Carla van Baalen awarded Thorbecke Medal
Award image: Yuvraj Klaassens
Carla van Baalen was awarded the Thorbecke Medal on 4 June. She received the award in recognition of her remarkable and varied oeuvre in the field of parliamentary history.
Van Baalen studied history at Leiden University and was awarded a doctorate in 1986 for her dissertation Paradijs in oorlogstijd? Onderduikers in de Noordoostpolder, 1942-1956 (Paradise in wartime? Hiding in the Noordoostpolder, 1942-1956). After completing her PhD, she worked as a researcher at the Centre for Parliamentary History (CPG), where she was appointed director in 1998. She was appointed endowed professor in 2001 and, in 2007, became Professor of Parliamentary History by personal appointment at Radboud University in Nijmegen. Van Baalen retired in 2022.
The professor emeritus received the Thorbecke Medal for her special contribution to constitutional law. Van Baalen has published work on cabinet formations, constitutional reform and speeches from the throne, among other things. In addition to her publications, she was the director of the CPG for 25 years and a member of various committees, including the Finance Committee of the Royal House and the Remkes State Commission, which examined the extent to which changes were needed in the Dutch parliamentary system and parliamentary democracy.
Thorbecke Medal
The origins of the Thorbecke Medal can be traced back to the nineteenth century and politician and constitutional law expert Johan Thorbecke (1798-1872), who is regarded as the founding father of parliamentary democracy in the Netherlands. In 1878, friends and admirers of Thorbecke established a foundation to commemorate their hero’s work by awarding honorary medals for: ‘studies in that field of science in which Thorbecke himself has worked so fruitfully and brilliantly in word, writing and deed'. Since then, the medal has been awarded on 15 occasions. Carla van Baalen will be the 16th laureate.
According to the jury, Van Baalen is the perfect winner for various reasons:
‘The topics of Van Baalen’s academic work have much common ground with Thorbecke’s work. Moreover, Van Baalen also constantly strives for useful connections between parliamentary history and living constitutional law. Van Baalen is also not only a scholar, but she has always alternated her academic work with active contributions to practice and public opinion.'
Chairman of the jury and current holder of the Thorbecke chair, Geerten Boogaard: ‘I’m sure Thorbecke’s friends would agree that Van Baalen is a worthy winner to honour the tradition of Thorbecke.’
The medal was awarded on 4 June, the 153rd anniversary of the death of Thorbecke. The presentation ceremony was part of a symposium Vertrouwen in de rechtspraak (Trust in the judiciary) on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of Leiden Law School.