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Copyright of Tijdschrift voor Arbeidsvraagstukken is the property of Amsterdam University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Different governmental institutions are publishing more and more visions, strategies, or proposed regulations related to artificial intelligence. This paper analyses how these visions or proposed regulations are put into practice. To this end, the proposed European Union Artificial Intelligence Act, the Dutch artificial intelligence strategy and the proposed new Dutch energy law are compared. Even though the new Dutch energy law was created parallel and published after the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act, it does not take into account the use of artificial intelligence in the electricity actor. Similarly, the focus points of the Dutch artificial intelligence strategy are ignored in the new Dutch energy law. Two issues emerge from this. First, it is questionable if and how visions, strategies and proposed regulations related to AI are translated into different sectors and related practices. Second, as the different acts and proposed regulations do not communicate or overlap, gaps develop between the different policies. It is unclear which institutions will fill in these gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of policy styles in policymaking has attracted renewed scholarly interest in recent years. One of the central debates in this literature revolves around the question of how to reconcile archetype national policy styles with considerable differences in modus operandi across policy sectors. A sector-specific feature that is considered a key determinant of the manifestation of archetype national policy styles in the European Union is the degree of Europeanisation of policy sectors. This paper picks up this suggestion by addressing the question of whether and how Europeanisation affects the degree to which features of an archetype national policy style are manifest within a sector. We address this question by exploring sectoral policy styles in agricultural and food-related public health policymaking across three EU Member States: The Netherlands, the United Kingdom (England), and France. Our findings suggest that the degree of Europeanisation of a policy sector does prove an important condition that helps to understand the relationship between national and sectoral policy styles. More specifically, Europeanisation has the strongest effect when sectors face a higher adaptation pressure, i.e., when there is a larger misfit between sectoral regimes and EU-induced institutional demands. We suggest various promising avenues of future research on this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioral interventions in general, and nudges in particular have become in recent years a popular (soft) regulatory instrument all around the world. Despite the excitement around this policy‐relevant field, some concerns have been raised. Nudges utilize behavioral biases in order to direct an individual's behavior. People, however, are usually not aware of the fact that such biases are used to influence their behavior. Making nudges transparent is important in democratic societies; yet, this might inhibit their effectiveness. Whether transparency inhibits the effect of a nudge was examined with respect to default nudges. However, this is the first paper to examine the effectiveness of transparent social norm nudges. Using an online experiment, we find that unlike with defaults, where transparency seems not to have inhibitive effects, disclosing the way social norms work and the purpose of using them diminishes the positive social norm effect. By means of heterogeneity analysis, we show that these results (the positive effect of the nudge and the inhibitive influence of transparency) hold only for male participants. Given the proliferation of nudges in public policies around the world, these results call for further research on nudges and transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bearers of the safety net. The public position of Dutch social service organizations (1980-1998). This article examines the public role of Dutch social service organizations during the 1980s and 1990s, amidst the so-called ;crisis of the welfare state'. The story focuses on the association for directors of social service organizations, DIVOSA, which emphatically presented itself as a representative of all people living on a minimum income. As the association was formed by public officials, this representative role caused a fundamental tension with the task of implementing governmental policies aimed at cutting welfare state expenses and activating recipients. Based on extensive research in the archives of DIVOSA, this article adds to our understanding of the socioeconomic history of the Dutch welfare state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most efficient chicken in the world'. Breeding for eggs in the Netherlands in the twentieth century This paper analyses the development of chicken breeding for eggs in the Netherlands in the twentieth century. The Dutch poultry sector was of only marginal significance early in the century, yet after the Second World War it developed into the most industrialised segment of animal husbandry. The introduction of scientific breeding methods played a central role in this, as well as the increasing dominance of specialised commercial breeding companies. While scientists and agricultural engineers developed several innovative approaches to breeding that helped increase egg production significantly, we argue that the methods on which these approaches were based – inbreeding, hybridising, selection and progeny testing – had been used by animal breeders since the eighteenth century. Scientists succeeded in increasing the efficiency of these methods by introducing the quantitative and statistical instruments of quantitative genetics; the new Mendelian theory was of little practical use in this respect. Hybrid breeding methods were also shaped by the commercial interests of breeding companies. In the Netherlands the rise of the poultry industry was slowed down for several decades by the government's policy to protect the interests of smallholders, yet after the establishment of the EEC this protectionism was dispensed with. As an example of the role of commercial companies we discuss the early history of Hendrix Genetics, a Dutch-based breeding company that is now one of the two multinational enterprises that dominate