Participatory and responsive approaches to research strive to be democratic, inclusive and impactful. Participatory researchers share a commitment to epistemic justice and actively engage citizens and users as well as other stakeholders in the co-creation of knowledge for social change. While more and more researchers and policymakers feel attracted to these approaches in practice, the normative ideals of social inclusion and justice are sometimes hard to realize, because of established interests, power relations and system requirements. In this article I argue that participatory researchers and evaluators have a moral responsibility to do ‘ethics work’. This is more than just following ethical principles and codes of conduct. ‘Ethics work’ entails the labour and effort one puts into recognizing ethically salient aspects of situations, developing oneself as a reflexive practitioner, paying attention to emotions and relationships, collaboratively working out the right course of action and reflecting in the company of critical friends. In this article I present the theory and ethics of participatory approaches, illustrate ethical issues and ethics work related to collaboration, politics and power, and share lessons based on ten years of practice in the field of health and social well-being. |
Zoekresultaat: 19 artikelen
Artikel |
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Tijdschrift | Beleidsonderzoek Online, september 2020 |
Auteurs | Tineke Abma |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Thema-artikel |
Een kritisch-pragmatische bestuurskundeOxymoron of gelukkig huwelijk? |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 1 2020 |
Trefwoorden | critical pragmatism, public administration, energy justice, governance arrangements, regional energy strategies |
Auteurs | Dr. Tamara Metze |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
A pragmatic criticaster or a critical pragmatist is considered a schizophrenic in daily life: it seems impossible to be solution oriented and critical at the same time. You are either an optimist or a pessimist. This schism also seems to run between public administration and political scientists. Public administration is focused on (positive) problem solving, whereas political scientists – especially in a tradition of critical theory – examine the exertion of power. This essay proposes a combination of the two extremes: a critical-pragmatist approach for public administration. |
Article |
Still Consociational? Belgian Democracy, 50 Years After ‘The Politics of Accommodation’ |
Tijdschrift | Politics of the Low Countries, Aflevering 1 2020 |
Trefwoorden | Belgium, consociational democracy, Lijphart, federalism, ethnolinguistic conflict |
Auteurs | Didier Caluwaerts en Min Reuchamps |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Despite the enduring importance of Lijphart’s work for understanding democracy in Belgium, the consociational model has come under increasing threat. Owing to deep political crises, decreasing levels of trust in elites, increasing levels of ethnic outbidding and rising demands for democratic reform, it seems as if Lijphart’s model is under siege. Even though the consociational solution proved to be very capable of transforming conflict into cooperation in Belgian politics in the past, the question we raise in this article is whether and to what extent the ‘politics of accommodation’ is still applicable to Belgian democracy. Based on an in-depth analysis of the four institutional (grand coalition, proportionality, mutual veto rights and segmental autonomy) and one cultural (public passivity) criteria, we argue that consociational democracy’s very nature and institutional set-up has largely hollowed out its potential for future conflict management. |
Article |
Deliberation Out of the Laboratory into DemocracyQuasi-Experimental Research on Deliberative Opinions in Antwerp’s Participatory Budgeting |
Tijdschrift | Politics of the Low Countries, Aflevering 1 2020 |
Trefwoorden | Deliberative democracy, mini-publics, participatory budget, social learning, deliberative opinions |
Auteurs | Thibaut Renson |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
The theoretical assumptions of deliberative democracy are increasingly embraced by policymakers investing in local practices, while the empirical verifications are often not on an equal footing. One such assertion concerns the stimulus of social learning among participants of civic democratic deliberation. Through the use of pre-test/post-test panel data, it is tested whether participation in mini-publics stimulates the cognitive and attitudinal indicators of social learning. The main contribution of this work lies in the choice of matching this quasi-experimental set-up with a natural design. This study explores social learning across deliberation through which local policymakers invite their citizens to participate in actual policymaking. This analysis on the District of Antwerp’s participatory budgeting demonstrates stronger social learning in real-world policymaking. These results inform a richer theory on the impacts of deliberation, as well as better use of limited resources for local (participatory) policymaking. |
Artikel |
Over Rousseau, goede burgers en de participatiesamenlevingEen normatieve analyse van het nieuwe contractdenken van de Nederlandse overheid door de ogen van een klassieke contractdenker |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 4 2019 |
