...if only for my sole amusement.

Imagine you were living in The Netherlands, with its numerous political parties...You'd have to take this test to find out where you stand:

StemWijzer (English Version)

Test consists of four phases:

1. You get 30 statements/questions that you have to answer "agree", "disagree" or "don't know".
2. You get to tick any of the boxes of the 30 subjects of the test that you think are of "extra importance" (you don't have to tick any of the boxes, btw).
3. You get to untick the boxes of the political parties that should be excluded from the test result (I recommend to include all major parties, so don't untick any of the boxes that are already ticked).
4. A bar chart will show you which party/parties are closest to your opinions.

This test is the only one I could find that has an English version available. Some points of view may have changed since this test was put together (points of view are derived from party programmes prior to Dutch general elections of November 22, 2006), and of course (some of) the subjects may be very....well, Dutch.

It's a pity they don't have the party programmes available in English, though.


...But of course you're not living in The Netherlands, so why bother?

D66 followed very closely by the GroenLinks were the two parties I was closest.

Ant

SP came in first followed by the PvdA (Labour?)...

Goedemiddag!

EenNL was my party of choice, but Fortuyn was a distant second.  What this means is beyond me....  lol

I had to put "don't know" on a lot of questions.

D66 followed very closely by the GroenLinks were the two parties I was closest.

Ant


From Wikipedia:

D66 (Democrats '66, Dutch: Democraten '66, official name: Politieke Partij Democraten '66) is a Dutch progressive, social-liberal and radical democratic political party, formed in 1966. It is currently in opposition against the fourth cabinet Balkenende.
One of the things the party wants to achieve is to have an elected mayor instead of an appointed one (as we have now). They proposed a bill to this extend, but that didn't make it.

GroenLinks (GreenLeft) was founded as merger of four parties that were at the left of the main social-democratic Labour Party: the destalinized Communist Party of the Netherlands (CPN), the Pacifist Socialist Party (PSP), which was formed by the peace movement, the green Political Party Radicals (PPR), which was founded as progressive Christian party, and the progressive christian Evangelical People's Party (EVP). These four were often grouped as "small left". In the 1972 elections these parties won sixteen seats, in the 1977 elections they were left with only six. From that moment on, people began to plead for cooperation - but it took until 1989 to form one party.
GroenLinks is also currently in opposition.

SP came in first followed by the PvdA (Labour?)...


I suppose this makes you a socialist...in case you didn't know already.

SP (Socialistische Partij = Socialist Party) was founded in October 1971 as a Maoist party named the Communist Party of the Netherlands/Marxist-Leninist (Dutch: Kommunistiese Partij Nederland/Marxisties-Leninisties, KPN/ML). This KPN/ML was formed following a split from the Communist Unity Movement of the Netherlands (marxist-leninist) (Dutch: Kommunistische Eenheidsbeweging Nederland KEN(ml)). In following years, the party changed their name, but not their course.
I think the party's appeal lies mainly in their charismatic leader, Jan Marijnissen.
SP are currently in opposition, after talks to form a coalition government (with CDA and PvdA) failed in 2006/2007.

PvdA (Partij van de Arbeid = Labour Party) was founded on February 9, 1946 through a merger of three parties: the socialist SDAP, the minor left-liberal VDB and the small social-protestant CDU. They were joined by individuals from catholic resistance group Christofor and the Protestant-Christian parties Christian Historical Union (CHU) and ARP.
The party is a social-democratic political party. Since the general election in 2003, the PvdA is the second largest political party in the Netherlands. The PvdA is a coalition member in the fourth Balkenende cabinet since 2007.

It's pretty accurate. I wouldn't call myself a straight up Marx-adoring socialist, but I definitely have socialist leanings.

Goedemiddag!

EenNL was my party of choice, but Fortuyn was a distant second.  What this means is beyond me....  lol

I had to put "don't know" on a lot of questions.


"Don't know" could be the party slogan of either parties... They're both rather clueless and without any strong leadership. As a matter of fact, LPF (List Pim Fortuyn) will cease to exist as of January 1, 2008...


EénNL (One NL) is a Dutch political party founded in September 2006. It took part in the 2006 Dutch election under leadership of Marco Pastors and Joost Eerdmans, but a dismal election result makes the politic future of the party quite uncertain. The party is seen to be one of the political heirs of the late Pim Fortuyn.
The party broadly stands for opposition to mass immigration to The Netherlands, tax cutting and shrinking government, a zero tolerance against crime, constitutional reform (particularly more direct democracy and the direct election of the prime minister and members of parliament), restoring the "human dimension" in large public sectors such as education and health care, and a skeptical attitude to European integration.

It's pretty accurate. I wouldn't call myself a straight up Marx-adoring socialist, but I definitely have socialist leanings.


Socialism isn't all that bad. ;)

When I took this test (a previous version, not this one) I found out I'm sympathetic with the SP.


Modified to add:

Took the test again, and I ended up with ChristenUnie (surprise, surprise... ::)), followed by GroenLinks.

ChristenUnie (Christian Union) is a relatively young Dutch Christian democratic political party, with a predominantly orthodox Protestant and evangelical electorate. It combines a conservative point of view on ethical issues, with more centre left ideas on economic, migration, social and environmental issues. After doubling its seats in the 2006 elections it became the smallest member of the newly-formed fourth Balkenende cabinet.
The ChristianUnion was founded in January 2000 as an alliance between two orthodox reformed parties: the Reformed Political Alliance (GPV) and the Reformatory Political Federation (RPF).

It's always interesting to me to be exposed to another countries political parties and issues.  We just don't hear anything about most of the world in our news here.  Only if I happen to catch BBC news.

Thanks for sharing this.

I suppose this makes you a socialist...in case you didn't know already.



PvdA (Partij van de Arbeid = Labour Party) was founded on February 9, 1946 through a merger of three parties: the socialist SDAP, the minor left-liberal VDB and the small social-protestant CDU. They were joined by individuals from catholic resistance group Christofor and the Protestant-Christian parties Christian Historical Union (CHU) and ARP.
The party is a social-democratic political party. Since the general election in 2003, the PvdA is the second largest political party in the Netherlands. The PvdA is a coalition member in the fourth Balkenende cabinet since 2007.




PvdA  so I'm a left-liberal... who knew?  oh yeah I DID!!!!  ;D