According to many observers, multicultural integration policies have strongly eroded in the Netherlands since the early 1990s and particularly following the rise of Pim Fortuyn in 2002. In this view, the Netherlands now follow harsh, assimilationist policies that threaten the foundations of democracy. Policy studies on the local level have however found strong continuities. This article investigates changes and continuities in Dutch integration policies on the national level. The cross-national policy data compiled in the Migration Policy Index show that the Netherlands are in 2007 still among the European countries that offer immigrants and their descendants the largest degree of legal equality. Comparative data on accommodation policies regarding immigrant cultures and religions show that Dutch policies are still culturally pluralist compared to most other European countries, e.g., by recognizing immigrants' ethnic and religious identities and practices, subsidizing and incorporating their associations, and providing preferential access to public sector jobs. Quantitative comparative policy data are supplemented by qualitative examples of pluralist policies in the media, the police force, and nature conservation and recreation. The article concludes that in spite of rhetoric to the contrary, there is strong path dependence in Dutch integration policies, also on the national level.

Municipalities expect that outsourcing, autonomization and privatization will reduce costs or even create revenues. Such decisions also have costs. An analysis of 38 reports by local audit offices shows that municipalities are not aware or unable to calculate these costs. Based on thirteen cases of autonomization and privatization in a large Dutch municipality, this article shows for example that personnel costs can be very high. Municipalities should therefore make better informed decisions, based on managerial considerations, rather than political reasons.

Since the 1980s, there has been a rise of managers and executives in public domains. Especially in domains like education, this development was accompanied by sharp controversies and 'clashes' between managers and professionals, who would be 'alienated' from each other. The classic nature of professional and managerial loyalties would seem to strengthen this alienation. Professionals would primarily be loyal to their profession, whereas managerial loyalties would mainly focus on organisations. Although research has criticized the one-sidedness of professional loyalty, managerial loyalty has hardly been studied up till now. In this article, managerial loyalties are analyzed theoretically as well as empirically. The article rests upon a qualitative study among school leaders in Dutch secondary education. It shows that management reforms in education did not result in the adoption of a new, primary loyalty to organizations, management or performance by school leaders. Instead, long-standing relations, for example with teachers, remain meaningful, also because most school leaders have a professional background as teacher. Consequently, assumptions about managers who alienate from professionals, and managers who do not value their relationships with professionals must be criticized, at least in (secondary) education.

In this article, we introduce the concept of 'policy alienation'. We define policy alienation as a general cognitive state of psychological disconnection from the policy program being implemented, here by a public professional who regularly interacts directly with clients. By introducing policy alienation, we want to contribute to the contemporary debate on the role of public professionals. According to some authors, professionals are experiencing increasing pressures, as managers have turned their backs to work floors and primarily opt for results, efficiency, and transparency. Conversely, other scholars note that it is questionable whether managers can be blamed for all perceived problems at work floors and in service delivery. We are able to examine these opposing claims using the policy alienation perspective, as this perspective not only takes into account the role of management, but also the influence of policy makers and politicians, as well as the claims of the more emancipated clients. After conceptualizing policy alienation, we use a case of insurance physicians and labor experts to illustrate how the concept can be researched empirically.

This article examines conflicts in public space in terms of the underlying 'symbolic order'. Using the case of the wild fires on New Year's eve in the city of The Hague it explores the role of the local government in managing the latest manifestation of this 'tradition' of fires in the neighbourhoods. The analysis illuminates a framing in terms of 'old' and 'new' fires in which the earlier fires were well understood as relating to a neighbourhood culture and the new fires, attributed to young migrant youths, are not. It is pointed out that there is a wide variety of attributions that now inform the response of local government. As an alternative it is suggested to invest in understanding the symbolics of fire setting and appreciate the fact that the 'parochial' sphere that was characteristic for neighbourhoods some decades ago, can no longer be assumed. It is suggested that the fact that different actors hold distinct frames is crucial for understanding the conflict.