Trefwoorden | Beleidsevaluatie, Burgerschap, Participatiesamenleving, Rousseau, Sociaal contract |
Auteurs | Dr. Yvonne Kleistra |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
In the Netherlands good citizenship has become a topic of increased importance on the government agenda since the murder of Pim Fortuyn. The author assesses the effectiveness of the Dutch citizenship policies within the context of the broader policy framework of the so-called participatory society (participatiesamenleving) or do-democracy (doe-democratie). The evaluative analysis consists of two parts. In the first part the changing ideas concerning good citizenship are identified as well as the normative assumptions that are at the basis of Dutch citizenship policies. In the second part, the potential of current policies, and in particular the ideas that gave rise to creating a new social contract between government and society are assessed. To this end some key aspects of the new contract thinking of the Dutch government are contrasted with the ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The findings show that the current strive for tangible agreements on citizen behavior and civic duties is at odds with the main principles of classic contract theory. This leads to the conclusion that the new contractualism that is at the basis of the Dutch citizen policies should rather be seen as a threat to a stable society than as a building block for good citizenship. |
PhD Review |
‘Romani Women in European Politics: Exploring Multi-Layered Political Spaces for Intersectional Policies and Mobilizations’PhD by Serena D’Agostino (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), supervisors: Karen Celis, Ilke Adam. |
Tijdschrift | Politics of the Low Countries, Aflevering 2 2019 |
Auteurs | Peter Vermeersch |
Auteursinformatie |
Vanuit de VB |
Juryrapport Van Poelje Jaarprijs 2017 |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 1 2019 |
Vrij artikel |
Transparantie in de EU-RaadOnvermijdelijk en onmisbaar? Onverzadelijk en onuitvoerbaar? |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 1 2019 |
Trefwoorden | transparency, Council of the EU, access to documents, democratic legitimacy |
Auteurs | Dr. Maarten Hillebrandt |
Samenvatting |
The democratic deficit is generally observed to be one of the largest challenges facing the European Union. This is in spite of the fact that the member states introduced transparency in 1992 to address this legitimacy problem. This article asks why, after several decades, the transparency policy has still not delivered on its promise. In doing so, it bases itself on new empirical data that was collected in the context of a recently presented dissertation (Hillebrandt, 2017), while drawing a strict distinction between the empirical policy change question and the normative desirability question. From a longitudinal comparative analysis, a differentiated empirical image arises. On the one hand, a clear enhancement of legislative transparency can be discerned; on the other hand, a plurality of transparency-evasive practices has emerged in the area of non-legislative decision-making. This equivocal image supports contrasting normative responses, according to which transparency is respectively cast as an indispensable ideal, a fiction, or a solution in search of a problem. |
Article |
Transformative Welfare Reform in Consensus Democracies |
Tijdschrift | Politics of the Low Countries, Aflevering 1 2019 |
Trefwoorden | consensus democracy, welfare state, social investment, transformative reform, Belgium and the Netherlands |
Auteurs | Anton Hemerijck en Kees van Kersbergen |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
This article takes up Lijphart’s claim that consensus democracy is a ‘kinder, gentler’ form of democracy than majoritarian democracy. We zoom in on contemporary welfare state change, particularly the shift towards social investment, and argue that the kinder, gentler hypothesis remains relevant. Consensus democracies stand out in regard to the extent to which their political institutions help to overcome the politically delicate intricacies of governing for the long term. We theorize the features that can help to solve the problem of temporal commitment in democracy through processual mechanisms and illustrate these with short case studies of the contrasting welfare state reform experiences in the Netherlands and Belgium. |
Artikel |
Slimme handhaving in de sociale zekerheidLessen uit een landelijke enquête onder uitkeringsgerechtigden |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 4 2018 |
Trefwoorden | Regulatory enforcement, Social security, Compliance, Motivational postures, Procedural justice |
Auteurs | Dr. Marc Hertogh en Dr. Willem Bantema |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Using survey data from 1,300 welfare recipients in the Netherlands, this paper explores the effects of different enforcement styles in the field of social security law. Although most policy debates focus on punitive and persuasive enforcement, our findings suggest that both styles only play a limited role in explaining regulatory compliance. Our study also shows that the level of compliance among welfare recipients is related to their ‘motivational postures’ (Braithwaite 2003; 2009; 2011). While some of these ‘postures’ are shaped by elements of procedural justice, others are related to the perceived legitimacy of laws or to instrumental motives. Given these findings, we suggest that compliance with social security laws may not only depend on punitive or persuasive enforcement, but also on the degree in which regulatory enforcement is attuned to the individual characteristics of welfare recipients. Finally, these ideas are translated into several practical suggestions for the ‘smart enforcement’ of social security law. |
