How democratic is our kingdom? New ministry chair for Leiden political scientist
When we talk about the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it is not just about the Netherlands. On the contrary: our Kingdom consists of no less than four countries, three of which are Caribbean islands. This structure is complex, to say the least. Although all countries are officially equivalent, in practice the Netherlands has a superior political position. The mutual relations within the Kingdom raise quite a few questions. Leiden political scientist Wouter Veenendaal has been selected by the Ministry for the Interior and Kingdom Relations to hold a new professor chair in Kingdom Relations. What exactly does that entail? Veenendaal updates us.
'European Netherlands' and the six Caribbean islands
The Chair in Kingdom Relations was established by the Ministry for the Interior and Kingdom Relations to study the political relations between the Netherlands and the six Caribbean islands in the Kingdom. The focus is on the structure of the Kingdom, which consists of the European Netherlands and the three autonomous Caribbean countries Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. In addition, the three smaller islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba have been so-called 'public entities', or special municipalities of the European Netherlands, since 2010.
Through a nationwide application process, Veenendaal, associate professor of political science at Leiden University, was chosen to hold this new position. For one day a week, for a period of in principle five years. Besides this chair with a focus on political science and public administration, there is also a second chair with a focus on anthropology and sociology, to which Dr Francio Guadeloupe from the UvA and KITLV has been appointed. Both chair holders will conduct research on relations within the Kingdom, and will collaborate in this with partners at the three Caribbean universities.
It is an assignment that suits Veenendaal very well. 'I have done a lot of research on the effects of smallness on politics and democracy, also on the Caribbean islands,' he indicates. Between 2014 and 2017, he was a postdoc at the KITLV (Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies). 'There I spent three years researching politics and governance on the islands, as well as on other small islands in different parts of the world.' To carry out the chair, Veenendaal will again be seconded to the KITLV.
Democratic deficits
What exactly does the Kingdom entail? 'The basis for the Kingdom is the Charter of 1954, an arrangement that ended the colonial period. It is called a Kingdom because all four countries share the same head of state,' Veenendaal explains. He will conduct research on the democratic organisation of our Kingdom: 'The ministry wants to ensure that scientific knowledge about the Kingdom and the six Caribbean islands remains well guaranteed.'
Veenendaal: 'My assignment is about democratic representation, on two levels. The first is democracy and representation on the islands, i.e. how voters of the islands are represented by their own politicians.' Indeed, Veenendaal sees that the small scale of the islands has both positive and negative effects. 'Positive, for example, is that citizens are very close to politicians. That they can meet politicians on the street every day, to ask questions or express a wish. But there are also disadvantages. Think of nepotism and other breaches of integrity.' These lurk in small democracies around the world. This can lead to weak governance, which can also cause problems with democratic representation.
The second level of enquiry is about how the islands are represented in the structure of the Kingdom. 'The Kingdom has a very peculiar structure,' Veenendaal explains, 'there are four countries, but the government of the Kingdom is actually the same as that of the Netherlands, supplemented by three plenipotentiary ministers from each of the three Caribbean countries. But those ministers have much less influence and are not allowed to submit bills themselves, for example.'
As a result, many choices of the Kingdom government are often interpreted on the islands as Dutch interventions. 'That is not very strange, as the dividing line between the Dutch and Kingdom governments is often unclear. Moreover, the islands are poorly represented in The Hague,' Veenendaal points out. He says the biggest problem is that the Kingdom government is only controlled by the Dutch parliament: the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament. 'But for those Chambers, the inhabitants of the Caribbean countries have no voting rights, so they are not represented at all in what in practice does function as the Kingdom Parliament. These are the so-called democratic deficits in the Kingdom. I want to start investigating these and see what their consequences are.'
Role for education and science communication
Besides the focus of research, Veenendaal also wants to spend a lot of time on education and "public outreach", also known as valorisation. This is about sharing and utilising the research and its (preliminary) results. 'An important part of the chair is building a new scientific infrastructure on the islands. My goal is to bring together scientists on the islands who are already engaged in politics and governance into a new knowledge centre,' Veenendaal says. With this, he wants to build on the scientific knowledge and expertise that already exists on the islands, and to focus on cooperation and knowledge sharing. 'I hope to collaborate with young talented researchers on the islands, so that the chair also provides space for the development of their scientific careers.' In this way, research is not only organised 'remotely' from the Netherlands, but also truly on the islands themselves, something Veenendaal values.
In addition, Veenendaal also plans to give introductory courses on politics and democracy on the islands. 'I already do that now in Suriname, once a year,' he indicates. He now gives this course mainly to civil servants, but this could be extended to students and other professionals.
Not abroad, not domestic
In doing so, he stresses the importance of knowledge about the Kingdom's complex political structure, which he would like to share more widely. 'It is a theme that is not very much alive here in the European Netherlands,' Veenendaal points out. 'The whole idea that we are in a Kingdom with four countries; most European Dutch are not aware of that. So the Caribbean islands are not quite seen as foreign but not quite as domestic either.' The same applies to the three smallest islands, which have been part of the Netherlands as a kind of overseas municipalities since 2010. 'There are quite a few officials who have to deal with these islands in their work, but who are not always very familiar with the local context. But of course, it is a very different situation because of the distance, the climate, the history. So an important part of the teaching assignment is also to increase knowledge about the Kingdom in the European Netherlands.'
Veenendaal is very enthusiastic about the chair and looks forward to the next five years. After his postdoc on the islands at the KITLV, he returned to other projects at Leiden University. 'But I have always stayed involved with the islands,' says Veenendaal. The chair gives me the chance to really focus on them again for five years. And I find that incredibly fun and important.'
See also:
> Ministry of BZK establishes two new professor chairs for the Kingdom