Forum for Democracy

Forum for Democracy (Dutch: Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a conservative, Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands, founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet, who has been the party's leader since its founding in late 2016. The party first participated in elections in the 2017 general election, winning two seats in the House of Representatives. In the 2019 provincial elections, FvD won the most seats.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Ideology
* 2.1 Economy
* 2.2 Electoral reform
* 2.3 Immigration and European Union
* 3 Election results
* 3.1 Parliament
* 3.2 Municipal
* 3.3 Provincial
* 4 European Parliament
* 5 Controversies
* 6 Party membership
* 7 Organisation
* 7.1 Leadership
* 7.2 Party Board
* 8 References
* 9 External links

## History

The FvD was established as a think tank, whose main feat was campaigning in the 2016 Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum.[1]

In September 2016, it converted itself into a political party and announced its intention to take part in the 2017 general election, where the FvD ended up with 1.8% of the vote and 2 seats, entering parliament for the first time. In February 2019, the FvD had nearly 31,000 members.[2] The bulk of the Forum's parliamental candidates did not have prior active experience in other political parties.[3][4]

In February 2018, the party suffered from internal issues with a number of prominent members leaving the party because they felt the party had a lack of internal democracy.[5]

In the 2018 municipal elections, the FvD won 3 seats at the Amsterdam city council.

During the 2019 provincial elections, Forum for Democracy won 86 seats spread across the 12 provinces of the Netherlands. In South Holland, North Holland and Flevoland, FvD became the largest party, winning 11, 9 and 8 seats respectively. In all other provinces, the party captured either the second or third spot in terms of the popular vote.

## Ideology

### Economy

Part of a series on

Liberalism

History

* Age of Enlightenment
* List of liberal theorists (contributions to liberal theory)

Ideas

* Civil and political rights
* Cultural liberalism
* Democracy
* Democratic capitalism
* Economic freedom
* Economic liberalism
* Egalitarianism
* Free market
* Free trade
* Freedom of the press
* Freedom of religion
* Freedom of speech
* Gender equality
* Harm principle
* Internationalism
* Laissez-faire
* Liberty
* Market economy
* Natural and legal rights
* Negative/positive liberty
* Non-aggression Principle
* Open society
* Permissive society
* Private property
* Rule of law
* Secularism
* Separation of church and state
* Social contract
* Welfare state

Schools of thought

* Anarcho-capitalism
* Classical liberalism
* Radical liberalism
* Left-libertarianism
* Geolibertarianism
* Right-libertarianism
* Conservative liberalism
* Democratic liberalism
* Green liberalism
* Liberal autocracy
* Liberal Catholicism
* Liberal conservatism
* Liberal feminism
* Equity feminism
* Liberal internationalism
* Liberal nationalism
* Liberal socialism
* Social democracy
* Muscular liberalism
* Neoliberalism
* National liberalism
* Ordoliberalism
* Radical centrism
* Religious liberalism
* Christian
* Islamic
* Jewish
* Secular liberalism
* Social liberalism
* Technoliberalism
* Third Way
* Whiggism

People

* Acton
* Alain
* Alberdi
* Alembert
* Arnold
* Aron
* Barante
* Bastiat
* Bentham
* Berlin
* Beveridge
* Bobbio
* Brentano
* Bright
* Broglie
* Burke
* Čapek
* Cassirer
* Chicherin
* Chu
* Chydenius
* Cobden
* Collingdood
* Condorcet
* Constant
* Croce
* Cuoco
* Dahrendorf
* Decy
* Dewey
* Dickens
* Diderot
* Dongsun
* Dunoyer
* Dworkin
* Emerson
* Eötvös
* Flach
* Friedman
* Galbraith
* Garrison
* George
* Gladstone
* Gobetti
* Gomes
* Gray
* Green
* Gu
* Guizot
* Hayek
* Herbert
* Hobbes
* Hobhouse
* Hobson
* Holbach
* Hu
* Humboldt
* Jefferson
* Jubani
* Kant
* Kelsen
* Kemal
* Keynes
* Korais
* Korwin-Mikke
* Kymplcka
* Lamartine
* Larra
* Lecky
* Li
* Locke
* Lufti
* Macaulay
* Madariaga
* Madison
* Martineau
* Masani
* Michelet
* Mill (father)
* Mill (son)
* Milton
* Mises
* Molteno
* Mommsen
* Money
* Montalembert
* Montesquieu
* Mora
* Mouffe
* Naoroji
* Naumann
* Nozick
* Nussbaum
* Ohlin
* Ortega
* Paine
* Paton
* Popper
* Price
* Priestley
* Prieto
* Quesnay
* Qin
* Ramírez
* Rathenau
* Rawls
* Raz
* Renan
* Renouvier
* Ricardo
* Röpke
* Rorthy
* Rosmini
* Rosselli
* Rousseau
* Ruggiero
* Sarmiento
* Say
* Sen
* Earl of Shaftesbury
* Shklar
* Sidney
* Sieyès
* Şinasi
* Sismondi
* Smith
* Soto Polar
* Spencer
* Spinoza
* Staël
* Sumner
* Tahtawi
* Tao
* Thierry
* Thorbecke
* Thoreau
* Tocqueville
* Tracy
* Troeltsch
* Turgot
* Villemain
* Voltaire
* Ward
* Weber
* Wollstonecraft
* Zambrano

