Michiel S. de Vries

The rise and fall of decentralization: A comparative analysis of arguments and practices in European countries

This paper addresses the arguments in favour ofboth the decentralization andcentralization of publicpolicy making. It points out that the same argumentsare sometimesused to advance either claim and that indifferent countries opposite arguments are used tosupport the same claim. Clearly, the inherent featuresof centralization and decentralization are far fromobvious. A closer look at the attention given to theissue by political parties at the national level infour European countries reveals that decentralizationbecomes an issue in these countries at differentperiods and as a cause of different arguments, whichrather reflect the dominant values in the politicalculture than refer to inherent properties of decentralizationitself. An analysis of opinions of local elites points at therelation between their opinion on decentralizing responsibilitiesin a specific field and the support for existing institutionalarrangements, their own influence in the policy field andthe predisposition towards decentralization tendencies. Thisresults in the conclusion that the support for decentralizationtendencies is more closely related to existing specific institutionalarrangements, and to the degree to which it is expected to influenceones own position, than to its inherent merits.

Public Sector Reform: An overview of recent literature and research on NPM and alternative paths

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to discuss the idea that new public management (NPM) would be passe. Design/methodology/approach – The article is based on a review of existing theories. Findings – The article argues that NPM has two dimensions, namely the minimization of the role of government vis-a-vis society and the improvement of the internal performance of the public sector. Whereas the first dimension is indeed more and more disputed nowadays this does not imply this also goes for the second dimension. The conclusion of this article calls for explanatory empirical research in order to explain the increasing variance in reforms among countries, by investigating which factors are determinative for decisions by governments to turn one way or the other. Practical implications – It is far from certain which way the public sector is heading in the so-called post-NPM era. Some countries are still implementing NPM-kind of reforms, either by downsizing or by introducing performance management. Other...

Can you Afford Honesty? A Comparative Analysis of Ethos and Ethics in Local Government

This article discusses the honesty of local politicians and public administrators in 17 countries. First, it goes into deontological, consequential, virtue, and dialogic ethics. Based on a large-scale survey, this article concludes that the ethos (general principle) of honesty is a universal value, which conforms to deontological principles. Regarding ethics (the application of the principle in practice), however, important differences between these local elites are seen. The explanation for these differences is sought at the individual and organizational level. It is argued that organizational factors explain most of the variance. Especially the opinions of colleagues are important. Also, the existence of conflicts and social problems within the community determine whether one is (able to be) honest. This implies that honesty can be seen empirically as a social-cultural phenomenon that varies with the internal and external pressures exerted on the local politicians and administrators.

Framing Crises: Response Patterns to Explosions in Fireworks Factories

This article investigates the primary response patterns of officials in the early days after a crisis occurs, in this case regarding explosions in fireworks factories, happening all over the world and often having grave consequences in terms of deaths and damage. It argues that misframing is rather the norm than the exception. The article hypothesizes that the most likely outcome of crisis is that nothing changes because the event closes more windows than it opens. This is contrary to previous crisis research in which it is claimed that crises offer a window of opportunity for change.This article investigates the primary response patterns of officials in the early days after a crisis occurs, in this case regarding explosions in fireworks factories, happening all over the world and often having grave consequences in terms of deaths and damage. It argues that misframing is rather the norm than the exception. The article hypothesizes that the most likely outcome of crisis is that nothing changes because the event closes more windows than it opens. This is contrary to previous crisis research in which it is claimed that crises offer a window of opportunity for change.