Artikel |
De wil van WilsonOnder bestuurskundigen: een reflectie op de zelfreflectie en een pleidooi voor bestuurskunde als politieke wetenschap |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 4 2016 |
Trefwoorden | public administration, politics, self-image, myth, critical |
Auteurs | Mark van Ostaijen MSc MA |
Samenvatting |
What do Public Administration scholars tell Public Administration students in the Netherlands about the study of Public Administration as science, public administration as empirical domain and how it works? By means of interpretative and historicizing research I studied student handbooks and historical reviews on the origination myth and self-image of Public Administration. |
Diversen |
‘Maar ze hebben er wel over nagedacht’Over de rol van gezag bij het voorkomen van vijandigheid jegens politieke ambtsdragers |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurs­wetenschappen, Aflevering 1 2015 |
Auteurs | Dr. Niels Karsten |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
The aggression and violence towards political office-holders underline the importance of rethinking public authority. This essay contains an exploration of contemporary sources of authority for political office-holders and especially local executives. This is done on the basis of a review of the literature and an analysis of empirical research in this area. After an exploration of the sources of authority for Dutch mayors and aldermen, these sources of authority are related towards aggression and violence towards political office-holders with the help of the political theory of Chantal Mouffe. Based on this exploration the author argues that political office-holders who invoke generally accepted principles, values and norms, or who use personal sources of authority, are more favorable in the struggle against aggression and violence than other local executives who invoke institutional or delegated sources. |
Discussie |
Geen uitweg uit de Europese valstrik van de euroredding? |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 3 2014 |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Fritz W. Scharpf |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
This paper attempts a normative assessment of the input and output-oriented legitimacy of the present euro-rescuing regime on the basis of policy analyses examining the causes of present crises, the available policy options, and the impact of the policies actually chosen. Concluding that the regime lacks input-oriented legitimacy and that its claim to output-oriented legitimacy is ambivalent at best, the paper explores potential – majoritarian or unilateral – exits from the present institutional constellation that is characterized by the synthesis of a non-democratic expertocracy and an extremely asymmetric intergovernmental bargaining system. |
Article |
Politieke theorie en de Europese Unie: het braakliggend terrein van het normatief programma |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 4 2014 |
Trefwoorden | European Union, political theory, integration theory, European Studies, ideal theory |
Auteurs | Erik De Bom |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
In this article it will be argued that the contribution of political theory to European studies is rather one-sided and could be enriched by broadening the spectrum. To make this clear, the first part of this article will offer an overview of the contribution of political theory to European integration studies up to the present day. In the second part, avenues for further research will be presented with special attention to the importance of theories of justice for the EU. In close connection to this program, the value of ideal theory will be highlighted as a means to think about the further development of the EU and to critically assess the present functioning of the EU. |
Artikel |
Co-regulering: niet doen! Of toch?Een essay over de beoordeling van co-regulering vanuit twee interpretaties van governance |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 3 2013 |
Trefwoorden | co-regulation, inspection, governance, assessment |
Auteurs | Haiko van der Voort |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Public regulators and inspectorates are increasingly involved in self-regulatory initiatives. This contribution is about co-regulation, which are co-ordination efforts among public regulators and self-regulating institutions. In co-regulation arrangements typical regulation and oversight activities, such as standard setting, information gathering and sanctioning become subjects of co-ordination between public and private actors. Co-regulation arrangements are typically network efforts. At the same time ‘regulation’ has a hierarchical connotation. This paradox shows in interpretations of ‘governance’ and ‘the move from government to governance’, the latter being a popular phrase qualifying a change of the government’s role in society. Main question in this paper is what the changing role of government in society means for the assessment of co-regulation. Based on literature two implicit, but opposing interpretations of ‘governance’ and the change are described. This implicitness may cause unsound assessments of co-regulation, either too tough or too lenient. In this contribution the normative implications of both interpretations are made explicit for co-regulation. The argument is illustrated by the case of co-regulation in the Dutch coach travel industry. |
