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. |
Artikel |
De opkomst van voedselbeleid: voorbij de tekentafel |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 4 2018 |
Trefwoorden | Food policy, Food system, Agricultural policy, Policy integration, Policy instruments |
Auteurs | Dr. Jeroen Candel |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Artikel |
De interactielogica van verzet: een dramaturgische analyse van escalatie tijdens een informatieavond |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 3 2018 |
Trefwoorden | Protest, Governance, Participation, Dramaturgy, Interaction logic |
Auteurs | Sander van Haperen MSc |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Theory about participation has long moved beyond merely informing citizens, arguing for more influential and effective instruments. Nevertheless, ‘inspraak’ remains widely implemented in Dutch practice, with mixed results. This article argues that the deliberative quality of the instrument is closely related to the performance of power. Dramaturgical concepts are employed to analyze resistance against the siting of a homeless facility in an Amsterdam neighborhood. One particular evening sets the stage for escalation, which ultimately frustrates the policy process. The analysis shows how the performance of the meeting invokes specific kinds of resistance. A different performance of ‘informing’ could potentially improve the quality of the public sphere. |
Dossier |
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Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 3 2018 |
Trefwoorden | Housing, Financialization, Private investors, Buy-to-let, Private rent |
Auteurs | Jelke Bosma MSc, Dr. Cody Hochstenbach, Dr. Rodrigo Fernandez e.a. |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
In this feature authors discuss recent research findings that are of interest to readers of Beleid en Maatschappij. |
Dossier |
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Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 2 2018 |
Auteurs | Fabian Dekker |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
In the last few years, platform work and the so-called ‘gig economy’ have been growing across countries. While policy makers are debating the gig economy, there is no single agreed definition of this new type of work and systematic academic reviews are missing. This literature review provides main findings of relevant papers on working in the gig economy. The article shows that the growth of the gig economy fits well into the increasing hybridisation of work, which raises some political questions. |
Artikel |
De redzaamheidsnotie als dekmantel |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 2 2018 |
Trefwoorden | (zelf)redzaamheid, Participatiesamenleving, Maatschappelijke onzekerheden, Verzorgingsstaat, Morele strijd |
Auteurs | Sjouke Elsman MSc |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
In recent years few political ambitions enjoyed so much political support as the striving to let the welfare state become more of a ‘participation society’. This ‘participation society’ should be a society with self-reliant citizens; before turning to the state for support, citizens should first of all look at their own capacities, and only in the last case ask the state for help. The premise is promising: collective well-being. However, the fundamental assumptions behind this notion do raise questions. This article argues that the notion for citizens to be self-reliant easily builds on questionable assumptions; these assumptions on the one hand raise hope for collective well-being, but on the other hand easily catalyze citizens’ contemporary uncertainties. It indeed is desirable to restate the relation between state and citizens, but the contemporary focus on citizens’ self-reliance should watch for building on unstable foundations to easily. |
Artikel |
Loslaten in achterdochtOver het gebrek aan vertrouwen in burgers |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 2 2018 |
Trefwoorden | vertrouwen, loslaten, participatiesamenleving, eigenbelang, bestuurlijk discours |
Auteurs | Daniël van Kapel MSc |
Samenvatting |
Much has been written about the decline of trust in societies: trust in governments and political systems is a popular field of research. Trust of governments in citizens however, is a relatively unknown field. This article presents a research into the trust the Dutch government has in its citizens. By conducting a discourse analysis on policy documents regarding the participation society, the degree of trust was examined. The results show that the government has trust in the capabilities of citizens, but does not trust the intentions of citizens. This results in many control measures, high transaction costs, a fragile base for public cooperation and a disturbed relationship between the government and citizens. In order to gain more trust in citizens the government has to change the way it uses language regarding citizens. |
Artikel |
De digitale kooi: administratieve uitsluiting door informatiearchitectuur in de Basisregistratie Personen |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 1 2018 |
Trefwoorden | Bureaucracy, Iron cage, Civil registry, ICT, Public services |
Auteurs | Dr. Rik Peeters en Dr. Arjan Widlak |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
The Dutch Municipal Personal Records Database is an IT-innovation that enables the use of the civil registry by hundreds of (semi-)public organisations. Literature review and a case study show how this ‘basis registration’ creates a deep tension between system and lifeworld: citizens who do not fit the system’s criteria lose their access to the major part of public services. The instrumental rationality of the system simplifies the use of addresses for service delivery to one single definition, turns the consequences of address mutations into a black box, and reduces the discretionary space of street-level bureaucrats to handle with social complexities and unintended consequences of the system. This type of IT-innovations can, therefore, come to resemble a ‘digital cage’: a highly disciplining system that hinges on hardware and software design instead of Weberian rules and procedures. |
Casus |
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Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 1 2018 |
Trefwoorden | health-care organizations, financial accounts, for-profit or not-for-profit, Profits, economies of scale |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Jeroen Suijs en Prof. dr. Harrie Verbon |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
In this feature authors discuss recent research findings that are of interest to readers of Beleid en Maatschappij. |
Artikel |
Slanker maar topzwaar, meer vrouwen maar vergrijsd: het veranderende gezicht van de rijksoverheid 2002-2015 |
Tijdschrift | Beleid en Maatschappij, Aflevering 1 2018 |
Trefwoorden | Cutbacks, Government spending, Civil servants, Public service, Open data |
Auteurs | Dr. Dimiter Toshkov, Eduard Schmidt MSc en Prof. dr. Caspar van den Berg |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
This article analyses the transformations of the Dutch civil service over the last 15 years, during which numerous cutbacks and reorganizations took place. While existing research predominantly focused on changes in the total number of civil servants, we examine how the distribution of civil servants changed in terms of rank, gender and age. We theorize four methods for shrinking the government apparatus, and for each method, we identify the possible consequences for the composition of the central civil service in terms of hierarchical make-up and of age. Our results indicate that the total number of civil servants only slightly decreased, but the decrease affected differentially the various ranks of the civil service. While at the lower ranks the number of civil servants decreased strongly, at the upper ranks the number actually increased slightly. The number of women in the civil service increased, also in the higher echelons. Regarding the age distribution, we found considerable changes, with the modal age shifting upwards with up to ten years. Altogether, the civil service has become slightly smaller, more gender-balanced, and significantly more senior (both in terms of ranks and age). The results of this study show that it is important for researchers and practitioners to look beyond the trends in the total number of civil servants and explore the deeper changes within the civil service. |