepticism is becoming ambiguous, whereas others diverge on the SP’s populist nature. Some scholars (i.e., March, 2011; Otjes and Louwerse, 2015) claim that the SP is a populist party portraying the main characteristics of anti-elitism and people-centrism. Others in contrast, stress that the SP is not populist (e.g., Lucardie & Voerman, 2012). Accordingly, this research elaborates on two issues. First, a better understanding is grasped towards the party’s Eurosceptic and populist views. This is done alongside the frameworks provided by Vasilopoulou (2018), Keith (2017), Mudde, (2004) and Hameleers (2018). Secondly, this research examines whether the party has been shifting in its populist and Eurosceptic degree over the past few years in which emphasis is placed on the timeframe 2014-2021. As a result, the research question central to this thesis is: How can the Eurosceptic and populist character of the SP be understood and in what ways did the party shift in their Eurosceptic and populist degree between 2014 and 2021? Qualitative methods in the form of content analysis have accordingly been employed. Party manifestos and additional primary sources such as speeches and electoral campaigning videos have been selected and analysed. Based on the analysis of the main sources, the final results of this thesis reveal that the SP can be categorised as conditional Eurosceptic and populist. The party shows a constant Eurosceptic level, but its populist degree is shifting constantly. This seems to be a result both electoral success, poor electoral performances and party leadership change.Show less
Parliamentary committees are a crucial feature of legislative organization in European democracies. Increasing electoral volatility and new roles of emerging parties effect the nature of the...Show moreParliamentary committees are a crucial feature of legislative organization in European democracies. Increasing electoral volatility and new roles of emerging parties effect the nature of the legislative proceedings that take place in committee meetings. This thesis assesses the consequences of the drastic changes in the Dutch party system (large traditional centrist parties losing ground to the upcoming middle-sized parties) for the legislative process. By looking at the proceedings of committee meetings in two different periods of fragmentation (2005 and 2011), this study explores the contribution and participation of the different parties in the committee phase in parliament. A general correlation between smaller party sizes and a decline in the seats that are represented in committee meetings is detected. Furthermore, it is found that MPs of parties with centrifugal tendencies (towards the extremes of the political spectrum) are less likely to participate in committee meetings than MPs that are closer to the political center.Show less
The European Union has become increasingly important in Dutch politics. The Dutch referendum on the Constitutional Treaty of 2005 marked a turning point, with a growing resistance to European...Show moreThe European Union has become increasingly important in Dutch politics. The Dutch referendum on the Constitutional Treaty of 2005 marked a turning point, with a growing resistance to European integration emerging. This study looks at the gap between Dutch MPs and Dutch voters in positions on European integration and finds that since the 2005 referendum the gap has all but closed.Show less
