<P> The Netherlands has been a constitutional monarchy since 1815, and due to the efforts of Johan Rudolph Thorbecke, a parliamentary democracy since 1848 . The Netherlands is described as a consociational state . Dutch politics and governance are characterised by an effort to achieve broad consensus on important issues, within both the political community and society as a whole . In 2010, The Economist ranked the Netherlands as the 10th most democratic country in the world . </P> <P> The monarch is the head of state, at present King Willem - Alexander of the Netherlands . Constitutionally, the position is equipped with limited powers . By law, the King has the right to be periodically briefed and consulted on government affairs . Depending on the personalities and relationships of the King and the ministers, the monarch might have influence beyond the power granted by the Constitution of the Netherlands . </P> <P> The executive power is formed by the Council of Ministers, the deliberative organ of the Dutch cabinet . The cabinet usually consists of 13 to 16 ministers and a varying number of state secretaries . One to three ministers are ministers without portfolio . The head of government is the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, who often is the leader of the largest party of the coalition . The Prime Minister is a primus inter pares, with no explicit powers beyond those of the other ministers . Mark Rutte has been Prime Minister since October 2010; the Prime Minister had been the leader of the largest party continuously since 1973 . </P> <P> The cabinet is responsible to the bicameral parliament, the States General, which also has legislative powers . The 150 members of the House of Representatives, the lower house, are elected in direct elections on the basis of party - list proportional representation . These are held every four years, or sooner in case the cabinet falls (for example: when one of the chambers carries a motion of no confidence, the cabinet offers its resignation to the monarch). The States - Provincial are directly elected every four years as well . The members of the provincial assemblies elect the 75 members of the Senate, the upper house, which has the power to reject laws, but not propose or amend them . Both houses send members to the Benelux Parliament, a consultative council . </P>

The netherlands in europe is more than 60 percent near or below sea level