Organizations

* Africa Liberal Network
* Alliance of Liberals
and Democrats for Europe
* Alliance of Liberals
and Democrats for Europe Party
* Arab Liberal Federation
* Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats
* European Democratic Party
* European Liberal Youth
* European Party for Individual Liberty
* International Alliance of Libertarian Parties
* International Federation of Liberal Youth
* Liberal International
* Liberal Network for Latin America
* Liberal parties
* Liberal South East European Network

Regional variants

* Europe
* Latin America
* Albania
* Armenia
* Australia
* Austria
* Belgium
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Bulgaria
* Canada
* China
* Chile
* Colombia
* Croatia
* Cuba
* Cyprus
* Czech lands
* Denmark
* Ecuador
* Egypt
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Honduras
* Hong Kong
* Hungary
* Iceland
* India
* Iran
* Israel
* Italy
* Japan
* Latvia
* Lithuania
* Luxembourg
* Macedonia
* Mexico
* Moldova
* Montenegro
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Nicaragua
* Nigeria
* Norway
* Panama
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Philippines
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* Senegal
* Serbia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* South Africa
* South Korea
* Sweden
* Switzerland
* Taiwan
* Thailand
* Tunisia
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Classical
* Modern
* Uruguay
* Venezuela
* Zimbabwe

Related topics

* Bias in academia
* Bias in the media

*   *

* v
* t
* e

FvD is a conservative liberal party and as such supports economic liberalism.[6] The party is a proponent of the introduction of high tax free bracket for everyone, the abolition of taxes on gifts and inheritance and a radical simplification of tax brackets.[7][8][9][10] The party is a proponent of drastic changes in elementary and secondary education, focusing on performance evaluations for teachers.[11] They want to expand the armed forces, expanding the National Reserve Corps and reverting defence budget cuts.[12] In addition, the party has promoted plans to privatise the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep, a Dutch public broadcasting organisation.[13]

### Electoral reform

One of the major issues the party campaigns against is the perceived existence of a party cartel in which the main ruling parties of the country divide power among themselves and conspire towards the same goals despite claiming to be competitors.[1] The party promises direct democracy through binding referenda[3] as well as directly elected mayors and a directly elected Prime Minister.[14][15] The party is also in favour of the government consisting of apolitical experts and top civil servants having to reapply for their positions when a new cabinet is formed.[16]

### Immigration and European Union

Part of a series on

Conservatism

Variants

* Cultural
* Fiscal
* Green
* Liberal
* Libertarian
* National
* Neo
* New Right
* One-nation
* Paleo
* Reactionary
* Social
* Traditionalist

Concepts

* Familism
* Family values
* Private property
* Rule of law
* Communitarianism
* Civil Society
* Solidarity

People

* Burke
* De Maistre
* De Chateaubriand
* Von Metternich

Organizations

* Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists
in Europe
* European People's Party
* International Democrat Union

Religious conservatism

* Christian Democracy (in Europe)
* Christian right
* Christian fundamentalism
* Jewish right
* Islamic fundamentalism
* Traditionalist Catholic

