How We Choose Determines Who We Choose

Dutch voters going to the polls today had 28 different parties to choose from. Twelve of those (such as the Non-Voters, Pirates and Jesus Lives parties) weren't on ballots everywhere in the country, and several others don't appear to have gotten enough votes for a seat in parliament. But exit polls indicate that 13 parties will be represented in the 150-member body, with six parties having 14 seats or more -- and the biggest only 31.

What this will mean next is lengthy negotiations (the record is 208 days, in 1977) to cobble together either a majority government or a minority one with support from other parties. It seems pretty clear from the get-go that Geert Wilders's populist-nationalist Party for Freedom won't be part of that government, but beyond that it really is up in the air, and it will remain so for quite a while after the election.