How does Dutch government work?
The House of Representatives: members, committees and scrutiny
The House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) consists of 150 directly elected representatives. Members examine bills, can propose legislation themselves and scrutinise ministers and state secretaries. Together with the Senate, the House of Representatives forms the parliament, the States General.
On Staatskaart, you can view the House as an institution and then focus on people and committees. When starting a new dossier, this helps you understand the institutional role first and the relevant positions afterwards.
Explore the House of RepresentativesWhat can a member of the House do?
A member can ask questions, table a motion or propose a change to a bill. Such a change is called an amendment. A private member’s bill is a member’s own proposal for legislation. Through its budgetary powers, the House also examines the budget. These instruments have different effects: passing a motion does not in itself change the text of a law.
House of Representatives: duties and rightsFrom the map to a committee
Open the House of Representatives area on the map. Select a member to view their recorded position and source. Then explore a committee relevant to your topic. Parliamentary committees consist of members from different parliamentary groups and prepare much of parliament’s work. The full House ultimately decides on bills.
Read the connection label to see what kind of relationship is shown. Committee membership indicates formal involvement in a policy area. To follow the current handling of a specific dossier, you also need the official agenda, documents and record of decisions.
How parliamentary committees workPreparing a dossier discussion
A useful sequence for a parliamentary group staff member or policy adviser is: identify the topic, find the relevant committee, then check which minister or state secretary is responsible. In your preparation, record the institution, position, source and the date you checked it. This makes the basis of your overview clear even when officeholders change.
What does the people register tell you?
The original source is listed alongside names and positions. The people register’s retrieval date shows when the information was collected. The official House page links onwards to the current agenda, documents and votes. The sources page explains how the registers are built and what information they contain.
Staatskaart sources and datasetsSources and further reading
This guide was reviewed on . Check the official sources for current information.
Guide by Staatskaart, a Noord Labs project. Read how we work with sources and datasets.
