The Reformed Political League
[Translation used by Andeweg and Irwin in ''Governance and Politics of the Netherlands'' (2002: 45)] ( nl, Gereformeerd Politiek Verbond, GPV) was an orthodox Protestant
political party in the Netherlands
This article lists political parties in the Netherlands, which has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, in which any one party has little chance of gaining power alone, and parties often work with each other to form coalition go ...
. The GPV is one of the predecessors of the
Christian Union. The party was a
testimonial party
A testimonial party () is a political party that focuses on its principles, instead of adapting them to local or temporal issues in the pursuit of coalition government participation. In the Netherlands
It is a peculiar phenomenon in the Netherlan ...
.
History
1948–1963
The GPV was founded in 1948 as the result of a theological conflict within the
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands
{{Infobox Christian denomination
, name = Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Dutch ''Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland'')
, image =
, caption =
, main_classification = Protestant
, orientation = Calvinist
, polity = Presbyterianism
, ...
, which led to the creation of the
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated)
The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (vrijgemaakt)) are an orthodox Calvinist federation of churches. This church body arose in 1944 out of the so-called Liberation (') from the Reformed ...
. In 1944 a group of orthodox Protestants left the Reformed Church, because they disagreed with
Abraham Kuyper
Abraham Kuyper (; ; 29 October 1837 – 8 November 1920) was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905, an influential neo-Calvinist theologian and a journalist. He established the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, which upo ...
's view that God had created multiple branches of Christianity (Catholicism, Protestantism etc.), each with their own sphere.
In 1948 adherents of the Reformed Church in the Netherlands (Liberated) left the
Anti-Revolutionary Party
The Anti-Revolutionary Party ( nl, Anti-Revolutionaire Partij, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and m ...
, the party linked to the Reformed Church in the Netherlands. On 1 April 1948 they founded the GPV during a congress
Amersfoort
Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...
. Former ARP MP Albertus Zijlstra chaired the congress, and also led the party in its early years.
The party was specifically linked to the liberated Reformed Church. Membership of the church was a pre-requisite for membership of the party. This dogmatic position isolated the party.
The party participated, without success in the
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
,
1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...
and
1956 general elections. After the 1956 elections the number of seats in parliament was extended, therefore the number of votes needed to obtain a seat was decreased from one percent of vote to two-thirds of one percent of vote. In the
1959 general election it appeared that the GPV had won a seat. Its sole MP, Laning, was asked to visit the queen to advise her on the formation of a new cabinet. After the results were calculated exactly, however, it became clear that the GPV had obtained too few votes for a seat.
1963–2003
In
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
the party finally entered the House of Representatives in the person of Pieter Jongeling, who was made
top candidate on advice of prominent professor of
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
J. Kamphuis. In the
1967 general elections they were able to retain their one seat. During the early 1970s a group called Nationaal Evanglisch Verbond (NEV) had left the ARP because they thought the party's alliance with the
Catholic People's Party
The Catholic People's Party ( nl, Katholieke Volkspartij, KVP) was a Catholic Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as a continuation of the Roman Catholic State Party, which was a continuation of ...
was wrong. They asked the board of the GPV whether they could join their party. This was rejected by the board of the GPV, who said that the party was open only to members of the liberated Reformed Church. This group would later become the
Reformatory Political Federation
The Reformatory Political Federation ( nl, Reformatorische Politieke Federatie; RPF) was a minor Protestant Christian political party in the Netherlands.
History
The RPF was founded in 1975 by three groups of orthodox Christians. The first group ...
(RPF). In the
1971 general election the party was able to obtain a second seat, which it managed to retain in
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
. In the
1977 general election Jongeling was replaced by Verbrugh and the party lost one seat. Before the
1981 general election, Verbrugh was replaced by Schutte, who would lead the party until 2001. He was able to retain the one seat in 1981,
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
and
1986 general elections, and he won a second seat in
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
. In the
1994 genera; election the party retained its two seats. In 1993 the GPV officially opened itself to non-liberated members. This started a slow process of cooperation between the GPV and the RPF, another orthodox Protestant party. From the
1998 general election onwards, the two parliamentary parties began to cooperate, holding common meanings and appointing common spokespersons. The fact that the GPV had only two seats and the RPF three inhibited the cooperation. In 1999 their parliamentary parties in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
officially merged, forming one parliamentary party. In 2001 the same happened in the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
. In
2002 general election the GPV and RPF presented a common
electoral list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...
of candidates for the House of Representatives, entering the elections as the
Christian Union: they obtained four seats. In 2003 the GPV officially disbanded, making its merger into the Christian Union final.
Name
The GPV chose the name Gereformeerd Politiek Verbond (Reformed Political Alliance), because it wanted to convey that it was a reformed party, and that its organisation was decentralised: the GPV was primarily an alliance of local branches.
Ideology and issues
In its first years the GPV did not have a separate election manifesto or manifesto of principles. Instead it claimed to base its policy directly on the bible. In 1967 the first manifesto of principles was published, in which the party again stressed that the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
was the basis of their policy. The party saw the Netherlands as a Protestant nation, which should be defended.
In practice this meant that the GPV took the following stances:
*The GPV was against
European Integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
, because it distrusted the Catholic nature of the project;
*The party was in favour of a strong defense;
*The GPV was staunchly monarchist because it saw the
Dutch Monarchy
The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...
as a God-given institution;
*Originally the party wanted the government to decrease its influence on society, allowing for private initiative and civil society to take over some of its functions; during the 1980s the party wanted to retain the
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...
and paid attention to the environment;
*The GPV defended the system of
special schools
Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
, which allowed for schools to be founded on liberated reformed principles;
*The party favoured the independence of
South Maluku and
Irian Jaya
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...
