This paper presents the policy theory of the Dutch Inspectorate of Education’s 2017 framework. The framework includes a set of indicators and working methods for the inspections of school boards which are expected to lead to improved quality and organizational learning of the schools and colleges within each board’s portfolio. Inspection feedback, quality assurance, stakeholder involvement and governance are the key mechanisms through which customized inspections are assumed to affect change. These customized inspections start from a set of legal requirements schools and colleges have to meet, but add inspections modules which are agreed on with each school board at the start of an inspection visit. As these inspections are currently being implemented, there is no evidence yet on the validity of these assumptions.

Political and policy decisions are often presented as neutral choices. Yet, seemingly neutral and widely accepted views are ideologically embedded in a vision on how society should look and what role citizens have to play. These ideologies, we argue, remain silent. In this special issue, we discuss the value and risks of silent ideologies. While silent ideologies may be functional in some cases, there are also risks. The various contributions show that there is a risk of criticism, new ideas and innovative solutions being removed from the political debate. Also, silent ideologies may conceal conflicting interests of citizens and the state, which may exclude the ‘irresponsible’ citizen from the public domain. We argue that public officials and civil servants should take up a role in addressing silent ideologies and their workings.

In this article we present the results of research on how five hybrid social housing associations tried to create public value. We link Moore's Public Value Management framework to theories on good governance and discuss the tensions that arise when hybrid organizations create public values and how they are dealt with. Based on this, we describe several recommendations for Dutch social housing associations.

In this introduction to the special issue of Bestuurskunde on Good Governance, we first introduce the central theme of this issue. We notice that many laudable values are usually included in codes of good governance, but that these values conflict in the context of public governance - conflicts that need to be managed. How this could be done and in which way values clash in (semi-)public organizations, is the main theme of this special issue

De laatste tijd zijn er verschillende branchecodes en adviezen rondom goed bestuur en maatschappelijke dienstverlening verschenen. Hierin staan maatschappelijke ondernemingen (hybride organisaties) centraal. Ook de Europese en nationale wetgeving rondom hybride organisaties is in beweging. In dit artikel komt een aantal aspecten en objecten van toezicht en verantwoording bij hybride organisaties aan bod, zoals het verantwoorden over meerwaarde, het voorkómen van concurrentievervalsing, de betrokkenheid van belanghebbenden en het omgaan met risico's.

Een vergelijking tussen ontwikkelingen in het bedrijfsleven en de publieke sector leert dat maatschappelijke verantwoording in het bedrijfsleven prominenter op de agenda staat dan in de publieke sector. De positie van de interne toezichthouders en de aandeelhouders is in het bedrijfsleven sterker. Jaarverslagen en websites van het bedrijven in het algemeen scoren beter dan die van de publieke sector. Daarnaast worstelen beide sectoren met vergelijkbare vragen: de betrouwbaarheid en de relevantie van nietfinanciële verantwoordingsinformatie vormen een probleem en de interactie met stakeholders is voor beide sectoren van toenemend belang.