Studenten Techniek in Politiek

Studenten Techniek In Politiek (STIP) (English: Technology Students In Politics) is a local political party in the Netherlands. STIP was founded in 1993 and is run solely by students. As such STIP is, worldwide, the oldest active political party that is completely run by students. As of today only two successful examples of student parties being able to win seats in town hall exist. The members of this local political party deliberately rotate their seats after 1 year in town hall (instead of the regular four years) to combine their function with their studies. STIP is a unique democratic example of student involvement in local politics.

In many student cities there are conflicts between the regular civilian population of the city and its student population. Often this conflict remains unresolved partly because of under-representation of students within official representative organs such as town hall. The concept of a student party as a way to increase student representation in local government was named as one of the best case practices to increase student friendliness of European cities.

The branch of STIP in the city of Delft has been taking part in the local town hall elections since 1994. A majority share of the members of the party are students of Delft University of Technology. During the election of 1994 the party gained one out of 37 seats of town hall and became part of the opposition. As of 2006, the part occupies 2 out of 37 seats in town hall and takes part in the governing coalition.