What is netherlands culture

The political system is a parliamentary democracy as well as a constitutional monarchy. The queen has little political influence; her role is largely symbolic. Political power lies in the hands of a cabinet of ministers headed by a prime minister. The cabinet is accountable to the parliament Staten-Generaal , whose members are elected at four-year intervals.

The Dutch Parliament consists of the First Chamber and the Second Chamber, which together constitute the legislative body. The Second Chamber initiates new legislation. Its members are directly elected by the people, who have had universal suffrage since The members of the Second Chamber are elected by proportional representation, which leads to a great number of political parties that together compete for seats.

The First Chamber either ratifies or rejects the new legislation proposed by the Second Chamber. Its members are elected by the members of the Provinciale Staten. Each of the twelve provinces has a local governing board Provinciale Staten whose chair is the commissioner to the queen, who is appointed by the government for a life term. Its members are elected by the inhabitants of the province. Each municipality has an elected council presided over by the mayor and elected aldermen.

Commissioners and mayors are handpicked by the government for life terms. Leadership and Political Officials. These parties are supplemented by a large number of smaller parties, ranging from socialist and nationalist to religious and green. Dutch cabinets are invariably coalitions of the major political parties. Open debate and negotiation toward consensus are part of Dutch political culture.

Most top level government positions are occupied by former members of the Second Chamber who have moved up in the party ranks. Most public functionaries at the ministries are career bureaucrats. Interactions between politicians and ordinary citizens are fairly limited, especially on the provincial and national levels.

Only industrial associations, unions, nongovernmental organizations NGOs , and political lobbies interact directly on political matters. These groups have a strong impact on political decision making. Social Problems and Control. Traffic violations are the most common legal infraction. Violent crimes are low compared to other European countries and the United States; murders were committed in , amounting to 1. Dutch citizens worry mostly about muggings and burglaries.

People hardly ever take the law into their own hands. There are very few neighborhood watches and no armed citizens' militias. The Netherlands has very strict gun control. Possession of small quantities of soft drugs marijuana and hashish is not prosecuted.

The sale of soft drugs in so-called coffeeshops is not legal but is tolerated. The Netherlands has become a magnet for drug tourists because of its liberal stance toward drugs and its position as a major transport hub within Europe.

The Netherlands has a great tolerance of prostitution. Randstad cities have red light districts in which women display themselves behind windows to potential customers. Military Activity. The Dutch army was professionalized during the s, when conscription was formally abolished. The defense budget declined substantially between and because of the end of the Cold War. In the absence of armed conflicts, the Dutch armed forces become only active during national disasters such as major floods and forest fires and in international peacekeeping operations under the auspices of the United Nations or NATO.

Even though the Dutch hold the military in low esteem, their attitude toward peacekeeping missions is very positive. The modern Dutch welfare state, with its elaborate system of laws and regulations, came into existence after World War II. The current array of welfare laws is impossible to summarize, but the main assumption is that people are entitled to a sufficient income to satisfy their basic needs and should not be at the mercy of charity.

The welfare system was created to provide for the aged and as a temporary safety net for unemployed breadwinners. However, in the present post-industrial economic system, this system has become a permanent source of income for a large and stable group, and this has created increasing dependency on the state.

High economic growth at the turn of the twentieth century, tax incentives, and government reeducation programs had rapidly reduced long-term unemployment to record lows. Unemployment benefits are sufficient to maintain the recipients at a minimum standard of living. Nongovernmental organizations in the Netherlands consist mostly of charity funds and environmental and human rights organizations. Important organizations include Amnesty International, Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, and Natuurmonumenten an organization for the protection of the Dutch natural environment , which have a large middle and upper class following.

They have a considerable impact on national politics. The Dutch contribute large sums to international disaster aid and consider themselves morally obliged to do so. Division of Labor by Gender. Women constitute only 38 percent of the labor force and often work part-time. This low rate of participation has ideological and historical reasons. There is a prevailing belief that maternity care has great developmental benefits for children. Furthermore, the Dutch involvement in both world wars contributed to the A worker cultivates the perfect rows of tulips growing in the Bollenstreek bulb-region of the Netherlands.

The German occupation during World War II kept the male labor force largely intact in spite of the hundreds of thousands of forced laborers who were deported to Nazi Germany, and women thus were not needed to take the place of male workers. Dutch women only slowly started entering the labor force after the pillarization of society crumbled in the late s.

They still lag behind men in terms of income and job status. Women are found mostly in low-paying service jobs such as nursing and cleaning. The Relative Status of Women and Men. Although women and men are equal before the law and the trend toward gender equality has been noticeable, women and men still occupy distinct functions in Dutch society.

The differences between men and women are especially noticeable within the nuclear family, where the woman continues to perform the role of homemaker, while the man is seen as the breadwinner or provider. This is especially true among working-class families. Women are underrepresented in leadership positions in politics and the economy.

Dutch people are free to choose their spouses. The common basis for marriage is most often love. This does not mean that people marry independently of the constraints of class, ethnicity, and religion. The choice of a partner is often class-based. Monogamy is the only marriage form allowed. Many Dutch couples live in a consensual arrangement. Same-sex couples can marry and have the same rights as heterosexual couples. The marriage ceremony may consist of two separate formal events: the municipal registration and a religious ceremony, with the latter being optional.

The couple holds a wedding reception where friends and relatives gather to celebrate the nuptial engagement. Almost 45 percent of the Dutch population is married; about eighty thousand marriages are registered each year, while on average thirty thousand couples file for divorce. Domestic Unit. The nuclear family is the most common household unit, although it is increasingly losing ground to single-parent families, couples without children, and single-person households.

The principal authority in the household is generally the man, although there is a trend toward more equality of marriage partners. Extended family households are rare. Dutch couples have a neolocal postmarital residence pattern, as couples are free to choose where they live.

Kin Groups. The Dutch make a distinction between relatives by marriage and relatives by blood. Consanguineal relatives are considered more important than are affinal relatives.

Solidarity and support financial and emotional are usually directed at the closest kin parents, children, and siblings. This is also illustrated by prevailing inheritance patterns. Disinheritance is not permitted by law. Every child receives an equal share. Infant Care. The average nuclear family is relatively small, with only one or two children. Toddlers receive much parental attention. Many children are cared for primarily by their parents in the parental home. Infants usually are put in playpens, where parents can leave them without restraining their own movement around the house.

Since in many families both parents are employed, children aged 6 weeks and up are often placed in a nursery when their parents are at work. Children often enter play groups at age 2 and at age 4 are officially required to attend primary school.

Child Rearing and Education. Dutch childrearing practices are permissive. Children are encouraged to discover their surroundings individually or with other children. Corporal punishment is disapproved of by most parents. Instead, parents reprimand misbehaving children verbally. Peer groups are important among Dutch adolescents. Teenagers have developed a wide array of subcultures in which to explore their identity such as punks, head-bangers, and in particular gabbers Dutch slang for "mates" whose working-class members shave their heads, wear expensive training suits, and congregate at rave parties.

Higher Education. Dutch children are praised for successful performance at school. It is firmly believed that a good education and fluency in English are a sure road to success. Many children thus seek additional education after finishing high school. Approximately 70 percent of the adult population receives formal education after high school, and 20 percent of the adult population has received higher vocational training HBO or attended a university.

Most traits of Dutch etiquette resemble those of the rest of the Western world, but there are several distinguishing national codes of behavior.

The Dutch either shake hands when they meet and depart or, in the case of women and closely acquainted men and women, kiss each other three times on the cheek. The Dutch have a strong desire to order their time in agendas and on calendars. Dutch children are given their first agenda at primary school to write down scheduled lessons and homework. A full agenda signifies a full life. The Dutch are very punctual, and showing up even five minutes late is considered inappropriate. As a result, everything has to be done at fixed times: There is a time to work, a time to clean the house, a time to drink coffee, and a time to visit friends.

The Dutch do not line up and show almost no consideration in public for a person's status, gender, or age. The use of the formal "you" U to address a person is becoming less common, whereas the growing importance of the informal "you" jij is meant to illustrate a commitment to equality.

Brick row houses in Haarlem have prominent front doors and large windows. Religious Beliefs. The largest religious congregation in the Netherlands is Catholic 30 percent of the population , followed by Reformed Protestant 14 percent , Dutch Reformed 7 percent and Muslim 4 percent.

More striking, however, is the fact that 40 percent of the population are not religious or connected to a denomination. The extremely rapid secularization of the Netherlands after the s has meant that religion plays a decreasing role in ordering people's social and cultural lives, with the notable exception of the small rural communities in the Dutch Bible Belt, which runs along the towns Zierikzee, Dordrecht, Utrecht, Zwolle, and Assen.

Among the 60 percent who profess to being religious, an ever-increasing group either does not actively participate in religious ceremonies or is involved in New Age religions. Religious Practitioners. Religious practitioners priests, ministers, and imams belong to the major religions in the Netherlands.

The Roman Catholic ecclesiastical authority is represented by bishops who try to influence national debates about the family, social welfare, abortion, and euthanasia. Rituals and Holy Places. The Catholic south of the Netherlands is rich in annual religious processions, some of which date back to the Middle Ages, such as the blood processions in Boxtel and Boxmeer, both in the province of North-Brabant. Death and the Afterlife. Beliefs about death and the afterlife correspond to the doctrines of the major religions.

The deceased is either buried at a cemetery or cremated at a cremation center. All burials and cremations are arranged by professional undertakers. Health care is almost completely the responsibility of the state. The Dutch institutionalized, although they did not socialize, health care during the twentieth century to a much larger extent than did many other Western nations. Even care for the aged and the disabled takes place primarily in an institutionalized setting. Secularization and increasing wealth have compelled the government to take over care for the aged because traditional institutions such as church, community, and family are no longer able or willing to perform this task adequately.

Almost everyone in the Netherlands carries medical insurance. The unemployed and low-income families are protected by public health insurance, while higher-income families have private insurance.

Carnival celebrations the weekend before Ash Wednesday have become secular festivities that are spreading rapidly from the Catholic south to the Protestant north. The symbolic celebration of the Queen's birthday Queen's Day takes place on 30 April. Although Queen Beatrix was born on 31 January, the festivities are held on the former Queen Juliana's birthday.

The nation observes a minute of silence at eight P. Liberation Day, the celebration of the end of the German occupation in , occurs on 5 May. Most major cities stage elaborate festivities and music festivals. Family members and friends exchange gifts on the eve of Saint Nicolas Day 5 December , while children receive gifts on his birthday 6 December.

On New Year's Eve, the Dutch reflect on the year that has passed and gather with friends rather than family members. The new year is welcomed with champaign and fireworks, and resolutions are made. Support for the Arts. In addition, several public and private foundations provide modest funding for artists. An important source of support are the artworks for public places commissioned by national, provincial, and local governments.

Dutch oral literature dates back to at least B. The earliest Dutch written literature goes back to the mids with the songs of the troubadour Heynric van Veldeken. The works on world history and the lives of saints written in verse by Jacob van Maerlant — mark the beginning of a truly national literature.

Dutch literature bloomed during the Renaissance with playwrights such as Hooft, Cats, Huygens, Bredero, and Joost van den Vondel — Dutch literature entered a period of relative decline after the seventeenth century, only to arise to world stature in the mid-nineteenth century with the publication of Max Havelaar by Multatuli a pseudonym for Eduard Douwes Dekker , which describes the colonial exploitation of the Netherlands Indies. The Movement of the Eighties — , led by the poets Kloos and Gorter, marked a new era in Dutch literature.

The novels of Louis Couperus were the fin-de-sicle apotheosis of the national literature. The breadth of twentieth-century Dutch literature is great; Slauerhoff, Roland Holst, Bordewijk, and Vestdijk are the most important authors of the inter-war period. Graphic Arts. Contemporary Dutch graphic arts have been dominated by the legacy of the seventeenth century with its emphasis on painting, drawing, and etching. Museums are visited principally by the middle and upper classes, with the exception of major retrospectives of popular painters such as Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh, which attract a wide audience.

Listed below are a few food related Dutch traditions. Muisjes - Aniseeds with a colored outer layer of sugar. When a new baby is born the mother will serve either pink girl or blue boy "muisjes" on pieces of rusk. Nasi Goreng — Indonesian influenced rice dish.

Bami, is another style but uses flat noodles instead of rice. Boerenkool met worst — boiled potatoes mashed together with kale and a Dutch sausage that is simmered on the top while cooking.

Kroketten — rolled up left over meat in a paste rolled in breadcrumbs and then fried. Very popular snack shops in the Netherlands sell them and you can get them in vending machines at the train stations. Keropok Kroepoek — Is an import from Indonesia.

It is basically a shrimp or fish flavoured cracker. In modern times, vast public works projects have been undertaken, such as the Delta Project, built to protect the province of Zeeland after major floods in But the country has also taken advantage of its position and prospered from its overseas trade. Much of its productive farmland stands upon lands reclaimed from the seabed.

Defenceless against the onslaught of foreign powers in its nascent stages, the Netherlands was ruled by a succession of overlords. The forts of Nijmegen and Maastricht are evidence of Roman domination at the start of Christian era. During feudal times, the Franks took over, then the Holy Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages some measure of independence emerged under the Dukes of Burgundy and the region began to prosper from a thriving cloth industry.

Conflict erupted in the 16th century as Spain wielded its imperial power to suppress the rise of Protestantism in the northern provinces. The major influences are Italian, Chinese, Mediterranean and Indonesian. These same influences, and others, can be found among the Netherlands selection of dine-out restaurants as well.

Breakfast typically consists of a slice of bread with various toppings like different cheeses, peanut butter, treacle, and chocolate spread. While lunch can include the same foods as breakfast, often times there will be sandwiches with different cold cuts and cheeses — Gouda, Edam, and Leyden.

Dinners in the Netherlands are typically a two or three-course meal consisting of soup as an appetizer, potatoes with a large portion of vegetables and a small portion of meat as the main course, and pastries or cookies for dessert.

Stamppot or, stew is a traditional winter meal and snert pea soup is often times the soup of choice for dinner. Culinary Staples. The Netherlands is famous for its cheese.

Gouda, Edam, and Leyden are known worldwide, and Alkmaar is a town famous for its cheese market. Salted herring is another staple to the Dutch. Other staples include hagelslag chocolate sprinkles , stroopwafel caramel waffle cookies , French fries and mayonnaise, and pffertjes small, thick pancakes. Meal Times. Breakfast is served first thing in the morning between 6 and 8 A.

Lunch is typically served 12 and 1 P. And dinner usually starts around 6 P. Tea Time. Tea time is a combination culinary and social event. It typically takes place either between breakfast and lunch 10 to 11 A. Leaving the table. It is considered rude to leave the table during dinner for any reason, whether it is to take a phone call, use the bathroom, etc. Smaller portions. At the start of a meal, take a smaller portion. You will be asked if you would like a second portion.

It is always polite to accept this offer for second portion. Hands on the table.