Citizens and scholars excel in identifying and analysing government failure. It is important indeed to understand public sector, but while governments in the Low Countries are doing well on average and very well from an internationally perspective, most attention is focused on the errors and mishaps. This article argues for a robust positive perspective on the public sector as a complement to existing research. From a scientific perspective, public administration must set itself the ambition to connect and aggregate existing positive insights even better. From a social perspective, the discipline must prevent the gap from being filled by a wholesale rejection of democratic government or the use of unproven miracle cures. This article elaborates the starting points for Positive Public Administration, arguing that this perspective should be comprehensive, context related, inter-subjective, learning-oriented, and robustly scientific in nature. The article also introduces the other contributions in this special issue, which together give an initial interpretation of positive public administration. |
Thema-artikel |
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Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 3 2019 |
Trefwoorden | Positive Public Administration, successful public governance, research agenda, societal relevance |
Auteurs | Scott Douglas DPhil, Prof. dr. Trui Steen en Prof. dr. Zeger van der Wal |
Samenvatting |
Vrij artikel |
Paradox van het Pact van de WaardDynamische regionale samenwerking in een krimpende Hoeksche Waard |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 3 2019 |
Trefwoorden | shrinking regions, regime theory, population decline, regional collaboration, regional strategies |
Auteurs | Janneke Rutgers-Zoet Msc en Dr. Tamara Metze |
Samenvatting |
In several regions in the Netherlands there are declining population numbers. In those regions, administrators, companies and societal organisations often start regional collaborations in order to anticipate population decline and maintain a good quality of life. This is a logical step, but in practice the collaborating partners face challenges. For this article we analysed over a period of eight years the dynamics of cooperation in the Hoeksche Waard, a region in the province of South Holland that is dealing with a decrease in the number of inhabitants. On the basis of the regime model (Stone 1989), and by conducting qualitative research, in this exploratory study we discerned a paradox of regional cooperation in this ‘shrinking’ region: a decline of population numbers is the reason to initiate informal cooperation in networks, but the complexity of the regional agenda leads to the desire for formalisation of the collaborations in formal decision making structures. This formalisation, in its turn, leads to less commitment from the parties and makes cooperation and achieving results difficult, which increases the need for informalisation. |
Thema-artikel ‘Uitgesproken Bestuurskunde’ |
Globalisering, consensusbestuur en de regio: naar een nieuwe maatschappelijke en bestuurlijke ordening? |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 2 2019 |
Trefwoorden | globalisation, consensus governance, regionalism, representation, decision-making |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Caspar van den Berg |
Samenvatting |
In his inaugural lecture entitled ‘From Pillars to Bubbles: The future of consensus governance in a globalized society’, Caspar van den Berg examines the consequences of economic and cultural globalization for the model of consensus governance that defined Dutch public administration for most of the 20th century. In doing so he presents an expansion and refinement of the Lijphartian model of consociationalism, and indicates which four factors supported consensus governance in the pillarized period, and how each of them has suffered erosion as globalization proceeded. It has become increasingly visible that globalization has differentiated effects for different groups in society, but also for different types of regions: booming regions benefit greatly from globalization, shrinking regions face major challenges. By combining recent insights from public administration, sociology, political science, economics and social geography, a new social order emerges, consisting of bubbles that are distinguished along socio-economic and territorial lines. These developments cause friction with regard to representation and decision-making at national, regional and local level. These are the themes on which the research within the Chair of Global and Local Governance will focus in the coming years. |
Thema-artikel |
‘Macho-meritocratie’ SingaporeVijf lessen uit het genadeloze streven naar ambtelijke excellentie |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 1 2019 |
Trefwoorden | Singapore, public service excellence, Performance, comparative public administration |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Zeger van der Wal |
Samenvatting |
Singapore and the Netherlands are small, export- and trade-dependent countries that perform excellently in many areas, such as good governance and integrity, policy effectiveness, liveability, innovation, and e-government. At the same time there are clear differences in political culture and history: Singapore has a more authoritarian governance style including limitations in press freedom, freedom of speech, and political activism. Within these contrasting contexts, both countries have introduced and implemented similar public management reforms since the 1990s. The aim of these reforms is to maintain public service excellence in a dynamic environment but the countries make contrasting choices in achieving this aim. This article describes how administrative excellence is organised and pursued in Singapore and identifies five lessons for the Netherlands: (1) Use positive narratives about government often; (2) be nuanced about capping top-level remuneration; (3) enhance the attractiveness of government as an employer; (4) invest in life-long learning; (5) be an authoritative expert amidst horizontalisation hypes. |
