The Democratic Socialists '70 (, DS'70) was a

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

History

DS'70 was founded on 4 April 1970 as the result of a split from the Labour Party (PvdA). In June 1970,

Frans Goedhart Frans Johannes Goedhart (25 January 1904 – 3 March 1990) was a Dutch journalist, politician and during World War II member of the Dutch resistance. Having spent most of his youth in orphanages and having received little formal education Goedha ...

and Wybrand Schuitemaker, two members of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, left the PvdA and became members of DS'70 because of the

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...

position the PvdA had taken in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. They had previously been frustrated by its cooperation with other

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

parties such as the

Pacifist Socialist Party The Pacifist Socialist Party (, PSP) was a Democratic socialism, democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. It is one of the predecessors of GroenLinks. Party history Before 1957 In 1955, a group of "politically homeless" activists ...

and its left-wing fiscal policy. In its declaration of principles (''Beginselverklaring''), DS'70 argued that whilst the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD) lacked the comprehension of the necessity of social and economic reforms, the PvdA had acquired "anarchist" and unrealistic

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

aspirations. In the 1971 general election, the party won eight seats in parliament. After the elections, the party cooperated in the first Biesheuvel cabinet, together with the VVD,

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party (, 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 minister who served as Prime Mi ...

(ARP),

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union (, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged in September 1980. History 187 ...

(CHU) and

Catholic People's Party The Catholic People's Party (, KVP) was a Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands, Catholic Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1945 as ...

(KVP). The party supplied two ministers and two junior ministers, among them the party leader, Willem Drees Jr., who became minister of Transport and Water Works. In 1972, the cabinet fell because of the opposition of DS'70 to the proposed budget. DS'70 ministers refused to accept budget cuts in their own departments. In the 1972 general election, the party lost two seats, and it was confined to opposition to the PvdA-headed

Den Uyl cabinet The Den Uyl cabinet was the cabinet of the Netherlands from 11 May 1973 until 19 December 1977. The cabinet was formed by the social democratic Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA), the Christian democratic Catholic People's Party (KV ...

. Shortly after its foundation, two factions developed within DS'70, namely the social democratic faction led by Jan van Stuijvenberg and the

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

faction led by

. In 1975 this division led to a conflict. The party leader Willem Drees Jr. was seen as conservatively social democratic, lacking a willingness to reform and the ability to oppose the Den Uyl cabinet fiercely. However, Drees won the conflict, and a group of prominent members left the party. In the 1977 general election the party was left with only one seat which it lost at the 1981 general election. In 1983, the party was officially dissolved.

Ideology

DS'70 saw itself as a

party. Its founders thought that the mainstream Dutch social democratic party PvdA was becoming too radical in its economic and international policy and that the

New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...

was having too great an impact on the PvdA. DS'70 was a fiercely anti-communist party. The party was

economically liberal Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism, ...

, supporting a

balanced budget A balanced budget (particularly that of a government) is a budget in which revenues are equal to expenditures. Thus, neither a budget deficit nor a budget surplus exists (the accounts "balance"). More generally, it is a budget that has no budge ...

. It also supported strong economic growth. One of its main issues was battling

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...

, therefore the party wanted to restrict

government spending Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual or ...

and implement the principle of profit for many government services. The DS'70 was critical towards immigration; the party wanted to restrict the migration of Dutch citizens from

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

. However, DS'70 was progressive on other issues: The party did support a modern

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...

al policy with strong

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

and restrained automobile use. It thought that economic growth and sustainability were compatible. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the party became more socially conservative, emphasizing family values and civic society. However, the party still saw itself as a social democratic party focusing on solidarity and community solutions.

Linked organisations

DS'70 lacked the links with other societal organisations that many Dutch parties had. The party magazine was called ''Political Bulletin of DS'70'', and since 1978 ''Buitenhof'' (Outer Court, in contrast with the Inner Court, the nickname of the buildings of the Dutch parliament and government). Its youth organisation was the Social Democratic Youth Active.

Important figures

Willem Drees Jr. was party leader between 1971 and 1977. He was minister of Transport and Water Works and lead candidate in the 1971, 1972 and 1977 elections. Drees lost the last two elections and was criticized for his alleged solistic behaviour and lack of charisma. He was the son of former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Willem Drees Willem Drees Sr. (; 5 July 1886 – 14 May 1988) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) ...

. His father left the PvdA during the 1970s, but he did not join his son's party. At the beginning of the 1980s, the famous Dutch chess player

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...

featured as a DS'70 ''

lijstduwer (; 'list pusher') is a Dutch term for the last candidate on a party list. In Suriname, the Netherlands and Belgium, this position is often taken by well-known non-politicians such as artists, celebrities and sportspeople. They are official c ...

'' in the elections for the

Electorate

The party was supported by former PvdA,

VVD The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a conservative-liberal political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party, is a party of the centre-right that tries to promote private enterprise and ...

and

Democrats 66 Democrats 66 (; D66) is a social liberal and progressive political party in the Netherlands, which is positioned on the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Li ...

voters and undecided voters. The party was mainly supported by middle-class voters (e.g. civil servants). Unlike other left-wing parties, the DS'70 scored particularly well in more prosperous municipalities. In 1972, the party scored its best result in

Rozendaal Rozendaal () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. The town, next to Arnhem and Velp, Gelderland, Velp, is known for the Rozendaal Castle (''Kasteel Rosendael'') ...

(10.5%), where the DS'70 was almost bigger than the PvdA. In municipalities such as Wassenaar, De Bilt and Naarden the party also performed above average.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Socialists '70 1970 establishments in the Netherlands 1983 disestablishments in the Netherlands Anti-communist parties Defunct socialist parties in the Netherlands Labour Party (Netherlands) Organisations based in Amsterdam Political parties disestablished in 1983 Political parties established in 1970 Social democratic parties in the Netherlands