the breeding market for egg-laying chicken worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the literature on policy advisory systems has experienced a revival in recent years, its empirical focus has mainly been on Anglophone countries (Craft and Halligan 2016). This paper applies the policy advisory systems approach to the Netherlands, which can serve as an example of the dynamics in the policy advisory systems of consensus-driven, neo-corporatist polities Lijphart in Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty- Six Countries, 21, 235-266 1999). Using a historical-institutionalist perspective, the dynamics of the Dutch policy advisory system from the mid-1960s to the present day are examined. Based on original cross-time survey data and an analysis of secondary sources, the impact of depillarization (mid-1960s-mid-1990s), new public management (mid-1980s onwards) and an increased pressure on the executive have had for the Dutch policy advisory system (from the late 1990s): fragmentation, externalization and a non-partisan brand of politicization are shown. More specifically, the use of the institutionalized system of permanent advisory councils has lost part of its significance in favour of both external consultants and ad hoc advisory committees. The Dutch case, with its accumulative institutional design based on Weberianism, neo-corporatism and new public management elements, has thus experienced markedly different dynamics in its policy advice system than the Anglophone countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Netherlands, because of the sustained and systematic attention it paid to migrant and minority health issues during the last quarter of the twentieth century, has been depicted as being progressive in its approach to healthcare for migrants and minorities. Recently, however, these progressive policies have changed, reflecting a trend towards problematising issues of integration in order to focus on the responsibilities that migrants and ethnic minorities bear in terms of their health. This article explores these shifts and specifically the development of particular categories of ethnicity, and examines the wider consequences that have arisen as a result.Methods: The analysis presented here entailed a qualitative content analysis of health policies for migrants and ethnic minorities from 1970 to 2015, and examined various documents and materials produced by the institutions and organisations responsible for implementing these healthcare policies during the period from 1970 to 2015.Results: Four distinct periods of political discourse related to health policy for migrants and ethnic minorities were identified. These periods of political discourse were found to shape the manner in which ethnicity and various categories and representation of foreigners, later ethnic minorities, and at present non-Western allochtoons are constructed in health policy and the implantation practices that follow. At present, in the Netherlands the term allochtoon is used to describe people who are considered of foreign heritage, and its antonym autochtoon is used for those who are considered native to the Netherlands. We discuss the scientific reproduction and even geneticisation of these politically produced categories of autochtoon, Western allochtoon, and non-Western allochtoon-a phenomenon that occurs when politically produced categories are prescribed or taken up by other health sectors.Conclusions: The categories of autochtoon, Western allochtoon, and non-Western allochtoon in the health sciences and the field of ethnicity and health in the Netherlands today have been co-produced by society and science. Policy formulated on the basis of specific political discourse informs the conceptualisations about groups and categories, issues, and solutions, and when these are institutionalised in subsequent health policy, databases, research, and care practices, these ethnic categorisations are replicated in a manner that renders them 'real' and enables them to be applied both socially and scientifically, culminating in pronouncements as to who is the same and who is different in Dutch society and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Government behaviour change policies often build on the assumption that citizens make decisions rationally. In practice however many social psychological processes subconsciously influence behaviour. These subconscious influences, which in this study are referred to as 'intermediary factors', may mediate the effects of behaviour change policies. A policy and behaviour change framework is introduced, based on which is explored to what extent government behaviour change policies take into account such subconscious influences. Document research and interviews were conducted to identify how policy instruments were used to tackle three specific societal problems (concerning respectively health, mobility and finances), and to gain insight in the way intermediary factors could have affected effectiveness. Two types of such effects were identified: (1) subconscious influences (e.g. social norms) may undermine government practices to change behaviour and (2) government practices to change behaviour themselves may indirectly bring about undesirable subconscious processes (e.g. resistance) that affect behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the wake of various high-profile incidents in a number of countries, regulators of healthcare quality have been criticised for their 'soft' approach. In politics, concerns were expressed about public confidence. It was claimed that there are discrepancies between public opinions related to values and the values guiding regulation policies. Although the general public are final clients of regulators' work, their opinion has only been discussed in research to a limited extent. The aim of this study is to explore possible discrepancies between public values and opinions and current healthcare quality regulation policies. Methods: A questionnaire was submitted to 1500 members of the Dutch Healthcare Consumer Panel. Questions were developed around central ideas underlying healthcare quality regulation policies. Results: The response rate was 58.3 %. The regulator was seen as being more responsible for quality of care than care providers. Patients were rated as having the least responsibility. Similar patterns were observed for the food service industry and the education sector. Complaints by patients' associations were seen as an important source of information for quality