Thema-artikel |
Voortvarend in verbouwenHoe Denemarken efficiënt drastische beleidswijzigingen realiseert (maar niet per se heel effectief blijkt) |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 1 2019 |
Trefwoorden | Comparative public administration, Public reform, Reform implementation, Decentralisation, Civil service |
Auteurs | Eline van Schaik MSc |
Samenvatting |
In international comparative research, a dominant image often emerges of Denmark as a frontrunner in innovative governance, gaining top results in international rankings. |
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. |
Thema-artikel |
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Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 1 2019 |
Trefwoorden | bestuurlijke hervormingen, bestuurlijke ontwikkeling, internationale vergelijking, New Public Management, New Public Governance |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Joop Koppenjan en Dr. Willemijn Dicke |
Samenvatting |
In this special issue, recent public sector reforms in South Africa, Denmark, Belgium, Mexico, Singapore and Denmark are analysed. Reforms in the public sector are by and large explained as a chronological development from traditional bureaucracy, via New Public Management to New Public Governance. This is also the way the many administrative reforms in the Dutch public sector are often explained. |
Artikel |
Naar bestuursgericht toezicht in de zorg: een zoektocht naar passendheid |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 4 2018 |
Trefwoorden | healthcare governance, management-oriented regulation, experimenting, recoupling, reflective regulation |
Auteurs | Dr. Annemiek Stoopendaal en Dr. Hester van de Bovenkamp |
Samenvatting |
In this article, we discuss how regulation of governance in healthcare has been shaped over the past decade. We describe the presuppositions under this movement. Searching and balancing was needed to meet the complexity of care management. This has to do with the fact that the external pressure on the regulator after incidents is high. Due to this pressure, it is necessary to constantly ensure that management-oriented regulation does not narrow to the supervision on the actor with final responsibility. The regulation of good governance requires reflectivity of the inspectors and is aimed at stimulating recoupling between management and shop floors. This requires space for experimentation for both managers and inspectors. To provide this space, we do not only need a political and social debate about the quality of care and its management, but also attention and appreciation for the difficult considerations of organizing care. |
Artikel |
Aangescherpt bestuursgericht toezicht in de corporatiesectorHet wakend oog van de Autoriteit woningcorporaties onder de loep genomen |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 4 2018 |
Trefwoorden | public accountability, regulation strategies, policy change, policy implementation, (social) housing sector |
Auteurs | Olga Verschuren Msc en Dr. Stefanie Beyens |
Samenvatting |
The Dutch social housing sector is still recovering from a series of incidents that harmed the sector’s reputation drastically. Part of the recovery plan is the installation of an independent Housing Authority, who focuses specifically upon the ‘governance’ of housing corporations. This article explores the implementation and development of the Authority’s regulation strategy. It finds that although the strategy sharpens the focus of housing corporations and limits risky circumstances and behavior, it also triggers adverse effects. The Authority should therefore adopt a broader outlook, that is more sensitive to (1) the complexity of the social housing task, and (2) the pathologies of multiple accountabilities being placed upon the corporation(sector). |
Artikel |
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Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 4 2018 |
Trefwoorden | Inspection, Governance, Semipublic sector, Quality improvement, Opportunities and risks |
Auteurs | Dr. Meike Bokhorst, Dr. Marieke van Genugten, Dr. Mirjan Oude Vrielink e.a. |
Samenvatting |
In Dutch semi-public sectors of education, healthcare, and housing there is a tendency towards governance based inspection. The attention of inspectorates shifts from inspection on minimum quality standards to inspection on governance based quality improvement. The aim of this special issue is to learn more about the opportunities and risks of governance based inspection. The survey and sector articles show that governance based inspection (1) puts the responsibility of governors to stimulate quality on the agenda, (2) makes governors more aware of the quality targets they want to achieve within their organisations, and (3) has a deregulating effect. However, the risks are (1) reregulation via sector norms, (2) a lack of reality checks, and (3) a narrow focus on governors instead of the quality of public services. Consequently, inspectors have to learn new skills and competences. All in all, governance based inspection can complement but not replace other ways of inspection. |
Artikel |
Lokaal bestuur en burgerkracht: slimme sturing in het sociale domein |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 2 2018 |
Trefwoorden | Family Group Conference, participatory governance, professional care worker, care system reform, municipal care teams |
Auteurs | Dr. Annie de Roo en Dr. Rob Jagtenberg |
Samenvatting |
The Dutch social care system was fundamentally reformed in 2015. A key policy aim was to activate citizens and their social networks, turning them from mere consumers into co-producers of care. The expectation was that, by doing so, public spending could be reduced and community engagement could be restored at the same time. Regulation was put in place to incentivize network support. |
Artikel |
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Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 2 2018 |
Trefwoorden | hybrid governance, city-region, effectiveness, legitimacy |
