Depillarisation and the decline of consociationalism in the Netherlands: 1970–85

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Abstract
Substantial political change has taken place in the Netherlands during the period 1970–85. Political change at the mass level of the Dutch electorate has become manifest in various ways: electoral shifts involving changing support for traditional parties and declining religious and socio‐economic determinants of voting behaviour; electoral volatility and the problem of party‐identification; increasing policy‐orientation of the electorate; and shifts in the coalition‐preferences of the electorate. Political change at the élite level of Dutch party politics is seen in: increasing coalition problems and instability; growing problems in relations between top and middle élites; intensifying party competition and increasing problems of electoral mobilisation; and changes in policies pursued. The central argument of this article is that the two levels of political change are interrelated in the framework of Dutch depillarisation and the corresponding decline of Dutch consociationalism. Political change is not only an autonomous factor at the mass level, as the theory of consociationalism seems to suggest, but is also at least partially induced by political change at the élite level, as is explained by the model of élite political control.

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