regulation, while fewer respondents trusted information delivered by care providers. However, respondents supported the regulator's imposition of lighter measures firstly. Conclusions: There are discrepancies and similarities between public opinion and regulation policies. The discrepancies correspond to fundamental concepts; decentralisation of responsibilities is not what the public wants. There is little confidence in the regulator's use of information obtained by care providers' internal monitoring, while a larger role is seen for complaints of patient organisations. This discrepancy seems not to exist regarding the regulator's approach of imposing measures. A gradual, and often soft approach, is favoured by the majority of the public in spite of the criticism that is voiced in the media regarding this approach. Our study contributes to the limited knowledge of public opinion on government regulation policies. This knowledge is needed in order to effectively assess different approaches to involve the public in regulation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a framework to guide the choice and design of a fitting Public Private Partnerships (PPP), which is applied to a Dutch example of biogas/sustainable energy projects. The framework focuses on 'legitimate public governance', merging Beetham's dimensions of legitimacy (legality, shared beliefs and consent) with three types of governance mechanisms (market, network and hierarchy). This leads to three types of PPP, and six phases of design, allowing governments to perform an ex ante analysis, by which legal form of PPP-type follows PPP-function, while securing andmonitoring legitimate public governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we address the implementation of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Flanders, a sub-national entity of Belgium. Our analysis shows how the policy-making process in Flanders is inextricably intertwined with three developments in environmental and educational policy: the increasing impact of ESD policy and discourse on environmental education, the framing of social and political problems as learning problems, and ecological modernisation. These trends give shape to a post-ecologist and post-political policy regime and, thus, affect what is possible and acceptable within Flemish ESD policy. However, this case study also revealed that these developments do not completely determine ESD policy-making in Flanders. Our examination thus allowed us to understand how the actual policy translation in a particular local setting brings about powers that legitimise and maintain as well as counteract the bounds of the policy regime that emerged in the context of the UN Decade. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper is a historical study of two institutions devoted to the problem of the future — the Dutch WRR (the Scientific Council for Government) and the Swedish Secretariat for Futures Studies — both created in 1972. While there is a growing interest in the social sciences for prediction, future imaginaries and the governance of risk, few studies have examined historically the integration of the category of the 'future' or the Tong term' in political systems in the postwar years, a period in which this category took on specific meaning and importance. We suggest that governing the long-term posed fundamental problems to particular societal models of expertise, decisionmaking and public participation. We argue that the scientific and political claim to govern the future was fundamentally contested, and that social struggle around the role and content of predictive expertise determined how the long tenn was incorporated into different systems of knowledge production and policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on government policy aimed at the presentation of the nation abroad through cultural activities and its relation to national identity, external cultural policy. The methodological framework is offered by the discourse analysis of Wodak and the notion of identity of Laclau and Mouffe, treating policy as a discourse. A closer look is taken at the concept of cultural diplomacy and the closely related term nation branding. This article will show how the shift in paradigm also changes the role of ‘the other’ in the construction of national identity and how this influences the role of the arts in international cultural policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Dutch state's shifting perspectives on migrants' ties with their country of origin. In the academic literature transnationalism was introduced as a neutral term. In political debates the term transnationalism is hardly used, but the ties of migrants with their country of origin (to which the term transnationalism relates) are given a strong negative connotation. They are seen as the main course of failed integration policy. In the past fifty years a dramatic shift has occurred in how these ties are perceived. First, they were regarded positively and were believed to facilitate an easy return of the guest workers. Later they continued to be portrayed positively, but were also considered to be a springboard for integration into Dutch society. Recently they have been portrayed negatively and as the main obstacle to integration. This article explores why this dramatic shift in connotation has occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dutch immigrant integration policies have often been labelled 'multiculturalist'. This article empirically and conceptually challenges the idea of a Dutch multicultural model. First, it deconstructs the image that Dutch policies would have been driven by a single, coherent and consistent model, by drawing attention to the much more dynamic processes of problem framing, frame-shifts and frame conflicts that characterize Dutch policymaking. Second - and as a result of this dynamic perspective - it will become clear that Dutch policies were not that multicultural at all. Adopting a neo-institutionalist perspective, it reconceptualizes 'models of integration' as specific discourses or 'frames'. On the basis of a rigorous analysis of policy documents and public debate (media records and parliamentary records), as well as an extensive review of the Dutch and international literature, the article analyzes how immigrant integration policies in the Netherlands have been framed over the past decades, and how the rise and fall of specific frames can be accounted for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the ethnic