National variants

* Australia
* Canada
* China
* Colombia
* Germany
* Hong Kong
* India
* New Zealand
* Pakistan
* Serbia
* South Korea
* Taiwan
* Turkey
* United Kingdom
* United States

Related topics

* Aristocracy
* Capitalism
* Centre-right politics
* Corporatism
* Counter-revolutionary
* Fascism
* Liberalism
* Monarchism
* Neoliberalism
* Old Right (United States)
* Radical centrism
* Radical right
* Europe
* United States
* Reactionary
* Right-wing politics
* Toryism

*   *

* v
* t
* e

The party opposes the European Union (EU) and campaigns for a referendum on Dutch EU withdrawal. It also adopts a nationalist viewpoint in which the Dutch culture should be protected.[17] For instance, the party is in favor of reinstating border controls and ending what it perceives as mass immigration.[18][19] It also campaigns against unchecked immigration, says it would introduce a Dutch Values Protection Act and wants to ban Islamic face veils and other face coverings.[20]

## Election results

### Parliament

Election year  | House of Representatives  | Government

|
|

Votes  | %  | Seats  | +/–
2017  | 187,162  | 1.8 (#13)  |

2 / 150

| New  | in opposition
Election year  | Senate  | Government
Votes  | %  | Seats  | +/–
2019  | 27,473  | 15.87  |

12 / 75

| New  | TBD

### Municipal

Election  | Municipality  | Votes  | Percentage  | Rank  | Seats  | +/-

|
|
|
|
|
|

2018  | Amsterdam  | 20,015  | 5.77  | 8th  |

3 / 45

| New

### Provincial

Election  | Over all 12 provinces  | Provincial-Executives

|
|

Votes  | Percentage  | Rank  | Seats  | +/-
2019[21] | 1,057,029  | 14.53  | 1st  |

86 / 570

| New  | TBA

## European Parliament

Forum for Democracy participated since 2019 one time in the European elections.

Election year  | List  | # of
overall votes  | % of
overall vote  | # of
overall seats won  | +/–  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|
|

2019  | List | 602,507  | 10.96 (#4)  |

3 / 26

| 3  | [22][23][24]

## Controversies

Forum for Democracy has, since it became active in politics, sparked controversy,[25][26] especially surrounding allegations of racism against important FvD politicians,[27] the FvD "left-wing indoctrination in education" hotline,[28] and whether or not FvD is a far-right party.[29] Many of these controversies surround party leader Baudet.[30]

## Party membership

Year | Membership[31][32]

|

2017 | 1,863
2018 | 22,884
2019 | 30,674

## Organisation

### Leadership

Thierry Baudet, founder and leader of the party Theo Hiddema, vice chairman of the party

* Leaders
* Thierry Baudet (22 September 2016 – present)
* Chairmen
* Thierry Baudet (22 September 2016 – 17 January 2017; 25 November 2017 – present)
* Paul Frentrop (interim; 17 January 2017 – 24 November 2017)
* Vice Chairmen
* Theo Hiddema (17 January 2017 – present)
* Leaders in the House of Representatives
* Thierry Baudet (23 March 2017 – present)
* Lijsttrekker for the general election
* Thierry Baudet (2017)

### Party Board

* Chairman
* Thierry Baudet
* Secretary
* Rob Rooken
* Treasurer
* Rob Rooken
* Communication and Campaign Affairs
* Jeroen de Vries

