Bodil Damgaard

Network governance of active employment policy: the Danish experience

The recent reform of the Danish governance system in the field of active employment policy has been subject to fierce criticism, as many commentators fear that it is the beginning of the end of the Danish Model of active stakeholder involvement. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data, this study aims to analyse the impact of the governance reform by assessing the initial experiences with the Local Employment Councils (LECs). The analysis shows that the LECs are relatively well-functioning and contribute to an effective and democratic governance of local employment policy. Furthermore, the tight metagovernance of the LECs does not seem to straight-jacket the LECs as there is a considerable scope for local policy making which makes it worthwhile for the social partners to participate in the local networks.

Interactive Focus Group Interviewing in Studies of Network Governance

Focus group interviewing is a special type of research interviewing that links the interview method with the observation method. The researcher invites a number of selected respondents to participate in a group interview focusing on specific themes selected by the researcher. In the course of the interview, the researcher observes how the participants interact with one another. The method hence produces two outputs: spoken statements from the interviewees and observations registered by the researcher.