minorities integration policies as implemented in France and the Netherlands. This study will be based on an institutionalist approach relying on North's analytical framework in order to explain the recent changes in these policies. I emphasize the existence of four patterns of social integration: reciprocity, redistribution, exchange, and coercion. I will also be insisting on the importance of ideology and the way it has evolved over time. This theoretical framework is then used to 'tell the story' of the two countries. While France's historical and ideological backgrounds have forced it to adopt a universalist view and fight against communautarisme, the Dutch position was quite different as it does not deny the ethnic minorities cultural and religious freedom. Nevertheless, there is a hardening of the dominant ideology taking place in France. As to the Netherlands, there is a noticeable shift in the government's attitude toward ethnic minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the varying effects of a changing institutional environment on academic research practices in three fields of Dutch animal science. Our analysis shows that the shifts in funding have stimulated interactions with societal stakeholders in fields where this has helped to sustain a basic research agenda. In other fields researchers experience a tension between satisfying the needs of application-oriented funding sources and reaching high scores on evaluations dominated by bibliometric indicators. The paper concludes with the identification of three field characteristics that seem to moderate the effects of institutional changes on academic research practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - ICT is everywhere, but information society policy cannot address all the sectors and policy issues in which ICT plays a role. This paper's aim is to develop an analytical framework to assist policy makers in deciding on the priorities and coordination of information society policy. Design/methodology/approach - The analytical framework is based on public management literature and innovation literature. The framework can be applied to individual ICT issues - when to lead, advise, explore or refrain from policy intervention. The framework consists of seven questions, including the rationale for intervention, stakeholders, the mandate of fellow policy makers (e.g. other ministries) and the costs, benefits and risks of intervention. The framework was applied in three cases. Findings - A leading role for information society policy is most clear for e-skills. For services innovation, several market failures and system failures appear to be relevant. This calls for a mix of policy instruments, with roles for several ministries. Policy coordination is crucial. For ICT in health sectors - and other public sectors - the conclusion is that information society policy can take the lead on cross-cutting ICT issues such as privacy, standardisation and interoperability. Originality/value - The article addresses one of the main challenges of information society policy: how to increase its scope, yet maintain effectiveness and coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trends in governance, including a changing role for the state and increasing civil society participation, are often seen as promising ways to achieve democratic legitimacy. The prominent presence of these claims and intentions in the new Dutch nature policy plan, 'Nature for People, People for Nature', stimulated us to look more closely into how this plan came about. Our analysis shows that the process started with the organization of several informal participatory processes, which involved not only traditional but also new actors. However, it ended in a fairly traditional way, with limited participation, which involved mostly traditional actors, and which was strictly orchestrated by central government. Based on these findings, we argue that although the plan itself was clearly intended to achieve participatory governance, the participatory characteristics of the process can be questioned. For this reason, the case may be seen as one of 'governance without governance'. The article ends by discussing the implications of these findings for democratic legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – An uncertain future means that Dutch government ministries need to think about not only what new policies have to be developed, but also how to organize themselves in the future. This paper aims to present an overview and analysis of various studies of the futures by and about Dutch ministries that show that these studies vary considerably, in terms of their process and cause, that the context in which they come about plays a major role and that the various ministries tend to take the same trends into account (for instance "life-long-learning", sustainable development and the emergence of the demanding citizen).Design/methodology/approach – The paper case studies: 11 different reports from nine different Dutch ministries. In each ministry an in-depth interview with one or two representatives was held. The transcripts were summarized, structured, and analyzed.Findings – The use of studies of the future for organizational change in Dutch ministries is very diverse. More and more images and other ways of visualizing the future are becoming important. Dutch ministries should find a good balance between hiring external expertise and using inside knowledge and expertise.Research limitations/implications – Because this is a case study it is questionable whether the findings are also valid for non-researched ministries, especially since the research ministries and (their) studies of the future are very diverse.Practical implications – More discussion is needed about these futures studies in the Government-wide Strategic Council. Government-wide studies of the future should be made to provide ministries with a common background in building up a future vision for (more balanced) policy making. There should be more involvement of external experts and stakeholders in the process of futures studies.Originality/value – This is the first case study that focuses specifically on the use of studies of the future for governmental change (instead of focusing on. for instance, developing new policies or strategies). