Parliament and government

The Netherlands is a democracy. That means that power is shared by all the people. But when a decision has to be made, there isn’t time to go around asking everyone in the country what they think. So every four years the Dutch elect 150 people to make these decisions for them. These people are the members of parliament. They keep an eye on the government, to make sure it’s doing its job properly.

After the elections, new ministers are chosen. Each minister has their own job to do – like the Minister of Education or the Minister of Housing.

But the Dutch government isn’t just the ministers, it also includes the Queen. In fact, she’s the head of the government.

Laws

Although the Queen is the head of the government, she doesn’t make the laws herself. The ministers do that, together with parliament.

Once a new law is ready, the Queen signs it. The ministers then have to make sure that the laws are carried out. That’s why each law is also signed by a minister.

If a law isn’t carried out properly, it is the minister’s fault, not the Queen’s. The minister has to explain to parliament what went wrong.

The Queen can advise the ministers and ask for explanations. She often meets them for talks.

A new government

As soon as the elections are over, the Queen has an important job. She has to help organise a new government. After talking to her advisers, the Queen asks someone to get a new group of ministers together to form a government.

Once that’s been done, the ministers are sworn in – they promise the Queen to do their job well. After that, the Queen and all the ministers have their photograph taken on the palace steps.