29/12/2025
Right-wing populism has become a dominant political factor in the Netherlands too. The parliamentary elections of October 2025, however, were frequently portrayed in the international press as a defeat for this populism—a defeat that would offer hope for other democracies. This article critically examines that portrayal by analyzing political developments in the Netherlands over recent years, outlined through the positions and histories of several prominent political parties. It argues that the largest populist party, Geert Wilders’s PVV, primarily lost votes to other populist parties. Furthermore, the article discusses the ongoing fragmentation and volatility of the political landscape, in which an increasing number of parties enter parliament, parties that emerge and disappear with equal speed. Voters are shown to be increasingly volatile, casting their ballots ever more at the very last moment, based largely on fleeting impressions and moods shaped by social media and talk shows. The quality of public decision-making is steadily declining due to decreasing competence and responsibility within political parties, parliaments, and governments. Governments have also become increasingly unstable and ever less capable of resolving societal problems satisfactorily. The Netherlands is socially and economically one of the most successful countries in the world. If even here approximately half of the population is driven by the delusions of the day, there is little hope for the future of democracy.
https://socialscienceworks.org/2025/12/37194/dutch-populism-2025-elections-fragmentation/
Right-wing populism has become a central force in Dutch politics, despite international portrayals of the October 2025 parliamentary elections as a setback for populist movements. This article argues that populism in the Netherlands did not decline but fragmented, with voters shifting from the PVV t...
