The Young Democrats ( nl, Jonge Democraten, JD) is the

social-liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

youth organisation of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, founded in 1984. With over 5,000 members it's the largest political youth organisation of the Netherlands. Although independent, the Young Democrats are affiliated with the Dutch

party Democrats 66 (D66).

Principles

According to the Declaration of Principles, the Young Democrats are a liberal-democratic youth organisation. The main objective of the Young Democrats is to contribute to the individual development of every person. Core values of the Young Democrats are

liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elit ...

, solidarity, sustainability and

pragmatism Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. ...

. Also, the Young Democrats are in favour of radical democratisation of society.

Policies

* The Young Democrats advocate preparing the Netherlands for the consequences of an ageing society. They suggest increasing labour participation by reforming

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

. JD is in favour of gradually raising the retirement age to 67 years from the current age of 65. * The Young Democrats are in favour of ending the right of faith-based schools to refuse enrolment by pupils on the basis of religion. * The Young Democrats are supporters of gradually phasing out tax breaks for home owners paying interest on a mortgage. * The Young Democrats are staunch defenders of civil liberties. They continue to support liberal reforms attained by D66 in the past in eras such as euthanasia,

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

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 pre ...

and the legalisation of prostitution. The JD also wishes to see the production of softdrugs legalised. * The Young Democrats oppose

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...

measures that are not both proportional and have proven effective. In particular, JD opposes current legislation obliging citizens to be able to prove their identity at any time. JD rejects a ban on the wearing of the

burqa A burqa or a burka, or , and ur, , it is also transliterated as burkha, bourkha, burqua or burqu' or borgha' and is pronounced natively . It is generally pronounced in the local variety of Arabic or variety of Persian, which varies. Examp ...

in public spaces. * The Young Democrats are in favour of more direct democracy in the form of referendums and direct elections for the offices of prime-minister and mayor. * The Young Democrats are in favour of more investment in renewable energy sources and fully support the Kyoto Protocol. The JD is not opposed to

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity * Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy ...

, as it contributes to cutting

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and ...

. * The Young Democrats are European federalists and wish to see more European cooperation on immigration, defence and foreign policy. * The Young Democrats are strong supporters of

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

and

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

Organisation

Within the Young Democrats power lies with the members. The

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

is the sovereign body of the Young Democrats and meets three times a year. During the Congress members of the National Board are elected individually and JD policy is decided through resolutions, amendments and motions. All members have equal say through the

one man, one vote "One man, one vote", or "one person, one vote", expresses the principle that individuals should have equal representation in voting. This slogan is used by advocates of political equality to refer to such electoral reforms as universal suffrage, ...

system.

National Board

The day-to-day management of the Young Democrats is in the hands of the National Board, the members of which are: * President: Joris Hetterscheid * Secretary-General: Hester van Wessel * Treasurer: Bart Kessels * Political Officer: Lars Gerrits * Marketing Officer: Eswara de Mol * External Affairs Officer: Gijs Toussaint * Organisation Officer: Tom Urbaschek * Internal Affairs Officer: Silke Kok

Local branches

Currently the Young Democrats have ten local branches, most of which are based in university cities, such as

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

and

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

. Every branch has a local board and organises regular general meetings where local board members are elected and policy is decided. Every local member has the right to vote at the local general meetings. The sections are: *

, for the province of North Holland and the city of

Almere Almere () is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km to the east of Amsterdam (as the crow flies) across the IJmeer. Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere comprise ...

*Leiden-Haaglanden, for

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

and Delft *

, for the southern part of the province of South Holland *Brabant, for the provinces of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the w ...

and

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

*Arnhem-Nijmegen, for the cities of

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...

and Nijmegen *

, for

and

Wageningen Wageningen () is a municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a population of in , of which many ...

*Groningen, for the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe *

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

International ties

The Young Democrats of the Netherlands, together with the

Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy The Youth Organisation Freedom and Democracy ( nl, Jongerenorganisatie Vrijheid en Democratie, JOVD) is a Dutch political youth organisation. The JOVD cooperates with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), but is politically independen ...

(JOVD), are members of both the

European Liberal Youth European Liberal Youth (abbreviated as LYMEC) is an international organisation of liberal youth movements – mostly the youth wings of members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party but also individual members. LYMEC holds ...

(LYMEC) and the

International Federation of Liberal Youth The International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY) is an international liberal youth organization. It consists of a global membership of national youth organizations. These are often but not exclusively affiliated with political parties that ...

(IFLRY). Young Democrat Bart Woord was the president of the IFLRY Bureau from November 2009 to November 2010. Currently, from November 2010, Ivo Thijssen is the representative of the LYMEC Bureau in the IFLRY Bureau. Furthermore, there exist close bilateral ties with the German, Belgian, British and Tunisian young liberals.

References

External links

Young Democrats website

Democrats 66 website (in English)

European Liberal Youth website

International Federation of Liberal Youth website
{{Authority control Youth wings of political parties in the Netherlands Youth wings of liberal parties Democrats 66 1984 establishments in the Netherlands Youth organizations established in 1984 Organisations based in The Hague