earth science

JA21

JA21 is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand JA21 rather than just read about it. In short: JA21 (Dutch: [ˌjaːʔeːnənˈtʋɪntəx]), statutorily known as the Conservative Liberals (Dutch: Conservatieve Liberalen), is a political party in the Netherlands. The party has been categorised as conservative liberal and right-wing populist in its platform by political commentators.

Key takeaways

JA21 belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect JA21 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of JA21 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

JA21 (Dutch: [ˌjaːʔeːnənˈtʋɪntəx]), statutorily known as the Conservative Liberals (Dutch: Conservatieve Liberalen), is a political party in the Netherlands. The party has been categorised as conservative liberal and right-wing populist in its platform by political commentators. JA21 was founded on 18 December 2020 by Joost Eerdmans and Annabel Nanninga following their departure from Forum for Democracy (FvD) on 26 November 2020 after disagreeing with the state of affairs in FvD. The party first participated in elections in the 2021 general election.

History

Background

In November 2020, there was a series of disputes within the Forum for Democracy (FvD) party following allegations of racism, antisemitism and homophobia against its youth wing the Jongerenorganisatie Forum voor Democratie (including glorification of Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant by members of the youth wing), as well as controversial statements made by party leader Thierry Baudet. These followed earlier controversies surrounding the youth-wing which had happened in April that year. The incidents prompted several candidates and members of the FvD to criticise what they saw as the party's slow and unwilling attitude to address the problem. The conflict escalated and a number of prominent spokespeople of the FvD such as Joost Eerdmans, Annabel Nanninga, Nicki Pouw-Verweij and Eva Vlaardingerbroek resigned from the party in protest, with Pouw-Verweij arguing in an interview with De Telegraaf that Baudet and the FvD had become radicalized and more focused on conspiracy theories.

Establishment After resigning from the FvD, Eerdmans and Nanninga announced they would start afresh with a new party to contest the 2021 Dutch general election. JA21 was officially founded on 18 December 2020 by Eerdmans and Nanninga who also recruited several former FvD members, staffers and representatives with Eerdmans serving as party leader. Eerdmans had prior political experience having previously been a member of parliament for the Pim Fortuyn List and served as deputy mayor of Rotterdam. At its launch, JA21 described itself as a "proper" right-wing party aiming to fill the gap between the centre-right People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the more radical-right Party for Freedom (PVV). In 2021, Eerdmans declared JA21 to be a "right-wing, no-nonsense party" of "common sense" that would appeal to those "for whom the VVD is too left-wing, the PVV too right-wing and the FvD too idiotic by now" and that JA21 would stick to the "original points" of the FvD. Eerdmans furthermore stated that he wanted JA21 to inspire a return of Fortuynism to Dutch politics, which he defined as a decisive, no-nonsense and straightforward approach to decision making. According to Eerdmans, the name JA21 would not only refer to the first names of himself and Nanninga; it also stands for the 'Right Answer/Correct Answer' (het 'Juiste Antwoord') and 'Your Alternative' ('Jouw Alternatief').

Rise of the party On 20 December 2020, ex-Forum for Democracy MEPs Derk Jan Eppink, Rob Roos and Rob Rooken announced that they had become members of JA21. Two days later, the independent Senate group Fractie-Van Pareren – consisting of seven ex-Forum for Democracy senators – joined JA21, making it the fourth largest party in the Senate. On 16 January 2021, the provincial group of Forum for Democracy in North Brabant split, with three members leaving Forum for Democracy to form the JA21 parliamentary group in the Provincial Council of North Brabant. As Forum for Democracy was part of the province's coalition government at the time of the split, the new JA21 parliamentary group immediately entered the coalition after talks with the other coalition members. This marked the first time that JA21 entered a coalition with other parties. During the 2021 Dutch general election in March, JA21 received 246,620 votes and elected three MPs to the House of Representatives. In the 2023 Dutch provincial elections, the party won 22 provincial seats enabling it to qualify for representation in the Senate. In parliament, the party adopted as motion with the BBB on nitrogen and called for the relocation of asylum reception to partner countries outside the EU, following the Danish model.

Splits and resurgence In 2023, there was some unrest within the party from members who complained of lack of internal democracy with some members complaining about Nanninga's position on the candidate list for the 2023 general election. As a result, the party lost two of its three MEPs and two of its three members of the House of Representatives who joined the Farmer–Citizen Movement. During the 2023 Dutch general election, JA21 retained one seat in parliament, leaving Eerdmans as its only representative. In the 2024 European Parliament election, JA21 received 40,570 votes or 0.65% of the total vote, failing to get any seats. Ahead of the 2025 Dutch general election, Eerdmans was once again nominated as lead candidate by the party board with Nanninga in second place. In August 2025, JA21 presented its candidate list for the election and revealed it would include former PVV State Secretary Ingrid Coenradie, New Social Contract MP Diederik Boomsma, Member of the European Parliament Michiel Hoogeveen, former Livable Rotterdam leader Marco Pastors, and Simon Fortuyn, brother of assassinated Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn. The party saw an increase in support and strongest result in a general election with nine MPs elected.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

JA21: Joost Eerdmans, co-founder and leader of the party — Joost Eerdmans, co-founder and leader of the party

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with JA21

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what JA21 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to JA21 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about JA21 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of JA21

In research: JA21 appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses JA21 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: JA21 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2020 establishments in the Netherlands, Climate change denial, Conservative parties in the Netherlands, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for JA21 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study JA21 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what JA21 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain JA21 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is JA21 in simple terms?

Why does JA21 matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study JA21?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on JA21.