College van burgemeester en wethouders

The college van burgemeester s wethouders (short b & w; College of Mayor and Aldermen ) is the government of a Dutch municipality. In Germany you would call the college as a magistrate, the wethouders. Than Alderman, head of department or aldermen

The Mayor and the individual wethouders are responsible for demarcated areas of responsibility. While the mayor of the crown used (in practice, the Minister of the Interior ), the wethouders be elected by the Council. Wethouders may not be members of the council since 2003. While the mayor is the wethouders over non issue directives, college, however, he sits the front and has a tied vote, the casting vote.

Mayor

See: Mayor # Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the mayors are appointed by the Minister of the Interior. The council is to make a recommendation; especially in the case of large cities, the balance of power in the national parliament may be important. There is debate about whether the mayor should be elected, but so far it only came in a few communities ( non-binding) referendums.

In college, a mayor is responsible for always the remit of Internal Security and Civil Protection, and possibly other tasks. He is also chairman of the local council. His position in local politics depends on its experience, the circumstances of his appointment and the balance of power on site. In smaller communities, it may have greater impact because it has the wethouders many by training ahead. In large communities, the Internal Security usually of considerable importance, so that even there the mayor has more influence; Also, take more of a political heavyweight for the big cities as mayor. Otherwise, the position of a Dutch mayor is rather weak.

A typical mayor is a lawyer or administrative expert and is appointed for six years. Thereafter, the term of office may be extended. Typically, it takes some time the mayor's office in another municipality. He does not have to meet every time six years, it is also important that community is not busy. Sometimes a mayor is a storeroom or supply items for a minister whose national political career coming to an end. For others, like the Amsterdam Job Cohen, the mayor's office may be reversed as a springboard into national politics.

Wethouders

A Wethouder is usually a leading member of a party spot, often the top candidate in the municipal elections. After his appointment as Wethouder by the mayor forfeited his council seat. A Wethouder site can be set up as a part-time job. By law, a municipality may have as many wethouders as it corresponds to a twentieth of the council members. The number of council members shall be governed in turn by population.

One of the wethouders, normally the chief representative of the largest party in college, has served as deputy mayor. The term for this is loco- burgemeester.

History to 2002

In the time of the Batavian Republic ( late 18th century ), the forerunner of today wethouders is situate. In municipalities with more than five thousand inhabitants, there was a college of mayor and wethouders. The latter came from the vroedschap and were also chosen by this. After the election, but they had to give up membership in the vroedschap. When the Netherlands were part of the French Empire, the mayor received one or two assistants, who were appointed by the Prefect.

With the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1815, the Office of wethouders disappeared until it was reintroduced in 1824. In the cities there were appointed by the king wethouders, assessors on the flat land, which were used by the provincial officer.

The community setting of 1851, which goes back to the state reformers Thorbecke gave wethouders and assessors the same position. They were chosen from the middle of the council. The community there was a minimum of two wethouders. They were officially still only assistant to the mayor, whose position was therefore strong, because he was responsible for internal security, and that was the most important task of a community. However, a Wethouder had tended to have more influence than in the country in a big city.

In the period 1880-1945 the remit of the communities, especially with regard to the social services grew. A Wethouder just in a big city was influential, and even church life has been politicized, political parties were founded. Since 1931, there was another college at the printout and the Wethouder was no longer committed to the mayor for assistance. Again, the development on the land slower and the mayor was usually still first among equals.

After 1945, the municipalities were given more tasks, and it came more frequently to programmacolleges, municipal governments with political coloring, the end of the 1960s almost exclusively. One spoke of the wethouderssocialisme, and a Commission stated in 2004 that: " In plenty many cases, the first Wethouder of the largest political party overshadowed the mayor. " In smaller communities, this was less, too, because the only wethouders in in communities of up to 18,000 inhabitants part-time employed.

Situation since 2002

The Social Democratic- Liberal Cabinet formed in 1998, the dualism at the community level introduced ( Wet dualisering Gemeentebestuur of March 2002 ). Since the introduction of a Wethouder may no longer be a council member. When dualism is referred to it in the Netherlands, that in the state leadership, the government faces the Parliament. So a minister can not be a Member of Parliament, even if he originally performed, for example, his party in the election campaign.

A Commission published its report in 2004, according to which the unbundling of college and council insufficiently practical and is often ignored. Furthermore, it has a Council Group, which provides wethouders, a large information advantage over other groups, and a Wethouder has a great influence on "his" faction. This he may not belong indeed, but many visit wethouders the group meetings.

For the town, according to the Commission, it is difficult to find its role as one who pretends guidelines. Generally, he step on independent. Wethouders complain that the council too much and yourself deal with details and a "culture of Abrechnens " and the power dispute had arisen. However, the final impact of dualization are foreseen only after two terms, the Commission ruled.