Article |
Because it is Normative, Stupid!Over de rol van politieke theorie binnen de politicologie |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 1 2011 |
Trefwoorden | normative political theory, political science, methodology, Rawls |
Auteurs | Roland Pierik |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
This article presents a state-of-the-art description of political theory and analyses the role of political theory within the discipline of political science. It starts by describing two dominant approaches within the sub-discipline: conceptual political theory and normative political theory. Secondly, it situates political theory as separated from political science in general and from actual political debates. Thirdly, it analyses the role of methodology in normative political theory. |
Artikel |
De vraag als antwoord?Normatieve risico's van vraagsturing en de implicaties voor de rol van professionals |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 3 2006 |
Auteurs | Hans Bosselaar |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
The growing interest in demand-based delivery is to be comprehended regarding the criticism on the traditional 'apply-based' delivery. Regarding the literature, the main stream notion on demand-based delivery contains the transfer of the tasks and duties from the intermediate professional to the client. Consequently, the (demanding) client is directly able to affect the provisions he is eligible to and to influence the acquirement of the services and goods. The main issues are: This article focuses on the new role of intermediate professionals. The intermediate professional can maintain a role in realising the demand-supply relationship between the client and the supplying professional; he can get the task to acquire and spread the required market information, but as well can get the responsibility to support the market participants using this information. In the same time, this responsibility can help to avoid the normative risks, especially the risk of inadequacy. This new role must probably be regulated and in any case be monitored to prevent from the situation that the intermediate professional will take over the new responsibilities of the client. If this does not happen, the transfer to the demand-based delivery of public services will fail. On the other hand, if their will be no accessible client support by the new intermediate professional, the transfer to the demand-based delivery will tarnish the fundaments of the social system. |
Artikel |
Corporatisme en lobbyisme gezien vanuit fundamentele processen van collectieve besluitvorming |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 4 2005 |
Auteurs | Frans N. Stokman |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
This article distinguished between three fundamental processes of collective decision-making as collective production in social systems: (1) persuasion; (2) exchange and (3) coercion. The conditions under which these processes are dominant are described, as well as the type of network that is central to each of the processes. Corporatism and lobbyism appear to be two polarities of collective decision-making. In corporatism interest groups are directly involved in final decision making through formal and informal institutions whereas in lobbyism final decision making is delegated to independent persons. In corporatist decision-making, mutual interests dominate conflicting interests. Thus, a failure of reaching consensus becomes unattractive and consensus is guaranteed through the formal norm of majority decision-making and the informal norm of unanimity. When mutual interests dominate over conflicting interests, lobbyism is reflected by the interactions between lobby activists and civil servants and politicians who share the same position. Ad hoc lobbyism will arise when conflicts of interests dominate and a non-cooperative game exists in which (temporal) coalitions must be built. |
Article |
Coalitiesteun in Antwerpen, Hasselt en OostkampDe invloed van politieke ontevredenheid, politiek wantrouwen en etnocentrisme vergeleken |
Tijdschrift | Res Publica, Aflevering 4 2007 |
Auteurs | Marc Swyngedouw, Koen Abts en Jarl Kampen |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
In this paper we investigate the effects of political dissatisfaction, political distrust and ethnocentrism on support to the incumbent coalition in three different municipalities in Flanders. Theoretically, we define the concept of political trust, at which it is differentiated from political satisfaction and political alienation. At the same time, four dimensions of political distrust are disentangled: competence, integrity, responsiveness and justice. Empirically, four research questions may be distinguished. First, we investigate whether political satisfaction, political trust and ethnocentrism have an independent effect on support to the ruling majority. Second, we check whether there are differential effects of the dimensions of political trust on the dependent variable in the different municipalities.Third, we try to connect the micro-level data with macro-level, by linking the results with the characteristics of the local government and the party system. Fourth, we examine the influence of the presence of extreme right. |