In quest of stability in turbulent years. The Netherlands under prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende (2002-2010)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Friso Wielenga
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2019 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 423584086

In quest of stability in turbulent years. The Netherlands under prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende (2002-2010)Until the end of the 20th century, the Netherlands was regarded as a politically stable, tolerant, and pro-European nation, both by the Dutch themselves and by foreign observers. Political minorities and immigrants were viewed as being integrated in exemplary ways, and the political culture seemed to be dominated by the attempt to find consensus on key societal issues rather than by interconfrontational politics. In 2002, this perception began to tilt. The change was marked by the murder of the successful right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn (2002), the politically motivated assassination of filmmaker Theo van Gogh (2004), and polarized public debates on the integration of immigrants. International issues, too, caused harsh controversy on a level hitherto unknown, like growing Euro-scepticism and the Dutch role in the US-led military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This period, dominated by Christian Democrat Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who headed four cabinets from 2002 to 2010, can be characterized as the most agitated phase of Dutch politics since 1945. So far, there is no thorough account of the domestic, international and socio-economic developments during this period of Dutch history. This study strives to fill this research lacuna. The initial findings are promising and offer new insights, not the least because a number of sources could be consulted that were not accessible before: the archives of the Prime Minister, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and of the Home Office. The archives of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and of the Ministry of Finance will be consulted during the next phase of the research. A unique additional source are the interviews with leading politicians. So far, 13 cabinet members of the period mentioned and around 10 other politicians and high-ranking government officials have agreed to be interviewed, as well as business and labour union leaders. Former Prime Minister Balkenende granted an interview in which he will speak in depth about his role as head of government for the first time. Additional material will be used from parliamentary debates, surveys, and a representative selection of articles in dailies and weeklies. Studying the intertwined relations between the political, socio-economic and communicative spheres during the first post-9/11 decade is relevant beyond the Dutch case, as a number of developments in the Netherlands are not foreign to other European democracies. They, too, struggle with electoral volatility, the rise of populism, heated debates on immigration and integration, difficulties in forming a government coalition, and growing Euro-scepticism. This study therefore will lay the ground for a comparative perspective on developed democracies in the early 21st century.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants