Across Europe, urban education systems are struggling with the process of integration of immigrants in its schools. This article explores the most important aspects of this new urban phenomenon and its impact on urban school systems in the Netherlands. It clearly shows that ethnic segregation in elementary and secondary schools is widespread in Dutch cities. This ethnic segregation is caused by a combination of residential segregation, and, as our own studies prove, of parental choice. The article also deals with recent Dutch studies on the effects of segregation. Finally, it treats the question how schools and authorities, in a long-standing tradition of parental choice, are dealing with this segregation.

Community workers traditionally have a tendency to be very critical towards their own profession. Especially in the 1970s and 1980s, many community workers were afraid that structural conditions would prevent them from fulfilling an emancipatory role or, worse, that they would become part of a system of social control. In the discussion about the profession, the work of philosophers played an important role. In this paper we examine interpretations of two philosophers who were particularly influential among community workers: Foucault and Habermas. We cast doubts about the way in which these philosophers were used to discredit community work and develop an alternative interpretation that does justice to the profession as well as the work of these philosophers.

Recently in The Netherlands, as in other countries, many have called for administrative and democratic reform. The perspectives implicated in the arguments for change differ, however. Some argue for a strengthening of mechanisms of control and accountability. Others opt for more – and more direct – citizen participation in governance. In effect, these perspectives often contradict. In this article we will look into J.S. Mill's effort to combine such different perspectives. It is shown that in his considerations on good government a third principle is active: administrative competence or quality. Mill, thus, makes us aware of a deficiency in many contemporary evaluations of administrative and democratic renewal.