The Dutch Policy Agendas Project

Abstract

The Dutch political system with its coalition governments, backed by a parliamentary majority and a strongly plural media system is mirrored in the datasets collected so far. The legislative process can be seen as the business of turning coalition intentions into bills, which become law in the majority of cases. Increasing sensitivity to issues attended to by the media and raised in parliamentary questions has influenced this policymaking machinery and led to sometimes drastic agenda changes during the term in office. This is visible in the annual speeches from the throne, in the way party think tanks address policy topics, and in the attention to problems given by advisory bodies of the government. An analysis of safety issues shows that attention cascades over different topics related to safety and impact on longer-term policy plans.