“A list of measures fixed with a staple.” This is how Peter van der Heiden characterises the programmes with which political parties have been trying to entice voters to vote for their party for several decades. “People receive promises about certain measures that, in most cases, are not fulfilled. This only leads to disappointment and to a hugely volatile electorate: people hop from one party to another, which promises something new yet again.”
Van der Heiden pleads for a revaluation of ideological narratives, in which parties attract voters based on certain values, such as solidarity (by the Left), stewardship (Christian democracy) or freedom (parties on the Right). This would lead to a less volatile electorate, less dissatisfaction due to unfulfilled promises and better demarcation between parties. “All parties are now more or less neoliberal in colour. Many a party no longer even knows how to put its own ideology into words.”
Prima donna behaviour
According to Van der Heiden, the problem with the you-demand-we-deliver mentality is not only the huge turnover of voters, but also the driving of self-interest. A clear ideological narrative is not only a good binder, but also a message of coherence. “Through ideology, you address the voters as citizens and not as consumers. The notion that each is part of a greater whole fades into the background.”
Even with ideology at the fore, a party can meet pressing issues, argues Van der Heiden. “You must do one thing while not dismissing the other.” However, Van der Heiden regards zero vision as being out of the question, referring to Rutte’s statement “those who seek vision should go to the ophthalmologist”. “It is a harmful statement that strengthens the prima donna behaviour of the voter. He leads by promises that he then does not fulfill; politics becomes an instant disappointment.”
Next pied piper
The only main party that can still surprise us with a new ideological programme is Omtzigt’s New Social Contract. Van der Heiden contends that the party would do well to fulfill the ideological hole left by the CDA, but he expects something else: “In practice, Omtzigt could be the next pied piper who plays his flute and briefly draws the block of floating voters to himself. Until something shiny and new presents itself at the next election.”
The course of events surrounding Omtzigt’s party has all the ingredients to become an instant disappointment for his electorate, according to Van der Heiden: “They are already flocking to him without knowing exactly what the party stands for. Omtzigt is most likely to come up with long-term solutions to structural problems, but voters don't have the patience for that these days.”
This is Part 4 in a series of weekly articles that will be published in the run-up to the November elections for the House of Representatives. Each instalment will feature new commentary from a researcher at Radboud University. Van der Heiden will provide a series of political commentaries on Voxweb in the run-up to the elections.