The (in English: Katholieke Volkspartij; abbreviated as KVP) was a
Catholic Christian-democratic Dutch political party. During its entire existence, the party was in government. The party is one of the precursors of the
Christian Democratic Appeal .
The KVP was founded on
22 December 1945 . It was a continuation of the pre-
War RKSP . Unlike the RKSP, the KVP was open to people of all denominations, but mainly
Catholic s supported the party. The party adopted a more progressive course and a more modern image, than its predecessor.
In the and to cooperation between the Catholics and social-democrats. Under pressure of the
Catholic Church the two parties united again in
1955 .
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In the period 1958-1965 the KVP was at the height of its power. It was the leading force in all cabinets and supplied all the prime-ministers. In 1958 the
Fourth Cabinet Of Drees fell and Louis Beel formed an interim-cabinet with KVP, ARP and CHU. After the
1959 Elections the KVP formed a centre-right
Cabinet with ARP, CHU and VVD, led by KVP'er
Jan De Quay . It continued to strengthen the welfare state. After the
1963 Elections this cabinet was succeded by a new
Cabinet of KVP-CHU-ARP-VVD, which was led by the KPV's
Victor Marijnen . This coalition oversaw an economic high conjuncture.
Norbert Schmelzer became the party's new leader, again operating within the Tweede Kamer and not the cabinet. A cabinet crisis over the
Broadcasting System however caused the cabinet to fall in
1965 . The KVP and ARP formed a
Cabinet with the PvdA, led by the KVP's
Jo Cals . This cabinet also fell in the Night of Schmelzer, in which Norbert Schmelzer forced a cabinet crisis over the cabinet's financial policy. This was the first fall of cabinet, which was directly broadcast on television. An interim government of KVP and ARP was formed, led by the ARP's
Jelle Zijlstra .
The period 1965-1980 is period of decline, crisis and dissent for the KVP. The share of votes for the KVP began to decline after
1966 , because of
Depillarisation and
Secularisation : There were less Catholics and Catholics no longer supported a Catholic party.
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In the
1967 Elections the KVP lost 15% of its votes and 8 seats. During the election campaign the KVP, ARP and CHU declared that they wanted to continue cooperating with each other. Cooperation with the PvdA was much less important. This led to unrest under young and
Left Wing KVP supporters, including
Ruud Lubbers ,
Jo Cals ,
Erik Jurgens and
Jacques Aarden , which called themselves Christian Radicals. After the elections this promise was upheld and the KVP formed a
Cabinet with its old partners, led by
Piet De Jong . After much debate some of the Christian Radicals broke away from the KVP in
1968 to form the
Political Party Of Radicals (PPR). These include three members of parliament, who form their own
Parliamentary Party Groep Aarden. Lubbers and Cals stayed with the KVP. The new party became a close partner of the PvdA. In the
1971 Elections the KVP lost another 7 seats (18% of its vote). The KVP again joined the ARP, CHU and VVD to form a new centre-right
Cabinet with rightwing dissenters of the PvdA, united in
DS'70 . The ARP's
Barend Biesheuvel led the cabinet. In
1972 the cabinet fell because of internal problems of the junior partner, DS'70.
In the
Subsequent Elections the KVP again lost eight seat, leaving only 27, 23 less than in 1963. The cabinet again looses its majority and the KVP sees no alternative than to cooperate with the PvdA and its allies PPR and
D66 . An
Extra-parliamentary Cabinet is formed by PvdA, PPR and D66 joined by prominent progressives from KVP and ARP. The KVP's ministers include the minister of Justice
Dries Van Agt and the minister of the Economy Ruud Lubbers. The KVP does not officially support this cabinet, which is led by social-democrat
Joop Den Uyl . This cabinet was characterized as a fighting cabinet and fell just before the
1977 Elections .
In the 1970s the KVP realizes that if it wants to continue it must find new ways of cooperating. Ideas to form a broad Christian-Democratic party, like the
German CDU were brought into practice. In
1974 the three parties form a federation, called
Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). In the 1977 elections the CDA wins more seats then the KVP, ARP and CHU had together. After the elections, Dries van Agt becomes prime minister for the CDA. In
1980 the three parties officially dissolved themselves into it.
The Catholics within the KVP still constitute a powerful group within the CDA. In the early years a system of equal representation of Catholics and Protestants was practiced, from which the KVP as only Catholic blood group profits. Nowadays many CDA-members, like
Maxime Verhagen and
Maria Van Der Hoeven have a background in the KVP's political catholicism.