Auteurs | dr. Linze Schaap, dr. Carlo Colombo, dr. Maaike Damen e.a. |
Samenvatting |
This article reports on an analysis of the effectiveness and legitimacy of modes of governance in four European regions that clearly show signs of hybridity, that is, they have private as well as public characteristics. Berlin, Eindhoven, Copenhagen-Malmö and Zurich thus aim to increase the problem-solving capacity of their regional governance and to govern ‘smartly’ in a complex and multi-level context. The individual cities search for effective links with private and societal actors, each in its own way. Legitimacy is an issue that is hardly reflected upon, though. Hybrid modes of governance may have negative impacts on both effectiveness and legitimacy, but also offer new opportunities for good governance. ‘Hybrid’ and ‘smart’ do not always go hand in hand, but they are not mutually exclusive either. |
Artikel |
Verkeer als stelsel met stelselverantwoordelijkheid voor veiligheid?Naar een moderne governance opvatting van ‘co-responsibility’ bij stelsels |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 1 2018 |
Trefwoorden | traffic safety, systems approach, governance, co-responsibility |
Auteurs | Dr. mr. Dick Ruimschotel |
Samenvatting |
Lack of safety leading to death or injury has many aspects: personal violence, traffic, accidents at home or the work place, not to mention other external sources as radiation and fine dust or internal sources like diseases. In this paper we restrict ourselves to the lack of safety in traffic as a system, and address the following questions: (1) Is traffic a system with one dominant responsible actor (Ministry of Traffic)? (2) What explanations are offered for the lack of safety? (3) Who is responsible for safety? (4) What sort of interventions are suitable for enhancing safety? and (5) What type of process/consultancy is most appropriate for answer the preceding questions? |
Artikel |
Hoezo zijn (on)veiligheidsbeslissingen lastig publiekelijk te verantwoorden? |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 1 2018 |
Trefwoorden | justification of risk policies, risk perception, risk acceptance, intractable citizen |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Ira Helsloot |
Samenvatting |
This article analyses a cause for the abundance of disproportional risk policies in the Netherlands. Many policymakers and academics believe that people in the Netherlands today are so risk averse that they are not willing to accept any risk that may result from reasonable risk policies. However, as some examples that we present show, there appears to be another kind of Dutch citizen: a citizen that understands and supports the decision of authorities that increase the risk to citizens but are necessary from the perspective of the common good. We argue that the belief in the unreasonable citizen is informed by one-sided research that only asks citizens how they perceive risks and what they want as risk consumers. Asking the same respondents face-to-face what they would do as policymakers themselves, however, results in diametric answers that show a rational and social side of those respondents. Respondents give higher priority to the education system or traffic safety than to preventing unusual risks such as asbestos or terrorism to themselves. Hence, the justification of reasonable risk policies is not as difficult as generally assumed. |
Artikel |
Institutionele leegte: nieuwe bronnen, nieuwe uitdagingen |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 3 2017 |
Trefwoorden | Institutional void, Literature review, Societal change, Technical innovation, Governance |
Auteurs | Prof.dr. Ellen van Bueren en Dr.ing. Bram Klievink |
Samenvatting |
Societal and technological developments (such as the digital and energy revolutions) move faster than existing institutions can keep up with. The developments may lead to a metaphorical institutional void, which brings questions about the nature of the void, the changing rules, practices and responsibilities, and about the strategies to deal with the void. The concept has been around for a while but (again) seems relevant to understand current socio-technological innovations and challenges, that also allow us to further conceptualise the institutional void. In this introduction to the issue, we discuss the concept of an institutional void and explore how it is used in various domains of study, including public administration. We argue for how the concept is relevant today and therein also introduce the topics that are discussed in this special issue. |
Artikel |
Crowd-based innovaties: verschuivende verantwoordelijkheden in een institutional void |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 3 2017 |
Trefwoorden | responsible innovation, institutional void, crowd-based innovations, governance |
Auteurs | Thijs Slot MSc, Dr. ir. Eefje Cuppen, Prof. dr. mr. ir. Neelke Doorn e.a. |
Samenvatting |
The crowd increasingly plays a key role in facilitating innovations in a variety of sectors, spurred on by IT-developments and the concomitant increase in connectivity. Initiatives in this direction, captured under the umbrella-term ‘crowd-based innovations’, offer novel opportunities in socio-technical systems by increasing the access, reach and speed of services. At the same time, they signify important challenges because these innovations occur in a context of traditional, well-established institutional and governance structures and practices. This dynamic is captured in the idea of the ‘institutional void’: the tension between traditional structures and (radically) new initiatives. Existing rules, standards and practices are challenged, which raises questions about the safeguarding of public values such as quality, legitimacy, efficiency and governance of crowd-based innovations. This article argues that understanding these tensions requires supplementing empirical research with an explicitly normative dimension to reach thorough and balanced conclusions to facilitate innovation while protecting the valuable elements in existing rules and regulations. Illustrated by a number of short examples, we propose a multidisciplinary research agenda towards formulating appropriate governance structures. |
