Abstract: | The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy is responsible for supplying, for use in deciding government policy, scientifically sound information on developments which may affect society in the long term. It also draws attention to anticipated anomalies and bottlenecks, defines major policy problems, and indicates alternatives. This article describes the Council's future survey and its use of various normative perceptions discernible in the political system. Six characteristic sociopolitical orientations are identified and the likely consequences of each are depicted, with the goal of stimulating future-oriented policies. Finally, the Dutch approach is compared with the approaches in other surveys of the future. |