Municipal elections overshadowed by national politics?

Local elections can have a lot of influence on national politics. This was made clear by Jozias van Aartsen i (politician Dutch Liberal Party) in 2006 and Agnes Kant i (politician Dutch Socialist Party) in 2010 who left because of disappointing results during the municipal elections. To what extent do parties see these results as an indicator of their national position? Are elections for the local authorities in fact national elections?

National political developments can be of influence on local elections as well. For example, the military mission to Afghanistan was an important theme during the local elections in 2010. Are the campaigns of national politicians necessary to get people out to vote? Or should they recede into the background to give local politicians a chance?

Ruth Peetoom i (chairwoman Christian Party), Rik Grashoff i (chairman Green Party), Anouk van Eekelen (chairwoman local department Liberal Party) and Simon Otjes i (scientific co-worker DNPP) debated on this topic.

Please note that this event was held in Dutch.

For more information on this event, please consult the Dutch version of this page by clicking on 'Netherlands' in the right upper corner of this page.