Assessing prime-ministerial performance in a multi-party democracy: the Dutch case

Abstract

This article discusses the use of expert ranking methodology for assessing the performance and ‘place in history’ of heads of government, in particular prime ministers (PMs). It reports an expert ranking study of PMs in the Netherlands. Open/spontaneous as well as criteria-led, more detailed modes of performance assessment are compared. Moreover, the study’s findings, pertaining as they do to a PM hemmed in by the need to manage tenuous coalitions in a multi-party consensual democracy, are compared against those of similar exercises conducted for PMs in majoritarian, Westminster style democracies, suggesting that prime-ministerial reputations in multiparty democracies are made on the strength of their longevity in office, their coalition management skills and the policy legacy of their governments.