The Iron Ring in Dutch Politics Revisited

Representatives of Dutch organizations were traditionally given a chance to defend the interests of their members in the many boards, councils and commissions that together form the corporatist channel in The Netherlands. The harmony and welfare the Dutch population has enjoyed since the Second World War are ascribed in part to the work of these institutions. They helped to bridge political gaps of class and religion by building compromise and consensus. But advisory committees and councils have also been described as somewhat shady and essentially closed institutions, forming an iron ring around the departments that hampered necessary policy changes. In this article, based on case studies on the selection of members of committees and a survey of all members of committees advising the central government, we will explore to what extent committees can still be described as bastions of conservatism. We will briefly describe selection processes, sketch a portrait of committee members and compare some characteristics of committee members and civil servants of individual ministries.