The 'polder model' names the Dutch tradition of consensus decision-making in which government, employers and unions negotiate compromise, exemplified by the 1982 Wassenaar Agreement on wages and jobs. Commentators trace its spirit to the centuries-old necessity of cooperating across social divisions to manage shared water defences. Whether the historical link is causal is debated, but the metaphor is widely used. The same consensual style pervades Dutch spatial planning and infrastructure decisions.
The polder model captures the consensual, negotiation-based governance culture that underpins how the Dutch plan and build collectively.
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