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the concept of policy integration is not a new idea within spatial planning discourse, it is becoming increasingly prevalent. Frequently, however, the term is used without any clear definition of what it means, or how it might be achieved. The aim of this paper is to provide more clarity about the concept and to identify the types of actions in the field of planning where integration with policy can be improved. In so doing, the paper assembles a range of material from different disciplines, and identifies some of the key inhibitors and facilitators of policy integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though the British and Dutch approaches to disability in the construction sector exhibit common features, Britain tends towards a capabilities model compared with the Netherlands which is closer to a social model. The construction sector is considerably more regulated in the Netherlands but is in both countries highly disabling and exclusive. Sector-specific disabling and enabling factors and policy measures were investigated in the two countries with a view to identifying which policies might facilitate labour market participation. The investigation was based on interviews using similar questionnaires with key stakeholders, firms and disabled employees and a focus group. Policy in each country addresses the nature of exclusion in different ways. The conclusion drawn is that a sector-specific approach is needed if disability policy in Britain is to be more in tune with the social model—as apparent from the comparison with the Netherlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the neglect of mid-level government among public administration scholars is regrettable because the investigation of developments within this level of governmental could shed new light on various core themes in public administration. In order to understand developments taking place at the local level, it is often necessary to investigate what is going on at the mid-level. This article concludes that public administration scholars should develop a general framework to judge the policies and position of mid level government, investigate whether the provincial level is the appropriate level for developing policies, conduct more independent evaluations of processes taking place at the mid-level layer of government; and conduct comparative research into the causal mechanisms that determine the needs for mid-level government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe and analyze five consecutive modes of governance in the Dutch social housing sector. We compare these institutional forms with the five policy values that the sector was assumed to realize. For that purpose we propose and use a new, analytical framework based on a separation principle that is applied to the coercion domain (the governance of transactions) as well as to the interaction domain (the welfare values). The consecutive modes of governance were introduced to cope with the changing welfare policies, but with varying results. In this paper we show that the implemented modes of governance in the Dutch social housing sector did not always realize the values that the sector was supposed to deliver. The framework we propose also facilitates the discussion about the concept of a social enterprise and the embedding of a service of general interest in the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost everybody would welcome - at least in a general sense - a transportation policy designed in accordance with the principle of sustainability. But there appears to be insufficient support for moving toward sustainability in transportation policy. The main question this article poses is therefore: How can the acceptance of sustainable transportation policy be improved? We investigate this question using three clusters of measures: transportation management in agglomerations, infrastructure financing for large-scale projects, and combined freight transportation. A comparison of the three clusters in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland shows mixed results: The acceptance of regulatory measures depends more on political administrative traditions in each country than on the particular policy instrument. Measures designed in a comprehensive manner are not necessarily less accepted, as we had theoretically assumed. On the other hand, our theoretical assumptions regarding the time perspective of the measures were largely confirmed. The main challenge for the acceptance of a sustainable policy is to reconcile specific short-term measures with a long-term sustainable strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the main points of the Spatial Memorandum established by the Dutch government covering the main frame works for the country's spatial development before going on to identify areas in which it differs from the Fifth Memorandum on Special Planning. Overview of the process being undertaken once a memorandum has been discussed and approved by parliament; Representation of the Fourth Policy Document on Spatial Planning Extra published by the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) in 1990; Ministries aside from VROM that have issued policy documents with a marked spatial component.

Almost everybody would welcome -- at least in a general sense -- a transportation policy designed in accordance with the principle of sustainability. But there appears to be insufficient support for moving toward sustainability in transportation policy. The main question this article poses is therefore: How can the acceptance of sustainable transportation policy be improved? We investigate this question using three clusters of measures: transportation management in agglomerations, infrastructure financing for large-scale projects, and combined freight transportation. A comparison of the three clusters in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland shows mixed results: The acceptance of regulatory measures depends more on political-administrative traditions in each country than on the particular policy instrument. Measures designed in a comprehensive manner are not necessarily less accepted, as we had theoretically assumed. On the other hand, our theoretical assumptions regarding the time perspective of the measures were largely confirmed. The main challenge for the acceptance of a sustainable policy is to reconcile specific short-term measures with a long-term sustainable strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes to what extent the "care-gap"—that is, too few carers looking after increasing numbers of the elderly—has become part of the problem definition of the demographic shift in the Netherlands in reports of the major scientific policy