NOS News•
Distrust in politics is greatest in the provinces outside the Randstad conurbation. This emerges from research by Kieskompas, commissioned by the regional broadcasters.
When asked about the most dominant feeling about politics, 35 percent of the respondents nationwide answered ‘distrust’. Zeeland stands out with 51 percent, followed by Limburg (45 percent). It is remarkable that Groningen, where people are dealing with a lingering earthquake file, scores relatively low (36 percent) compared to other ‘rural provinces’.
In nine of the twelve provinces, distrust is the most dominant feeling about politics, of the eight possible answers. In South Holland, North Holland and Utrecht ‘interest’ is the most common answer.
People from the northern provinces, Zeeland and Limburg also answer other questions about politics and society than Randstad residents. In Limburg, most people believe that politicians should listen much more closely to ordinary people, namely 84 percent of the respondents. This feeling is weakest in Utrecht (56 percent). Nationally, three-quarters of the Dutch think so.
The statement that ‘it sometimes seems as if the opinion of people in the Randstad counts more heavily than that of other Dutch people’ is endorsed by 58 percent nationwide. Outside the Randstad, that feeling is not surprisingly much more pronounced. In Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe it is even more than 80 percent. Nine provinces score higher than the national average.
The statement ‘In general I feel heard’ is supported by 21 percent of the Dutch, 46 percent disagree. Here the Limburgers are the most dissatisfied: only 9 percent feel heard.
More than half of all Dutch people (54 percent) believe that people in rural areas are often forgotten by politicians. But regionally there are again big differences. The people of Groningen and Drenthe feel the most disadvantaged. The Randstad provinces of South and North Holland and Utrecht are the only ones where less than half agree with the statement.
The proposition that the government should have more confidence in its own citizens, on the other hand, produces hardly any regional differences. Three-quarters of the Dutch think so, quite unanimously.
Despite all the reservations, the statement ‘There is no point in voting during the provincial elections’ hardly gets any support: only 7 percent agrees, 78 percent thinks it makes sense.
