The contemporary Dutch broadcasting system is impossible to categorize according to standard models of broadcasting systems. It crosses the boundaries of public and private, non-profit and for-profit, neutral and value-laden, and secular and religious. This book explains the origins of this unequivocally unique pluralistic system. The Dutch broadcasting system is also one of many other pluralist social, economic, and political structures that were created in the Netherlands between 1917 and the 1970s. This book is the first in-depth analysis of the ways that ideological and religious worldviews influenced both the struggle to shape Dutch broadcasting between 1919 and 1930 and the structural pluralistic contours of the final system and policy. Co-published with Institute for Christian Studies (ISC).

Dr. John L. Hiemstra is Associate Professor of Political Science at The King's University.