Interim prime minister Mark Rutte's centre-right minority coalition collapsed in April. Now, with austerity biting in neighbouring countries, many feel the fate of Dutch politics will be decided by how its voters feel about Europe.

The University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the Rode Hoed, an Amsterdam cultural centre that organises debates and lectures on a wide range of themes,  are holding a special event on the same evening as the polling to discuss the election results.

Political scientists from the UvA study programme group 'Challenges to Democratic Representation’ will share their thoughts and observations on the (preliminary) results and the recent political developments.

These political scientists will discuss the political exit polls and the final results aided by a big screen arranged specially for the evening . Participants include Dr Tom van der Meer (who specialises in political trust and voting behaviour), Prof. Meindert Fennema (an expert on anti-immigration parties and political theory) and Philip van Praag (an expert on politics and media, and election campaigns). The evening will be led by Prof. Jean Tillie (specialist on political integration, radicalism and extremism).

Time and location

• Wednesday, 12 September  2012 from 20:00
• Rode Hoed, Keizersgracht 102, Amsterdam
• The event is held in Dutch

Note to editors

For more information please contact the Press Office, email: persvoorlichting@uva.nl.