Dutch political parties are extremely fragmented, and it regularly happens that sitting members of parliament separate from their party to continue as individual MPs. This has happened to Pieter Omtzigt who was elected into the Lower House as a member of the Christen Democrats but became isolated after a conflict.

As part of the ruling coalition, the Christen Democrats have compromised themselves with an alliance with the Liberals, who have ruled for nearly 15 years. In the view of Omtzigt, this Liberal alliance, in various constellations with other parties has undermined and eroded the political system, not just at the level of the political system of both the executive and the legislative branches, but deep into the bureaucratic structures of all higher, middle and lower level institutions. Besides, Omtzigt concludes that the judiciary branch has an omission in the sense that new laws cannot be judged before the Basic Law.

Over the past four years, Pieter Omtzigt has gained attention as a very sincere and dedicated politician, particularly fighting corruption and injustice, as with several recent scandals. At long last he has decided to form a political party and take part in the elections for the national parliament in late November 2023.

His new political party has the same name as the title of the book, namely New Social Contract. However, this book was published two years ago. In the book, Omtzigt postulates that Dutch citizens have lost faith in their political leaders, and that they have demolished large parts of social security and welfare. The first chapter of Een nieuw sociaal contract serves to introduce Pieter Omtzigt, describing his academic background, his life and his political career. The second chapter is very short and is about the formation of the European Union and the erosion of the rule of law in the EU. The third chapter is devoted to Omtzigt's specialization, which consists of a critique of working with models to predict policy outcomes and interventions. The next two chapters describe various scandals which have led to great social unrest and injustice. In a final chapter Omtzigt proposes legal reforms to improve governance in the Netherlands.

Een nieuw sociaal contract was not written as or conceived as a party program. It is more a political pamphlet to draw attention to what is wrong and suggest solutions. When the book was written, Omtzigt had no concrete plans for starting a political movement or political party, however, developments in the two years between the publication of the book and the fall of the government have made it look like the most logical next step.

Een nieuw sociaal contract is a well-written and impressive book that certainly deserves attention as it gives a clear portrait of the author, his background and his achievements. ( )

Heel lang geloofden we dat Nederland af was. Maar schijn bedriegt. Pieter Omtzigt laat zien dat er in Nederland grote problemen zijn met macht en tegenmacht. De mechanismen van de rechtsstaat functioneren niet goed meer, zoals uit het kinderopvangtoeslagenschandaal is gebleken. Omtzigt pleit vanuit zijn eigen ervaringen in de politiek voor een nieuw sociaal contract. Het is nodig om het vertrouwen tussen overheid en burgers te herstellen. Dat is zeker niet eenvoudig. We moeten instituties herbouwen door checks-and-balances te hernieuwen. Het vraagt ook om een andere mentaliteit van de overheid én van de burgers zelf. Er is geen simpele oplossing. Het hele weefsel van de rechtsstaat moet worden onderzocht en gerepareerd. In dit boek doet Omtzigt een aantal voorstellen daartoe. Pieter Omtzigt (1974) is sinds 2003 Kamerlid voor het CDA, en zit sinds 2004 in de Parlementaire Assemblee van de Raad van Europa. Dit boek is tot stand gekomen met medewerking van Welmoed Vlieger (1976), filosoof en columnist. ( )