States-Provincial
Encyclopedia
The States-Provincial is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the Provinces of the Netherlands
. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has the responsibility for matters of sub-national or regional importance. Each States-Provincial is directly elected by the electors within the relevant province, and the size of each States-Provincial is relative to its number of inhabitants.
From 1813 to 1850 the noble
members of the ridderschap chose one third of the members of States-Provincial. Johan Rudolf Thorbecke's reforms and his "Provinces Law" ("provinciewet") of 1850 brought this privilege to an end.
Before 11 March 2003, the States-Provincial had only been the administration (i.e. the executive
government) of the province, but after that date it has become the collective of representatives within the province, whose principal role is to oversee the administration of most executive
tasks. These tasks are now in the hands of the Gedeputeerde Staten
, a provincial college elected every four years from the States-Provincial's members. The Gedeputeerde Staten and the States-Provincial are both presided over by that province's Commissaris van de Koningin
or royal commissioner, appointed by the Crown every 6 years.
The last provincial elections
were held 2 March 2011.
Soon after their election the combined members of the States-Provincial elect the members of the Senate of the States-General of the Netherlands
.
Before 2007, it ranged from 39 members for a province with less than 200,000 inhabitants to 83 members for a province with more than 2,500,000 inhabitants. As a consequence of a change to the Provinciewet, starting at the States-Provincial elections of 7 March 2007, the total number of States-Provincial members was reduced from 764 to 564. A survey of the change in seats per province:
A consequence of this reduction in the number of seats is that the election threshold
(the minimum number of votes needed for a party to gain at least one seat in an assembly) has risen. Depending on the province, the threshold now lies between 1.5% and over 2% of the votes. Because of this, it has become harder for small parties to win a seat. This may also have consequences for the representation of small parties in the Senate, which is elected by the members of the States-Provincial.
Due to defections from one party to another and other such reasons the number of seats can fluctuate during each inter-elections period. This table only shows the distribution straight after the elections.
The named 'overige' (majority party) for 2007 are:
Provinces of the Netherlands
A Dutch province represents the administrative layer in between the national government and the local municipalities, having the responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance. The government of each province consists of three major parts: the Provinciale Staten which is the...
. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has the responsibility for matters of sub-national or regional importance. Each States-Provincial is directly elected by the electors within the relevant province, and the size of each States-Provincial is relative to its number of inhabitants.
From 1813 to 1850 the noble
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
members of the ridderschap chose one third of the members of States-Provincial. Johan Rudolf Thorbecke's reforms and his "Provinces Law" ("provinciewet") of 1850 brought this privilege to an end.
Before 11 March 2003, the States-Provincial had only been the administration (i.e. the executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
government) of the province, but after that date it has become the collective of representatives within the province, whose principal role is to oversee the administration of most executive
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
tasks. These tasks are now in the hands of the Gedeputeerde Staten
Gedeputeerde Staten
The gedeputeerde staten are the executive councillors of a Dutch province. Together with the Queen's Commissioner they form the College van Commissaris van de Koningin en Gedeputeerde Staten, which is the executive council of the province. States Deputed are elected by the States Provincial, the...
, a provincial college elected every four years from the States-Provincial's members. The Gedeputeerde Staten and the States-Provincial are both presided over by that province's Commissaris van de Koningin
Queen's Commissioner
The Queen's Commissioner is the head of a province in the Netherlands, who is chairman of both the Provinciale Staten and the Gedeputeerde Staten , but only has a right to vote in the latter...
or royal commissioner, appointed by the Crown every 6 years.
The last provincial elections
Dutch provincial elections, 2011
Provincial elections were held on the Netherlands on Wednesday 2 March 2011. Eligible voters elected the members of the States-Provincial in the twelve provinces...
were held 2 March 2011.
Soon after their election the combined members of the States-Provincial elect the members of the Senate of the States-General of the Netherlands
States-General of the Netherlands
The States-General of the Netherlands is the bicameral legislature of the Netherlands, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The parliament meets in at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The archaic Dutch word "staten" originally related to the feudal classes in which medieval...
.
