Hoe de Nederlandse Overheid omging met de Crisis

Dit artikel beschrijft hoe de Nederlandse overheid is omgegaan met de financiële bankencrisis in 2008, de economische crisis in 2009 en de budgettaire crisis in 2010. Wat heeft de Nederlandse overheid in die drie fasen van de crisis gedaan, en hoe zagen de politieke en ambtelijke besluitvormingsprocessen er uit? Tijdens de bankencrisis in 2008 vond sterk gecentraliseerd crisismanagement plaats. Het economische herstelpakket van 2009 was een aanvulling op het regeerakkoord. Het bezuinigingspakket van 2010 was de uitkomst van de coalitievorming. Naast de ‘politieke wereld’ lijkt ook een ‘financieel-economische wereld’ te hebben bestaan, waarin budgetdiscipline overheerste. Men krijgt de indruk dat de financiële kaders, de bezuinigingsbedragen in die wereld werden vastgesteld, en dat de politieke wereld ging over de beleidsinhoudelijke invulling binnen die kaders. De crisis lijkt invloed te hebben gehad op de verhouding tussen politieke en ambtelijke besluitvorming

On both sides of the Atlantic, downtown shops need to stick together to survive

Downtowns on both sides of the Atlantic have been under threat for decades: first from the rise of suburban malls, and now from the growing popularity of internet shopping. In new research which studies a century of retail change in Detroit and The Hague, Conrad Kickert and Rainer vom Hofe find that the closer shops are to each other, the ..

Distinctiveness in the Study of Public Management in Europe. A Historical-institutional Analysis of France, Germany and Italy

Session 4: Public ManagementThis paper presents three clear examples of distinctive approaches to the study of public management, that is, in France, Germany and Italy, three countries with peculiar legalistic state traditions. Per country first a historical sketch of state and administration is given, then the administrative (public management) reforms are described, subsequently the state of art of administrative sciences, and finally the specificness of the study of public management. The historical-institutional context of a particular state and administration apparently does influence not only the form and content of the administrative ‘public management’ reforms but also the scientific study of public management in that country

Solidifying system of democracy in the Central and Eastern European new EU members

The paper examines the requirements of an effective and legitimized democratic political system in the process of transition. The analysis and the conclusions are based on the Hungarian experience, which can carefully be applied to all Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Special focus is given to the relationship of legal certainty and the efficiency of the democratic system, to the tension between legalism and managerialism and to the characteristics of civil society organizations. In the conclusion special features of the transitional countries are pointed out

Evaluating megaprojects: from the “iron triangle” to network mapping

Evaluation literature has paid relatively little attention to the specific needs of evaluating large, complex industrial and infrastructure projects, often called ‘megaprojects’. The abundant megaproject governance literature, in turn, has largely focused on the so-called ‘megaproject pathologies’, i.e. the chronic budget overruns, and failure of such projects to keep to timetables and deliver the expected social and economic benefits. This article draws on these two strands of literature, identifies shortcomings, and suggests potential pathways towards an improved evaluation of megaprojects. To counterbalance the current overemphasis on relatively narrowly defined accountability as the main function of megaproject evaluation, and the narrow definition of project success in megaproject evaluation, the article argues that conceptualizing megaprojects as dynamic and evolving networks would provide a useful basis for the design of an evaluation approach better able to promote learning and to address the socio economic aspects of megaprojects. A modified version of ‘network mapping’ is suggested as a possible framework for megaproject evaluation, with the exploration of the multiple accountability relationships as a central evaluation task, designed to reconcile learning and accountability as the central evaluation functions. The article highlights the role of evaluation as an ‘emergent’ property of spontaneous megaproject ‘governing’, and explores the challenges that this poses to the role of the evaluator

The role of the assessment policy in the relation between learning and performance

