This article presents the research program into governance in a knowledge society of professor Albert Meijer and colleagues at Utrecht University. The knowledge society is a society in which (1) citizens are higher educated that ever before and their level of education largely determines their societal position, (2) knowledge plays a key role in administrative and policy processes and is increasingly contested and (3) technology plays a key role in every facet of societal life. Research into governance of and in the knowledge society requires a transdisciplinary and plural approach to scientific work. Transdisciplinarity entails combining insights from science with various forms of contextual and practical knowledge. A plural approach to scientific works means that we should not only do explanatory empirical work but also theoretical, normative and prescriptive research. The overall ambition of this research program is to contribute to a democratic debate about the governance of the future.

To address a range of interconnected food-related challenges, Dutch policymakers have invested in the development of integrated food policy in recent years. This article discusses this development in two parts. The first part contains a detailed description of the main events and lines of thinking that characterized the food policy process. From this description it becomes clear that food policy has been gradually developing towards a separate institutionalized policy domain. In the second part, this development is analysed from a policy integration perspective. This analysis shows that although considerable steps towards strengthened policy integration have been made, the Dutch ‘Food agenda’ does not yet proceed beyond symbolic levels. This particularly shows in the absence of concrete policy goals and in a policy instrument mix that has not been adjusted to strengthen consistency and effectiveness. In addition, the involvement of relevant ministries gradually decreased after the initial stages. The article concludes that the food policy process has arrived at a critical juncture: the next steps of the new government will prove decisive for whether food policy integration intentions will advance beyond the drawing board. Political and administrative leadership are identified as key conditions for such further steps to occur.

Interview with Winnie Sorgdrager, member of the Council of State of the Netherlands

In this feature authors review recently published books on subjects of interest to readers of Beleid en Maatschappij.

The application to animals of biotechnological techniques raises moral dilemmas and requires collective agreements. Under what circumstances, for example, are applications permissible? The technological and ethical complexity of biotechnology makes it difficult to arrive at such agreements. With the recent Animal Biotechnology Act, the Dutch Minister of Agriculture has created an arrangement that should facilitate social learning. Did the arrangement work out as planned? This evaluation study demonstrates that very little substantive learning has taken place: positions have become more rigid and antagonists continue to contest one another in a legal discourse. The legalization has hindered learning processes but presents the opportunity for a polarized debate to be conducted within the same institutional framework.

Het kabinet-Balkenende II streeft met het actieprogramma ‘Andere Overheid’ naar een overheid die: terughoudender is in wat ze regelt, een groter beroep doet op maatschappelijke krachten, zich concentreert op een aantal kerntaken en hoogwaardige prestaties levert. Centraal staat de herbezinning op de inrichting en werking van de (rijks)overheid en op de verhouding tussen de overheid en de samenleving, die consequent ‘civil society’ wordt genoemd. Met behulp van vier actielijnen, die bijna zeventig initiatieven omvatten, wordt geprobeerd de overheid te veranderen. De ambities van het programma en de vele initiatieven rechtvaardigen bestuurswetenschappelijke aandacht. Wat is het ‘andere’ van ‘Andere Overheid’? Is dat echt anders - en beter? Zo niet, hoe zou een echt ‘andere’ overheid eruit kunnen zien? Dergelijke vragen, zo zal blijken, worden terecht gesteld. Vooral in organisatietheoretisch opzicht kent het programma relatief klassieke oriëntaties die niet alleen niet om een echt andere overheid gaan, maar ook tekortschieten om overheidsorganisaties zinvol te verbinden met complexe maatschappelijke contexten en praktijken.