The name Catholic People's Party (Dutch: Katholieke Volkspartij; KVP), must be seen in contrast with the name of its predecessor
Roman Catholic State Party . The party is no longer Roman-Catholic, but only Catholic, de-emphasizing its religious denomation. It is no longer a state party, but a people's party, emphasizings its progressive, democratic nature. The new name emphasizes the KVP's progressive, democratic and non-denominational image.
The KVP was a
Christian-democratic party, which based itself on the
Bible and Catholic
Dogma .
As such it was proponent of a should be combined with a
Free Market , with a
Corporatist organisation.
Trade Union s and
Employers' Organisation s were to negotiate on
Wages in a
Social Economic Council and should make legislation for some economic sectors on themselves, without government intervention, in so called
Productschappen .
The state should watch over the morality of the people:
Divorce should be limited, recreation should be moral (for instance different swimming hours for women and men) and the
Family should be preserved. Families were to be helped by
Fiscal Policies , such as the "kinderbijslag", support by the government, by the newly set up Ministry of Culture, Recreation and Welfare, and the possibility to buy their own home.
Internationally, the KVP was a staunch proponent of and
Surinam should be independent countries within a Dutch
Commonwealth .
In this table the election results of the KVP in Tweede Kamer and Eerste Kamer elections is represented, as well as the party's political leadership: the fractievoorzitter, is the chair of the parliamentary party and the lijsttrekker is the party's top candidate in the general election, these posts are normally taken by the party's leader. If the party is in government, a high ranking minister, often the prime minister can also be party leader. If the high ranking minister is the Prime Minister, this can be seen by the "PM" behind his name. If he is in the cabinet without support of his party his is listed as "independent". The party's membership is also presented in this figure.
The party was particularly strong in the southern provinces of
Limburg and
North Brabant , were it often held 90% of the seats in the
Provincial and
Municipal Legislatures and supplied all
Provincial and
Municipal Governments ,
Provincial Governors and
Mayors . In regions like
Twente ,
West Friesland and
Zeeuws Vlaanderen it held similar positions in municipalities, but cooperated with other parties on the provincial level.
The KVP was supported by Catholics of all and
Limburg , where it often held more than 90% of vote. It was also strong in Catholic regons like
Twente ,
West Friesland and
Zeeuws Vlaanderen .
During the
1960s and
1970s the KVP lost part of its electorate to progressive parties like the
PPR , the
PvdA and
D66 .
The KVP had an own youth organisation, the Catholic People's Party Youth Groups (Dutch: ''Katholieke Volkspartij Jongeren Groupen''; KVPJG) and a scientific foundation: the Centre for Political Formation.
In the
European Parliament the KVP's members sat in the
Christian Democratic Faction .
The KVP had close links to many other Catholic institutions such as the
Roman-Catholic Church and together they formed the Catholic
Pillar . These organisations included the Catholic Labour Union NKV, the Catholic Employers Organisation KNOV, the Catholic Farmers' Organisation KNBLTB, Catholic Hospitals united in the Yellow-White Cross and Catholic Schools. The Catholic Broadcasting Association
KRO and the Catholic Paper
De Volkskrant were the voices of the KVP.
As a Christian party, the KVP had strong ties with the conservative-Protestant
ARP and
CHU . The strong ties resulted in several cabinets in the period 1946-1977 and the formation of the
Christian Democratic Appeal , in which the three parties united in 1974.
The KVP had a strong centre-left group within its ranks. These supported closer cooperation with the social-democratic
PvdA . This resulted in several cabinets with the PvdA, but also splits within the party, most notably the formation of the
PPR
As the party of a Catholic majority in a dominantly Protestant country, the KVP is comparable to the German
Centre Party , which existed before the Second World War and the
Christian Democratic People's Party Of Switzerland . Its political position and agenda are similar to other catholic Christian democratic parties in Europe, such as the Flemish
CD&V and the Italian
Christian Democracy .
- ''Electoral Stability and Electoral Change: The Case of Dutch Catholics'' by Herman Bakvis in: Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue canadienne de science politique Vol. 14, No. 3 (Sep., 1981), pp. 519-555
- ''Changing Procedures and Changing Strategies in Dutch Coalition Building'' by Hans Daalder In: Legislative Studies Quarterly Vol. 11, No. 4 (Nov., 1986), pp. 507-531
- ''Conservatism in the Netherlands'' by Hermann von der Dunk In: Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Oct., 1978), pp. 741-763