__Context:__ Optimising student learning and academic performance is a continuous challenge for medical schools. The assessment policy may influence both learning and performance. Previously, the joint contribution of self-regulated learning (SRL) and participation in scheduled learning activities towards academic performance has been reported. However, little is known about the relationships between SRL, participation and academic performance under different assessment policies. __Objectives:__ The goal of this study was to investigate differences in average scores of SRL, participation and academic performance of students under two assessment policies: (i) a conjunctive lower stakes, lower performance standard (old) assessment policy and (ii) a compensatory higher stakes, higher performance standard (new) assessment policy. In addition, this research investigated whether the relationships between academic performance, SRL and participation are similar across both assessment policies. __Methods:__ Year-1 medical students (i) under the old assessment policy (n = 648) and (ii) under the new assessment policy (n = 529) completed the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire on SRL, and additional items on participation. Year-1 performance was operationalised as students’ average Year-1 course examination grades. manova and structural equation modelling were used for analyses. __Results:__ Generally, students under the new assessment policy showed significantly higher Year-1 performance, SRL and participation, compared with students under the old assessment policy. The relationships between Year-1 performance, SRL and participation were similar across assessment policies. __Conclusions:__ This study indicates that the higher academic performance under a compensatory higher stakes, higher performance standard assessment policy, results from higher SRL and participation, but not from altered relationships between SRL, participation and performance. In sum, assessment policies have the potential to optimise student learning and performance

Liefde voor het Openbaar Bestuur en Liefde voor de Bestuurskunde

Arthur Ringeling heeft in zijn afscheidsrede van 28 september 2007 aan de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam een terugblik gegeven op de langdurige studiereis die hij op het vakgebied der bestuurskunde heeft afgelegd. Zijn academische studiereis in de bestuurskunde nam een aanvang met zijn studie politicologie aan de Vrije Universiteit van Amsterdam, welke hij in 1969 afrondde. Daarna verhuisde de protestantse Amsterdammer naar het katholieke Zuiden om aan de katholieke Universiteit van Nijmegen wetenschappelijk medewerker te worden en in 1978 met succes een proefschrift te verdedigen over ‘beleidsvrijheid van ambtenaren’. In 1981 werd hij benoemd tot hoogleraar aan de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, waar hij in 1983 zijn oratie uitsprak met de titel ‘De Instrumenten van het Beleid’. In 1987 was hij betrokken bij het onderzoek van de parlementaire enquêtecommissie rond de paspoortaffaire. In 1992 verbleef hij een ‘sabbatical year’ op de School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) aan de Indiana University te Bloomington. In 1993 publiceerde hij zijn bekende boek ‘Het imago van de overheid’. En zoals we hierna zullen zien, ondernam hij daarna nog allerlei activiteiten die hem tot een bestuurskundige maakten die zowel in de wetenschap als de praktijk van het Nederlandse openbaar bestuur naam en faam heeft gemaakt

Assessing framing of uncertainties in water management practice

Dealing with uncertainties in water management is an important issue and is one which will only increase in light of global changes, particularly climate change. So far, uncertainties in water management have mostly been assessed from a scientific point of view, and in quantitative terms. In this paper, we focus on the perspectives from water management practice, adopting a qualitative approach. We consider it important to know how uncertainties are framed in water management practice in order to develop practice relevant strategies for dealing with uncertainties. Framing refers to how people make sense of the world. With the aim of identifying what are important parameters for the framing of uncertainties in water management practice, in this paper we analyze uncertainty situations described by decision-makers in water management. The analysis builds on a series of ¿Uncertainty Dialogues¿ carried out within the NeWater project with water managers in the Rhine, Elbe and Guadiana basins in 2006. During these dialogues, representatives of these river basins were asked what uncertainties they encountered in their professional work life and how they confronted them. Analysing these dialogues we identified several important parameters of how uncertainties get framed. Our assumption is that making framing of uncertainty explicit for water managers will allow for better dealing with the respective uncertainty situations. Keywords Framing - Uncertainty - Water management practic

What lies beneath? The role of informal and hidden networks in the management of crises

Crisis management research traditionally focuses on the role of formal communication networks in the escalation and management of organisational crises. Here, we consider instead informal and unobservable networks. The paper explores how hidden informal exchanges can impact upon organisational decision-making and performance, particularly around inter-agency working, as knowledge distributed across organisations and shared between organisations is often shared through informal means and not captured effectively through the formal decision-making processes. Early warnings and weak signals about potential risks and crises are therefore often missed. We consider the implications of these dynamics in terms of crisis avoidance and crisis management