Menno Fenger

Interdependency, beliefs, and coalition behavior: A contribution to the advocacy coalition framework

The Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), developed by Paul Sabatier, is generally considered one of the most promising theories of the policy process (see, for instance, Parsons, 1995; Eberg, 1997; Schlager and Blomquist, 1996; Grin and Hoppe, 1997). The framework considers policy change as the result of learning processes within and between advocacy coalitions. However, in explaining policy change, the ACF focuses almost exclusively on the structure, content, stability, and evolution of the policy belief systems of advocacy coalitions. There is no attempt to account for how actors with certain policy belief systems develop and maintain these advocacy coalitions.From the literature on interorganizational relations and policy networks, we know that the extent and structure of interdependencies between actors are important determinants of the behavior of the actors in interorganizational relations. Differences in interdependencies are supposed to lead to different types of interorganizational arrangements.In this article, a hypothesis is developed that explains the development and maintenance of advocacy coalitions by looking at both the interdependencies and the policy belief systems of the actors. The importance of this approach is demonstrated by applying it to the debate on oil and gas leasing in the outer continental shelf of the United States. It turns out that the attention for interdependency contributes significantly to the possibilities of explaining the behavior of single actors and advocacy coalitions.

Governance and the democratic deficit: Assessing the democratic legitimacy of governance practices

Contents: Theoretical Framework: Governance and the democratic deficit: introduction, Victor Bekkers, Geske Dijkstra, Arthur Edwards and Menno Fenger The Governance Concept in Public Administration, Menno Fenger and Victor Bekkers Legitimacy and Democracy: a Conceptual Framework for Assessing Governance Practices, Victor Bekkers and Arthur Edwards The idea of democracy in the 18th century, Koen Stapelbroek. Governance at a Distance and Market Governance: Governance, Democracy and the European Modernization Agenda: a Comparison of Different Policy Initiatives, Victor Bekkers, Menno Fenger and Evelien Korteland Police, policing and governance in The Netherlands and in the United Kingdom, Arie van Sluis and Lex Cachet The Accountability of Professionals in Social Policy: or Why Governance is Multi-Focal and Democracy is Multi-Local, Peter Hupe and Michael Hill. Network Governance and Societal Self-Governance: The legitimacy of the Rotterdam integrated public safety program, Peter Marks Embedding Deliberative Democracy: Local Environmental Forums in The Netherlands and the United States, Arthur Edwards The Limits of Donor-Induced Participation: an Analysis of a Participatory Development Program in Mozambique, Geske Dijkstra and Lieve Lodewyckx. Multi-Level Governance: Democratic Legitimacy of Inter-Municipal and Regional Governance, Jose Manuel Ruano de la Fuente and Linze Schaap Democratic legitimacy of economic governance: the case of the European and Monetary Union, Frans van Nispen and Johan Posseth The OMC and the quest for democratic legitimization: the case of the European employment strategy, Patty Zandstra Supranational governance and the challenge of democracy: the IMF and the World Bank, Geske Dijkstra. Conclusions: Governance and the democratic deficit: an evaluation, Victor Bekkers, Geske Dijkstra, Arthur Edwards and Menno Fenger. Index.

Between State, Market and Community

Abstract Hybrid organizations operate in complex and diversified institutional environments that combine characteristics of the state, the market, and the nonprofit sector. These environments impose challenges on the marketing of hybrid organizations. This article focuses on the challenges and dilemmas in the marketing of hybrid organizations by analysing the slogans of Dutch sheltered work companies. These slogans reflect the core values and distinctive competences of these organizations. Our analysis accentuates the tensions between the demands from the multiple domains and shows how a specific group of hybrid organizations – sheltered work companies – deals with these tensions in the formulation of their slogans.

The Global Financial Crisis in Comparative Perspective: Have Policy Makers “Learnt Their Lessons”?

ABSTRACT Have policy makers “learnt their lesson” from the global financial crisis that began in 2007? This article addresses this question by examining the regulatory responses to the global financial crisis in the European Union, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Theoretically, the article is informed by an advocacy coalition approach to policy change and learning. Methodologically, it process-traces regulatory and supervisory changes in the selected jurisdictions, identifying the main coalitions at play, their belief systems, policy learning across coalitions and within coalitions, as well as the conditions that promoted or slowed down learning. Some of the findings can be generalised to other countries and policy areas.

