These protest parties set themselves in opposition to the policies of the established moderate political parties and their politicians who, it is claimed, no longer speak to the general public. In addition to Koekoek's Farmers' Party, the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF), and Wilders's Party for Freedom (PVV), countless other protest parties have participated in Dutch elections over the years. Most of them have failed to reach the electoral threshold. Those that did manage to gain seats in the Dutch Parliament, such as the Seniors' Party, quickly fell apart because of internal conflicts. This is exactly what happened to the LPF after it gained twenty-six seats in the Dutch Lower House soon after Fortuyn was assassinated. The Farmers' Party, on the other hand, held seats in Parliament for eighteen years. Whether the PVV will be as successful remains to be seen. How did the Farmer's Party manage to hold seats in the Lower House for so long? Farmer ingenuity?
Farmer Koekoek's secret
The Farmers' Party developed out of the protest movement by a group calling themselves the "Free Farmers," who opposed the government's intervention in the agricultural sector and the levies imposed by the Landbouwschap (Industry Board for Agriculture). The Farmers' Party sat in the Lower House from 1963 to 1981, and at its peak held seven seats. It held on for so long because its platform had an ideological foundation and it had a stable social base in the farmers. Without these ingredients, newcomers to the Parliament usually disappear quickly. The PVV's 'vision' gives it an ideological foundation of a sort, but so far it has yet to find a stable social base.
More successful as protest movement than as political party
As a small protest party, the Farmers' Party had little visible influence on political decisions. However, its presence in the Lower House put a certain amount of pressure on the other parties, which often made decisions based on what wouldn't raise the ire of the Farmers' Party. As I point out in my recently published biography of Koekoek, the Free Farmers had more success when they were a protest movement. They contributed to the emancipation of the small farmer in that they made Dutch farmers aware that they didn't need to blindly follow everything the government told them to do. In addition, their protest actions against the Landbouwschap raised awareness among the general public of how the Dutch government was in some ways repressing small farmers. And finally, by protesting in favour of permitting camping on the farm and sales of produce at the farm gate, they had an important role in the expansion of agricultural activities. Now that Wilders's party is no longer a support party for Mark Rutte's cabinet, perhaps Wilders will consider mobilising his supporters in a protest movement. That movement might be able to create a stable social base for the PVV.
