De abstract van dit belangwekkende proefschrift, waarbij ik als co-promotor mocht optreden, luidt als volgt
‘This thesis focuses on the political decision-making culture of the Netherlands in the second half of the twentieth century. The dominant view of this culture has been one of compromise cooperation and consensus. This view is strongly influenced by Lijphart’s 1968 book Politics of Accommodation. Since then, the extent to which this culture of consensus politics may have changed at the elite level is being debated. This study contributes to this debate by studying the parliamentary debates about some of the major socio-economic (social security) and ethico-religious issues (cremation, abortion and euthanasia). These debates have been characterized by studying the informal rules of the political game. Two sets of rules, corresponding to the dichotomy between consensus and majoritarian democracy, were used. An important observation is that the studied issues are difficult to position within the dichotomy of consensus and majoritarian politics. Only a few cases can be included, while most cases do not fall into either category or have characteristics of both. This leads to the main conclusion that the political elites primarily act on the basis of their own political interests, and less with regard to higher normative notions that underlie the concept of consensus politics.’
Als promotor fungeerde prof. dr. R.A. Koole, (emeritus) hoogleraar Politicologie, in het bijzonder met betrekking tot de Nederlandse Politiek en haar institutionele ontwikkeling, aan de Universiteit Leiden.
Raadpleeg het proefschrift hier:
Zie voorts:
Bart Jan Spruyt: Het populisme is onze politiek minder wezensvreemd dan wordt beweerd.
Hoe de volkswil triomfeerde in Kamerdebatten over abortus en euthanasie
Hans-Martien ten Napel 