, and supported
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
;
*As an orthodox Christian party the party was against the
Dutch policy on soft drugs,
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
,
prostitution
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...
,
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
and
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
Leadership and support
This table shows the GPV's results in elections to the House of Representatives, Senate and European Parliament, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter, is the chair of the parliamentary party and the lijsttrekker is the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader. The membership of the GPV is also represented.
*: in a combined parliamentary party with the
RPF;
**: in a combined parliamentary party with the
Reformatory Political Federation
The Reformatory Political Federation ( nl, Reformatorische Politieke Federatie; RPF) was a minor Protestant Christian political party in the Netherlands.
History
The RPF was founded in 1975 by three groups of orthodox Christians. The first group ...
and the
Political Reformed Party
The Reformed Political Party ( nl, Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) is a conservative CalvinistThese sources describe the SGP as a Calvinist political party:
*
*
*
*
* political party in the Netherlands. The term ''Reformed'' is not a refere ...
.
Municipal and provincial government
The party had some representatives in the
provincial legislatives of
Gelderland
Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...
,
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
and
South Holland
South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...
, which form part of the
Dutch Bible belt it also held some representation in
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
. It never cooperated in any
provincial executives.
The party had several
mayors
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...
in small municipalities in the Dutch Bible belt. In the same region the party cooperated in
local executives.
Electorate
The GPV's electorate was almost entirely made up out of members of the
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated)
The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (vrijgemaakt)) are an orthodox Calvinist federation of churches. This church body arose in 1944 out of the so-called Liberation (') from the Reformed ...
. These were concentrated in Gelderland, Utrecht and South Holland, which form part of the Dutch Bible belt, and Groningen
Organisation
Organisational structure
The highest organ of the GPV was the congress, it is formed by delegates from the municipal branches. It convenes once every year. It appoints the party board and decides the order of candidates on electoral lists for the Senate, House of Representatives and European Parliament, and has the last word on the party program. The party secretariat was located in
Dordrecht
Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...
and later in
Amersfoort
Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...
.
Linked organisations
The party published ''Ons Politeuma'' ("Our citizenship"). It scientific institute was the ''Groen van Prinsterer Stichting'' ("Groen van Prinsterer Foundation") and its education institute was ''Mandaat - Gereformeerd Politiek Vormingswerk'' ("Mandate, Reformed Political Education work"). Its youth organisation was the ''Gereformeerde Politieke Jongeren Club'' ("Reformed Political Youth Club"), which published ''Plein'' ("Square") and ''Stand-By''.
Pillarised organisations
The party had a small liberated Reformed
pillar
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...
around, consisting out of like minded organisations. Most prominent was the
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated)
The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated) (Dutch: Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland (vrijgemaakt)) are an orthodox Calvinist federation of churches. This church body arose in 1944 out of the so-called Liberation (') from the Reformed ...
. The paper
Nederlands Dagblad
''Nederlands Dagblad'' (; "Dutch Daily") is a Dutch daily newspaper, available nationwide, with a daily circulation of 23,800 issues (in 2020).
History
The paper was founded in 1944 as a semi- resistance paper during World War II called ''Refor ...
was closely linked to the GPV, until 1974 Pieter Jongeling, who also led the parliamentary party, led the paper. The
was also linked to the liberated Reformed Church.
Relationships to other parties
Before 1981 the party was very isolated, this was caused by their own dogmatic position on non-liberated Christians. Nonetheless the knowledge and conscience of its MPs was respected throughout parliament.
After 1981 the party began to cooperate with more with other parties, especially with the orthodox Protestant
Political Reformed Party
The Reformed Political Party ( nl, Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) is a conservative CalvinistThese sources describe the SGP as a Calvinist political party:
*
*
*
*
* political party in the Netherlands. The term ''Reformed'' is not a refere ...
(SGP) and
Reformatory Political Federation
The Reformatory Political Federation ( nl, Reformatorische Politieke Federatie; RPF) was a minor Protestant Christian political party in the Netherlands.
History
The RPF was founded in 1975 by three groups of orthodox Christians. The first group ...
(RPF). In 1981 the GPV allowed municipal branches to cooperate with branches of other parties, this led to the formation of several combined lists with either the SGP or RPF or both. In 1984 the party entered in the
European elections
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.
Until ...
with a combined list the RPF and SGP. It won only one seat. In 1994 they were more successful and won two seats, one of which was taken by the GPV.
In 1993 the party allowed non-liberated to become member of the party, this started a slow cooperation process with the RPF which resulted in the fusion in the
Christian Union in 2003.
International Comparison
Internationally the party was comparable to the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
Christian Right
The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with t ...
and the small Protestant parties of Scandinavia, such as the
Christian Democratic Party of Norway
The Christian Democratic Party ( nb, Kristelig Folkeparti, nn, Kristeleg Folkeparti, se, Risttalaš Álbmotbellodat, , KrF) is a Christian-democratic political party in Norway founded in 1933. The party is an observer member of the European P ...
, the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
and
Danish Christian Democrats. The party has never been in a government coalition however, instead it has chosen to voice its concerns with government policy, while acknowledging that they are not big enough to force their opinion upon others.
Literature
* Klei, E.H., '' 'Klein maar krachtig, dat maakt ons uniek'. Een geschiedenis van het GPV, 1948-2003'' (Amsterdam 2011).
Notes
References
{{Authority control
Christian Union (Netherlands)
Confessional parties in the Netherlands
Defunct Christian political parties
Defunct political parties in the Netherlands
Political parties established in 1948
Political parties disestablished in 2003
Protestant political parties
Conservative parties in the Netherlands
1948 establishments in the Netherlands
2003 disestablishments in the Netherlands