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A new Dutch Constitution

De Grondwet van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden dateert van 1814, maar in 1848 werd deze vervangen.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands got its first written constitution in 1814. The new constitution made the Netherlands a monarchy with extensive powers for the king and few for the States-General (parliament). In 1848 a specialist in constitutional law named Thorbecke drew up a new constitution giving the king less power and parliament more. It also established the principle of direct elections. For this reason, the ‘1848 Constitution’ is often regarded as the start of Dutch democracy.