Parlement

The Dutch parliament (parlement) can be subdivided into the Senate and House of Representatives. The infographic below shows a representation of the Dutch parliament.

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Parliament Netherlands

House of Representatives

The House of Representatives or Second Chamber (in Dutch: Tweede Kamer) is the main chamber of the Dutch parliament, where existing and proposed legislation is discussed and the actions of the cabinet (government) are reviewed. Once a bill is passed, it is sent to the Senate for review.

The House of Representatives has 150 seats which are filled by political parties that are chosen through elections. After the elections, the seats are allocated and (usually) the largest party starts negotiations with other parties in order to establish a majority coalition of at least 76 seats.

The coalition then appoints the minister-president, the ministries and the ministers of the new cabinet. Together with the king, these entities represent the Dutch government.

Senate

The Senate or First Chamber (in Dutch: Eerste Kamer) has 75 members that appointed by the members of the States-Provincial, whom are  elected by the people of the 12 provinces, every four years. Senate members are part-time politicians that usually have other paid or unpaid jobs.

The Senate reviews legislation proposals that are sent by the House of Representatives. Furthermore, the Senate has the power to accept or reject bills, but not to amend or initiate them.

Ministries

The preparation, execution and monitoring of laws and legislation is done by the ministries in The Netherlands:

  1. Ministry of General Affairs
  2. Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport
  3. Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations
  4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  5. Ministry of Defence
  6. Ministry of Economic Affairs
  7. Ministry of Finance
  8. Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment
  9. Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
  10. Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment
  11. Ministry of Security and Justice

Each ministry has a minister, whom is held responsible.

Healthcare

ZorgWijzer.nl tries to protect the interests of Dutch citizens by reviewing the actions of the Dutch parliament and the ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport with respect to healthcare and health insurance.