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Parliament’s duties include scrutinising the work of the Government and making new laws in cooperation with the Government. The Dutch Parliament is called “the States General”. It is bicameral, which means it consists of two chambers: the Senate (Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal) and the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal).
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People’s representation
The members of the Senate and the House of Representatives represent the people of the Netherlands. But how do these representatives of the people know what their voters want?
House of representatives
The main duties of the House of Representatives are co-legislation and checking that the Government carries out its work properly. The House of Representatives also plays an important role in policy-making.
Senate
The main task of the Senate is to adopt or reject bills, but it is also the duty of the Senators to scrutinise the work of the Government.
Duties and rights
The House of Representatives has two main duties: making laws and scrutinising the work of the Government. The main task of the Senate is considering bills approved by the House of Representatives. The Senate makes only limited use of its right to scrutinize the work of the Government. Both chambers together constitute the States-General (the Parliament). The Government is obliged to provide both chambers with the necessary information, so as to enable Parliament to scrutinise the work of the Government properly. This obligation is laid down in the Constitution.
The Cabinet
The Cabinet comprises the Prime Minister, the other ministers and the State Secretaries. The Prime Minister acts as president of the Cabinet and chairs the weekly "Council of Ministers". The Cabinet formulates and is accountable for the Government’s policies.
Coalition vs Opposition
The political parties that make up the Cabinet are called coalition parties. Parties that are not included in the Cabinet are called opposition parties. They can be said to oppose the coalition parties, as it were.