The responsiveness of social policies. Explaining institutional change in three policy domains

This article analyses and explains the responsiveness of social policies by comparing the impact of institutional logics, public preferences and external conditions on the evolution of three social policy domains in the Netherlands. It focuses on the institutional development of the policy domains of social assistance, labour market regulation and sheltered work over the last 15 years. The article integrates exogenous and endogenous explanations for institutional change. It shows that the analysis and explanation of processes of institutional evolution require in-depth analysis of the interaction between public preferences, the institutional logic and external conditions of the policy domains. Points for practitioners Many countries in the world are currently reforming their welfare states. Often these reform processes are designed according to institutional logic: the ideas and opinions of important internal stakeholders. Moreover, the decision to start a reform is also taken from the internal institutional perspective. This article highlights the importance of taking external conditions into account in processes of institutional reform. It shows how three different logics can and should be combined in designing and implementing reform processes and illustrates this by comparing three cases of institutional reform in the Dutch welfare state.

The Studio Approach in Public Administration Teaching: Bringing Coherence and Practice into the Curriculum

Abstract Designers of public administration and public affairs curricula face the challenge of incorporating various disciplinary perspectives into a coherent curriculum that is academically challenging as well as oriented towards real-world administrative and political challenges. This article describes and analyzes the redesign of a Bachelor of Public Administration (BPA) program at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The curriculum, which was first implemented in the academic year 2007–2008, features a sequential program of modules that are integrated through overarching studio modules. The theoretical and pedagogical backgrounds of the curriculum are explained and the authors reflect on the design requirements, implementation issues, and impact of the curriculum.

Complex causality in improving underperforming schools: A complex adaptive systems approach

textabstractWhen designing and implementing policies, policy makers usually assume linear, proportionate causation between interventions and consequences. Yet frequently unexpected consequences occur that seem unintended and disproportionate. This article argues that interventions are more appropriately understood as loops, not lines. System dynamics shows that causes and consequences interact in circular patterns, creating unexpected outcomes and self-reinforcing mechanisms. Some loops are vicious, causing deterioration of the situation, others are virtuous, propelling self-sustaining improvements that exceed original intentions. The article illustrates the circular approach to causality by applying it to interventions aimed at the improvement of the performance of primary schools in the Netherlands.

The responsiveness of social policies in Europe : the Netherlands in comparative perspective

Preface Introduction Responsive policies in contested welfare states? A framework for analysing policy responsiveness The responsiveness of social assistance policies The responsiveness of labour migration policies The responsiveness of sheltered work policies Conclusions: The responsiveness of social policies in three domains.

Contested knowledge in Dutch climate change policy

textabstractIn dealing with wicked problems, policymakers increasingly are confronted with three competing ‘knowledge claims’: the notion of evidence-based policy, alternative ‘commons knowledge’ created by citizens, and ‘fact-free’ politics. Consequently, the knowledge base for dealing with wicked problems is becoming increasingly contested. This paper analyses the ways in which these three competing knowledge claims interact, and the consequences of their interaction, through a case study of the dynamics of knowledge claims in Dutch climate policy. The paper concludes that the quest for evidence-based policy may constitute an impediment to progress in finding common ground in practical policies.

New Welfare in Health Insurances? Trends in Risk-Coverage and Self-Responsibility in Four European Countries

Introduction. In the current economic and financial crisis, many European governments are debating cuts in healthcare costs. These debates, on the one hand, have a financial perspective, with cutting healthcare costs the highest ambition. On the other hand, they also have a moral perspective, for example when dealing with the coverage of lifestyle related health risks like binge drinking or smoking. Increasingly, the ideas of ‘positive’ or ‘new’ welfare are included in this discussion. Promoting a healthy lifestyle is stimulated or even financially rewarded in many domains of European welfare states, including healthcare (Department of Health, 2004; Jochelson, 2007; Fenger, 2009, 2011; Oliver and Brown, 2011; English, 2012). This article sets out to explore in what ways the ideas of the social investment state and positive welfare have affected the coverage of healthcare costs in European countries. As systematic comparative information about this topic is scarce, this article fills an important knowledge gap. There is an abundance of information to be found about distinct European healthcare systems, healthcare provision structures, their financial management, level of reimbursements, out-pocket-payments and the like. However, a systematic overview of changes in health insurance coverage is lacking. This prevents an analysis of the underlying trends in European healthcare systems. Is healthcare coverage changing in European countries? And, if so, can we observe a general trend towards more preventive and pro-active coverage of health risks, as we might assume from the ‘positive welfare’ perspective? Or are changes in healthcare coverage more randomly distributed and inspired by financial rather than moral arguments? By answering these questions this article contributes to the overall ambitions of this themed section: exploring how the ideas of positive welfare have been implemented in practice and identifying important trends and dilemmas.