Number of seats in each States-Provincial
The size of a States-Provincial ranges from 39 members for a province with less than 400,000 inhabitants to 55 members for a province with more than 2.000.000 inhabitants.Before 2007, it ranged from 39 members for a province with less than 200,000 inhabitants to 83 members for a province with more than 2,500,000 inhabitants. As a consequence of a change to the Provinciewet, starting at the States-Provincial elections of 7 March 2007, the total number of States-Provincial members was reduced from 764 to 564. A survey of the change in seats per province:
| Province | Seats after 2007 | Seats before 2007 |
|---|---|---|
| Groningen Groningen (province) Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea... |
43 | 55 |
| Friesland Friesland Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân... |
43 | 55 |
| Drenthe Drenthe Drenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a... |
41 | 51 |
| Overijssel Overijssel Overijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The region has a NUTS classification of NL21. The province's name means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede... |
47 | 63 |
| Flevoland Flevoland Flevoland is a province of the Netherlands. Located in the centre of the country, at the location of the former Zuiderzee, the province was established on January 1, 1986; the twelfth province of the country, with Lelystad as its capital... |
39 | 47 |
| Gelderland Gelderland Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,... |
53 | 75 |
| Utrecht Utrecht (province) Utrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands in terms of area, and is located in the centre of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest... |
47 | 63 |
| Noord-Holland | 55 | 83 |
| Zuid-Holland | 55 | 83 |
| Zeeland | 39 | 47 |
| Noord-Brabant | 55 | 79 |
| Limburg Limburg (Netherlands) Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to... |
47 | 63 |
| TOTAL | 564 | 764 |
A consequence of this reduction in the number of seats is that the election threshold
Election threshold
In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to obtain any seats in the parliament...
(the minimum number of votes needed for a party to gain at least one seat in an assembly) has risen. Depending on the province, the threshold now lies between 1.5% and over 2% of the votes. Because of this, it has become harder for small parties to win a seat. This may also have consequences for the representation of small parties in the Senate, which is elected by the members of the States-Provincial.
Elections by party by province
| Province | 2003 | 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDA | PvdA | VVD | GL | SP | D66 | CU | SGP | LPF | (others) | total | CDA | PvdA | VVD | GL | SP | D66 | CU | SGP | PvdD | (others) | total | |
| Groningen | 12 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 55 | 9 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 43 |
| Friesland | 16 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7+1+1+1 | 55 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 43 | |
| Drenthe | 12 | 19 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 51 | 10 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 |
| Overijssel | 24 | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 63 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 47 |
| Flevoland | 10 | 12 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 |
| Gelderland | 24 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 75 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 53 |
| Utrecht | 16 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 63 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 47 |
| Noord-Holland | 17 | 24 | 20 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 83 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 55 | ||
| Zuid-Holland | 20 | 20 | 18 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 83 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 55 |
| Zeeland | 13 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1+2 | 47 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 39 |
| Noord-Brabant | 30 | 17 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 79 | 18 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 55 | ||
| Limburg | 28 | 14 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 63 | 18 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 47 |
| Total | 222 | 198 | 138 | 51 | 37 | 31 | 26+5 | 19+5 | 15 | 22 | 764 | 151 | 114 | 102 | 32 | 83 | 9 | 35+3 | 13+3 | 9 | 13 | 564 |
Due to defections from one party to another and other such reasons the number of seats can fluctuate during each inter-elections period. This table only shows the distribution straight after the elections.
The named 'overige' (majority party) for 2007 are:
- in Groningen: PvhN (by 1 seat)
- in Friesland: FNP (by 5 seats)
- in Utrecht: Mooi Utrecht (by 1 seat)
- in Noord-Holland: ONH/Verenigd Senioren Partij (by 1 seat)
- in Zuid-Holland: Leefbaar Zuid-Holland (by 1 seat)
- in Zeeland: PVZ (by 2 seats)
- in Noord-Brabant: Brabantse Partij (by 1 seat)
- in Limburg: PNL (by 1 seat)
Seat distribution in the States-Provincial after the 2007 elections
Statenverkiezingen means State-Provincial elections.See also
- Provinces of the NetherlandsProvinces of the NetherlandsA Dutch province represents the administrative layer in between the national government and the local municipalities, having the responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance. The government of each province consists of three major parts: the Provinciale Staten which is the...
- Interprovinciaal OverlegInterprovinciaal OverlegThe Interprovinciaal Overleg is the association of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. The association looks after provincial interests and forms a platform for exchanging knowledge and experience among the twelve Dutch provinces...
- Estates of the realmEstates of the realmThe Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
, for the origin of the term - Provincieraad, the equivalent body in Belgium