Democrats 66

Democrats 66 (Dutch: Democraten 66, D66; official name: Politieke Partij Democraten 66) (Dutch pronunciation: [pouliˈtikə pɑrtɛi deimouˈkraːtə(n) zɛsə(n)ˈzɛstəx] or Dutch pronunciation: [dei zɛsə(n)ˈzɛstəx]) is a social-liberal and progressivepolitical party in the Netherlands.

D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned young intellectuals, led by journalist Hans van Mierlo. The party's main objective was to democratise the political system; it proposed to create an American-style presidential system. In the 1967 general election the party won 7 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives; no new party had ever gained that many seats before. The electoral history of the party is characterised by large fluctuations. At one point they had 24 seats, currently (following the September 2012 Parliamentary elections) they have 12. The party was in government from 1973 to 1977, 1981 to 1982, 1994 to 2002 and 2003 to 2006. Over time the party began to emphasise other issues in addition to democratic reform, creating a social-liberal programme.