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Joshua Chaffin (14 March 2017). "Populists seize the moment as Dutch fall out of love with EU". Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/4520bb4c-07e3-11e7-97d1-5e720a26771b.
2. ↑ Mebius, Dion (12 February 2019). "Politieke partijen beperken ledenverlies, Forum voor Democratie op drie na grootste" (in nl-NL). de Volkskrant. https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/politieke-partijen-beperken-ledenverlies-forum-voor-democratie-op-drie-na-grootste~ba2b0fcc/. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Douglas Murray (28 January 2017). "Geert Wilders doesn’t threaten Dutch liberalism: he’s defending it". https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/01/geert-wilders-doesnt-threaten-dutch-liberalism-hes-defending-it/.
4. ↑ "Forum voor Democratie". Forumvoordemocratie.nl. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/kandidatenlijst. Retrieved 2017-05-10.
5. ↑ "Uittocht bij Forum voor Democratie houdt aan - Binnenland - PAROOL". 9 February 2018. https://www.parool.nl/binnenland/uittocht-bij-forum-voor-democratie-houdt-aan~a4567887/.
6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `conservative liberalism`
7. ↑ "Economie". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/economie. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
8. ↑ "Belastingen". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/belastingen. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
9. ↑ "Internet". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/internet-privacy. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
10. ↑ "Privacy". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/privacy. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
11. ↑ "Onderwijs". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/onderwijs. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
12. ↑ "Defensie". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/defensie. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
13. ↑ "Sanering Publieke Omroep". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/petities/sanering-npo. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
14. ↑ "Directe Democratie". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/directe-democratie. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
15. ↑ "Kartelbestrijding". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/kartel-bestrijding. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
16. ↑ "Gekozen minister-president". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/gekozen-minister-president. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
17. ↑ Leonid Bershidsky (22 February 2017). "The Dutch Election Is About More Than Nationalism". https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-02-22/the-dutch-election-is-about-more-than-nationalism.
18. ↑ "Wet Bescherming Nederlandse Waarden". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/wet-bnw. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
19. ↑ "Immigratie & Remigratie". Forum voor Democratie. https://forumvoordemocratie.nl/standpunten/immigratie-remigratie. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
20. ↑ "New Dutch Eurosceptic party that wants Netherlands EU referendum now polling in second place". 19 February 2018. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/forum-for-democracy-netherlands-eu-referendum-pvv-fvd-mark-rutte-a8217956.html.
21. ↑ "Provinciale Staten 20 maart 2021". https://www.verkiezingsuitslagen.nl/verkiezingen/detail/PS20190320.
22. ↑ "Kiesraad: Election results by election commission". Kiesraad. 4 June 2019. https://www.kiesraad.nl/actueel/nieuws/2019/06/04/officiele-uitslag-europees-parlementsverkiezing-2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
23. ↑ "Kiesraad: PDF with all information about the European Parliament elections in 2019". Kiesraad. 4 June 2019. https://www.kiesraad.nl/adviezen-en-publicaties/proces-verbalen/2019/pvs-ep-2019/pv-uitslag-csb-ep-2019/proces-verbaal-verkiezingsuitslag-europees-parlement-2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
24. ↑ "Kiesraad: Data about European Electoins 2019 in the Netherlands". Kiesraad. 4 June 2019. https://www.verkiezingsuitslagen.nl/verkiezingen/detail/EP20190523. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
25. ↑ "Baudet in buitenlandse media 'de Nederlandse Trump'" (in nl). NOS. 21 March 2019. https://nos.nl/l/2277026.
26. ↑ "D66 en VVD woest op FvD'er Ramautarsing: 'homofobie'" (in nl). Elsevier Weekblad. 2 March 2018. https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2018/03/d66ers-woest-op-fvder-hij-is-homofoob-592167/. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
27. ↑ "Lijsttrekkers duiken met z'n allen op Baudet tijdens landelijk debat" (in nl). Elsevier Weekblad. 9 February 2018. https://www.elsevierweekblad.nl/nederland/achtergrond/2018/02/584686-584686/. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
28. ↑ "Tweede Kamer spreekt zich uit tegen FvD-meldpunt linkse leraren" (in nl). Joop. 9 April 2019. https://joop.bnnvara.nl/nieuws/tweede-kamer-spreekt-zich-uit-tegen-fvd-meldpunt-linkse-leraren.
29. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Volkskrant right-wing or far-right`
30. ↑ van der Sterren, Luuk (14 March 2017). "De digitale strategie van Thierry Baudet: ‘net als Trump’" (in nl-NL). Follow The Money. https://www.ftm.nl/artikelen/thierry-baudet-net-als-trump.
31. ↑ "EcoMobility". https://ecomobility.org/. Retrieved September 8, 2019.
32. ↑ "Ledentallen Nederlandse politieke partijen per 1 januari 2016, 2017 en 2018" (in Dutch). https://dnpprepo.ub.rug.nl/11137/1/lt_per01012018.pdf. Retrieved 2 June 2018.

## External links

* (in Dutch)

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