to urban, secular upper and middle class. The liberals did not have a strong pillar of social organization, such as trade unions and news papers, like the other political families had. Instead they were aligned with the weak neutral pillar. In 1966 a radical democratic party was founded, Democrats 66. In the foundation several progressive liberals from the VVD had been involved. The party sought to radically democratize the political system, the society and the economy. D66 was led by the charismatic Hans van Mierlo. The party joined forces with the social-democratic PvdA and the progressive Christian PPR to work for a more fair and democratic Netherlands. The party participated in the leftwing cabinet Den Uyl. Over the course of the 1980s however the party began to espouse a more progressive liberal course, especially under Jan Terlouw. The party remained an ally of the PvdA however, joining a short-lived centre-left coalition cabinet with the PvdA and the Christian democratic CDA in 1981. In the meanwhile the VVD had grown considerably. Under the leadership of Hans Wiegel the VVD has taken a more conservative course. The party began to criticize the large and inefficient welfare state. The party combined this economic liberalism with progressive positions on social issues, which characterized the 1970s, such as abortion, homosexuality and women's rights. The VVD capitalized the weakening of religious and depillarization of the 1970s and made considerable electoral gains: in 1967 the party won just over 10% in 1981 this had more than doubled to 23%. Between 1982 and 1986 the VVD cooperated in the centre-right cabinets Lubbers, which implemented a far reaching reform of the welfare state the VVD had advocated since the 1970s. After 1994 In 1994 the Christian democratic CDA lost its traditional electoral power base. The VVD and D66 won considerably. A progressive purple cabinet was formed with D66 and the VVD under the lead of PvdA. The cabinet managed a thriving Dutch economy, implemented progressive social legislation on euthanasia, gay marriage and prostitution. In the 2002 election campaign the purple coalition came under heavy criticism of the populist politician Pim Fortuyn for mismanaging the public sector, migration and the integration of migrants. The two liberal parties lost considerably in the elections. Liberalism in the Netherlands came under attack after the shock assassination of Fortuyn just days before the election. The VVD however joined a coalition cabinet with the heirs