advisor to the government. Do these reports still assume a gender order in which women are informal carers and men are breadwinners? What notions about gender are circulating, and is the gender order challenged by policy recommendations? With a framework for gender-discourse analysis, the author shows that, despite increasing awareness of the care gap, the problem definition remains framed as the costs of collective provision of health care and pensions. Recommendations still assume that women will continue to provide informal care while they also enter the labor market to maintain collective provisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has become popular to advocate partnership arrangements. Such partnerships may be seen as new forms of governance, which fit in with the imminent network society. However, the idea of partnership is often introduced without much reflection on the need to reorganize policy-making processes and to adjust existing institutional structures. In this contribution, we discuss the ambiguity of partnerships. An empirical basis is provided by means of an analysis of the policy making on the expansion of the Rotterdam harbor. This case indicates that although new governance schemes are being proposed and explored, they still have to comply with the existing procedures in which they are imbedded. Governments especially are not prepared to adjust to governance arrangements. Policy making continues to be based on self-referential organizational decisions, rather than on joint interorganizational policy making. This raises questions about the added value of intended cooperative governance processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: When the Dutch government presented the Second Transport Structure Plan (SW-II) in 1988, it pronounced a new view on transport planning that would give actual weight to accessibility and liveability. Mobility control and selective accessibility were central themes, which would benefit both the environment and economy. A fe years later, it became evident that most of the core objectives of the SW-II would not be reached. The professional debate on the implementation of Dutch transport planning indicated a number of explanations for the inadequacy of the national policies., mainly related to the institutional context of public planning, and the lack of coordination between the actors involved. In response to the experiences of the SW-II, the proposed new national transport policy announces better cooperation between the actors in the field of transport planning, and replaces sustainable development with sustainable economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In The Netherlands, since 1996, 'newcomers', like migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, are obliged to take part in an educational settlement programme which should enable them to gain access to (professional) education and to the labour market. This paper deals with the settlement efforts that are required from adult education on the one hand and newcomers on the other hand, and with the current results and further prospects. We elaborate the central aspects of the settlement policy and its developments, and, drawing on the field theory of Pierre Bourdieu, we analyse the settlement policy and its consequences for adult education as well as newcomers. Then we turn to the two ideologies, cultural assimilation and structural integration, which firmly instigated the (re)formation of the policy, and we relate them to the actual settlement practice. Conclusively, we stipulate three kinds of conditions for a settlement policy that has greater significance for the labour participation of newcomers, and for their integration in Dutch society in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is concerned with childcare policies in the Netherlands since the 1960s. It seeks to contribute to theories of gender and policy formation in welfare states through its focus on political discourses and ideological assumptions embedded in societal notions of care. In analyzing the Dutch case, I distinguish three rationales, respectively a moral, an interest, and an efficiency rationale, which reflect various basic arguments on gender, care, and welfare. The article argues that the rationale of efficiency has been particularly important for an expansion of childcare provisions since the late 1980s. Although this rationale has provided sound arguments for the expansion of childcare, it has been criticized by some feminists because of the hidden assumptions in it about care. The conclusions about the Dutch case have broader implications. In the context of welfare state reform, hegemonic political discourses on childcare are shifting and may have significant consequences for the relation between gender, care, and the welfare state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Netherlands are of considerable interest to students of comparative social policy, because christian democracy and not social democracy is the leading political force. This article analyses the history of the Dutch system of social security in terms of political forces and their power resources. In particular, it considers the reasons for the comparatively high level of social security development in the Netherlands. The various approaches which have been adopted in much current research in comparative social policy are critically discussed in the context of the Dutch experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An overview of the literature on the party-policy link suggests a weak, non-existent or even perverse relationship between parties in government and governmental policies in Belgium. It is argued that this weak relationship could be due to the methodology applied in this type of research, i.e. the treatment of the party variable on a much too high level of aggregation. The relative strength of the coalition parties, the parties' general ideological profile on a specific moment, the relative strength of the factions within the parliamentary party and in the Cabinet are not taken into account. On the other hand, several organisational factors with regard to the relation between parties, parliamentary groups, ministers and the administration tend to facilitate the impact of parties on policies in Belgium. Interview data with ministers suggest that the policy variable also needs further disaggregation. In particular, the qualitative aspects of policies should be more closely investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]