The objective of many of the IPP’s activities is to encourage people to ‘participate’ in both politics and society. This is reflected in the wide range of courses, innumerable educational activities and the production of easily accessible online tools designed to give the visitor insight into the differences between the various political parties.
Young people constitute an important group that receives the IPP’s special attention. Because they are our future representatives and managers, the IPP is involved in diverse educational projects and lends its support to creating and implementing projects to stimulate the participation of young people. The IPP works together with municipal governments and social studies teachers and, together with young people, it does small-scale research on, for example, what young people consider important in their municipality. Examples:
There are a number of ways in which the IPP tries to increase Dutch citizens’ knowledge about the organisation of the EU and its institutions. Examples of these projects are:
The website Brusselstemt.nl follows the work of the 27 Dutch members of the European Parliament. With its extra attention to how these individuals vote at the monthly meetings, the website wants to offer Europe the accessibility, visibility, distinctiveness and responsibility of the 27 Dutch members of the European Parliament.
Secondary school lessons
In 2008 the IPP gave free lessons about Europe at the various levels of secondary school in the Netherlands. During these lessons, students were stimulated to form their own opinions and encouraged to debate with one another. No preparations needed to be done by the secondary school teachers themselves. The standard topics dealt with by the IPP teachers were:
Debates
The aim of the course in political participation is to help citizens to become active in local politics. Participants are given a behind-the-scene look at the city or town hall and the chance to experience being politically active and governing a municipality.
The result of the course is that the participants become members of a (local) political party or stand for the municipal council.
More information
For more information contact Roelof Martens, r.martens@publiek-politiek.nl , tel. +31 (0)20 52 17 658.
In the programme called ‘De Haagse Tribune’ the IPP offers secondary school students the opportunity to spend a day in The Hague and to become familiar with how a parliamentary democracy functions and the related rituals and officials.
Teachers can choose from four all-day programmes:
The four programmes are offered at different levels for each of the various types of secondary school in the Netherlands and are designed to familiarise students with politics and the history of democracy and the constitutional state. All programmes involve a visit to the Lower House; in two of the four programmes students have the opportunity, when possible, to speak with a member of the Lower House.
Central to this programme is the constitutional state. A connection is made between the parliament as the legislative body and our constitutional state. Not only ‘How is a law drafted?’ but also ‘How is a law enforced? Democracy and the constitutional state are inseparable, and conflicts can thus be settled peacefully.
Polling station
Most of the programmes end with the polling station. In a formal setting with a polling station, ballots, a voting booth and a ballot box, students can vote for the parties that are represented in the Lower House.
More information
For more information contact Jerome Scheltens, j.scheltens@publiek-politiek.nl , tel. +31 6-25192128
To make local politics accessible for young people, the IPP organises the project called ‘Wegwijs op het Gemeentehuis’ in which young people fill the role of a member of the municipal council for a day. The principle behind the project is that students learn by experience. Being politically active gives them insight into political and municipal decision-making processes, and more insight leads to more involvement: the final goal of this project.
During an intensive day at the city or town hall, students engage with local politicians, civil servants and lobbies and they deal with terms such as power, democracy, lobby, estimates and budget. Having direct contact and doing one’s own research are what makes this programme unique.
More information
For more information contact Karel Ploeger, info@wegwijsdagen.nl , tel. +31 (0)20 52 17673.
The IPP annually produces two educational newspapers for students who are in their last two or three years of secondary school. The newspapers contain clearly written articles on topical subjects. Pupils can work independently with tests and assignments in the newspaper.
Examples of the educational newspapers:
Since 1994 the IPP has been organising shadow elections for secondary school students. These student elections are always held one or two days before the actual election day.
Organising shadow elections at school is the ideal way to involve students in politics and a useful lead for teachers to devote their lessons to political decision-making in the Netherlands. Moreover, it is interesting to compare the results of the student elections with those of the actual elections. With respect to parliamentary elections, noticeable connections and trends have become evident throughout the years.
The website for the student elections has a manual for teachers with a step-by-step explanation of how they can organise the elections at their schools. After the elections, the results are shown on the website in a database.
Did you know that…
Shadow elections are also held in Finland, Germany and Poland (see www.juniorvoting.eu ) as well as in Great Britain ( www.mockelections.co.uk )?
More information
For more information contact Bas Banning, b.banning@publiek-politiek.nl : +31 (0)20 52 17646.
The StemWijzer is an online instrument created by the IPP in order to test voters’ political preferences. Visitors to the site are asked to give their opinions on about thirty propositions, and then the computer calculates which party is most in keeping with the visitor’s answers. Since visitors also receive information about the positions held by political parties on a wide range of issues, the StemWijzer has proved to be an excellent educational tool.
In addition to the StemWijzer based on the electoral programmes of parties running for election, the IPP has also created a number of variants:
More information
For more information contact Jochum de Graaf, j.degraaf@publiek-politiek.nl : +31 (0)20 52 17678.