Artikel |
Een gezamenlijke rekening?Over digitale innovatie en samenwerking in een institutional void |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 1 2017 |
Trefwoorden | collaboration, digital security, institutional void, collaborative governance, financial cyber fraud |
Auteurs | Dr. ing. Bram Klievink, Rolf van Wegberg MSc. en Prof. dr. Michel van Eeten |
Samenvatting |
The speed and disruptive character of digital innovations affect social structures and practices faster than institutions can keep up with them. This results in an ‘institutional void’, i.e. a gap between the rules and institutions and their ability and the effectiveness of their measures. It also affects the institutional stability that is the basis for the paradigm of collaboration-based types of governance. In this paper, we explore how parties are able to set up collaboration for digital security, which is inherently a topic that transcends organisational boundaries. Yet digital innovations constantly enable new challengers that might not share the same incentives for collaboration. Life in an institutional void is convenient for them and enables new business models. Hence, a key question is whether (institutionalised) collaboration is a sustainable model for addressing shared problems like digital security. We explore this question in the domain of financial cyber fraud. The new (regulatory) space currently being created for innovators suggests that the answer is ‘no’. It is too early to say how this will play out specifically and we argue for further research into the antecedents for collaboration in institutional voids. |
Artikel |
Duurzame innovatie in industriële clustersRollenspel tussen ondernemers en publieke assembleurs |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 4 2016 |
Trefwoorden | innovation, government, collaboration, industrial clusters |
Auteurs | Wouter Spekkink, Geert R. Teisman en Frank A.A. Boons |
Samenvatting |
We study the role division between public and private actors in their search for sustainable innovation of industrial clusters. This search unfolds as a two-phase process. In the first phase, private parties develop different projects for sustainable innovation independently from each other. Without coordination, a common ground for the projects emerges. Through their involvement in several of these projects, public actors are able to take up a central place between the projects and their associated actor coalitions. From this position, they are able to act on the common ground, and mobilize other actors for collaboration. The common ground is translated to a vision, and the private projects are assembled into a program, in which synergetic connections between the different projects are established. This starts the second phase of the process, in which a regional collaboration unfolds, coordinated by the public actors. Thus, the crucial role of private actors is to create the building blocks for sustainable innovation in the early stages of the process. The public actors are crucial in acting on these private initiatives, assembling the building blocks into programmatic effort towards sustainable innovation of industrial clusters. The main strength of public actors lies in their betweenness centrality. |
Artikel |
Doorgeven, negeren of vervormen?Media als kritische transparanteurs van beleid |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 4 2016 |
Trefwoorden | transparency, media, policy |
Auteurs | Thomas Schillemans en Anne Klijn MSc. |
Samenvatting |
Transparency is a token of modern governance and is said to serve many different goals. Earlier research has shown that the disclosure of information will only be seen by the public and serve its goals if ‘transparators’, such as news media, pay attention to the information. The news media cannot be expected to be uncritical implementers of transparency policies; they will only do so when the policy and ensuing story fit their criteria for newsworthiness. This paper analyzes when and how news media pay attention to different types of policies serving different types of goals. It does so on the basis of quantitative and qualitative content analysis of 8 important cases of transparency-policies in the Netherlands in the past decade. The analysis shows that, even for these high profile cases, the amount of media attention for disclosed information is limited. The analysis also suggests that the media primarily tend to treat items in neutral or critical frames. Particularly in cases where the disclosed information is about the government itself, media stories seem to be primarily negative. These results suggest, in line with prior research, that transparency-policies may easily fail to be effective. |
Artikel |
Overheden niet goed in innovatie?Empirische verkenningen van een ‘innovatiedilemma’ |
Tijdschrift | Bestuurskunde, Aflevering 4 2016 |
Trefwoorden | government, innovation, public values, dilemma |
Auteurs | Prof.dr.ing Geert Teisman, Dr. Haiko van der Voort en Prof.dr. Albert Meijer |
Samenvatting |
This contribution contains a summary and a conclusion of the special issue ‘Innovation and government: a bad marriage or a fertile relation’. Innovation is said to be not the core quality of government. However, we found that government is actually good in innovation, albeit not in an obvious way. Government has a complex position when it comes to innovation. Sometimes innovation may be seen as a public value. However, innovation usually also involves conflict with other public values that civilians expect government to secure. This the innovation dilemma is that government ought to be both favour and innovation and fight its negative consequences to other public values. The four contributions show how governments deal with this dilemma. They first move along with the innovation and then redefine their positions by for instance developing new instruments, bundling private initiatives or framing private initiatives to large programmes. |