The Bureaucratization of Participation

IntroductionIn a previous article (De Vries, 1997) I addressed the formalization of participa-tory procedures in The Netherlands in the 1990s. A decline in public participationwas shown to have taken place, as well as a relocation of public participationfrom the decision-making stage to the beginning of the policy-making process.The formalization of public participation was no longer a form of interactionbetween officials and the public but a formal hearing in which officials just writedown the comments of the public and put these comments into a report. This canbe very depressing for the participants. This was explained as being a reaction tothe upheaval in participation in the 1970s during which efficiency and govern-mental authority were neglected. The implicit hypothesis of that article was thatthe formal institutionalization of democratic procedures and the actual inclinationto make policy processes more democratic — for instance as indicated by publicparticipation in the policy-making process — do not have to be congruent. Thisarticle examines another aspect of this phenomenon, namely the relation betweenthe institutionalization of democratic procedures and the degree to which publicpolicy-makers are open to the public and actually seek their support in the policy-making process. In OECD countries, in particular, as they have varying but highlevels of formalized democratic procedures, the question is whether further institutionalization of such procedures has an impact on the openness of publicpolicy-makers.This question is relevant, because in many OECD countries a gap existsbetween the polity and the community. People seem to withdraw from politicalparticipation. National but particularly local elections increasingly suffer fromlow turnouts (Lijphart, 1984). The participation in policy-making processes is leftto a few hardliners and representatives of local organizations, especially neigh-borhood groups. The solutions sought for this problem in many of these OECDcountries is to increase the number of formal procedures to enhance democracy.One can point at the direct election of majors at the local level (as in Italy butother countries also have plans), the right to organize referenda (originally inSwitzerland, but nowadays also in many other countries like Belgium and The

Performance measurement and the search for best practices

Current performance measurement methods are a-contextual and unable to measure the effectiveness of policies. They usually result in rankings that measure the extent of the policy problem, but they fail to reveal anything substantive about the quality of policies, and they are equally unhelpful in the search for best practices. The goal of this article is to further develop and validate a mixed method of performance measurement — a combination of statistical analysis, residue analysis and case study approach — which considers the policy context, relates the outcomes to the policies, and provides guidance in the systematic search for best practices. In this article, this approach will be tested against one of the problems mentioned in the Millennium Development Goals, e.g. literacy rates.Points for practitionersMany practitioners struggle with the question how to determine whether their performance is above or below expectations. Classic performance measures can give a distorted view on this question. Usin...Current performance measurement methods are a-contextual and unable to measure the effectiveness of policies. They usually result in rankings that measure the extent of the policy problem, but they fail to reveal anything substantive about the quality of policies, and they are equally unhelpful in the search for best practices. The goal of this article is to further develop and validate a mixed method of performance measurement — a combination of statistical analysis, residue analysis and case study approach — which considers the policy context, relates the outcomes to the policies, and provides guidance in the systematic search for best practices. In this article, this approach will be tested against one of the problems mentioned in the Millennium Development Goals, e.g. literacy rates. Points for practitioners Many practitioners struggle with the question how to determine whether their performance is above or below expectations. Classic performance measures can give a distorted view on this question. Using the method introduced in this article might give a better picture of the robustness and effectiveness of performance than the traditional performance measures. It adapts to the adversity of the context and circumstances in which policies come about.

The Inclusion and Exclusion of Minorities in European Countries: A Comparative Analysis at the Local Level

Facing the reality of groups in Europe being in effect socially and politically marginalized, this article asks how the political inclusion of minorities is and should be established at the local level. First, a model is developed building on normative theories of political inclusion. This points to the importance of two dimensions of inclusion and exclusion, namely the possibility of direct participation and the granting of (special) rights to minorities. In order to test the relevance of the model data based on a survey among approximately 5000 members of the local élite in East and West European countries are analysed. The conclusion is that most local officials in East and Western Europe are remarkably unwilling to allow for special participatory arrangements or special rights. A difference between the old and new democracies in Europe as to the propensities towards possible democratic arrangements is revealed. In the old democracies, local élites are more positive as to general participatory arrangements, whereas the élites in the new democracies are more inclined to grant minorities the right to organize and institutionalize. Further analysis indicates that the differences found cannot be explained in terms of individual traits. Moral and cultural values and structural circumstances seem to be dominant factors. The relative stability of such factors suggests that we cannot be optimistic about the development of more inclusive arrangements on behalf of those that now seem to be systematically excluded.

Pobreza e municipalização da educação: análise dos resultados do IDEB (2005-2009)

O artigo apresenta resultados de pesquisa empirica que buscou verificar o impacto da pobreza sobre o Indice de Desenvolvimento da Educacao Basica em escolas de ensino fundamental em mais de 5.500 municipios brasileiros, comparando o desempenho de escolas estaduais e municipais. Foram analisados os dados de 2005, 2007 e 2009 por meio de regressoes lineares simples, residuos de regressoes e de correlacoes parciais. Os resultados mostram que a pobreza tem um forte impacto no desempenho escolar, chegando a explicar ate 60% da variacao. Os autores discutem os resultados obtidos vis-a-vis as atuais tendencias de politicas educacionais, como as politicas fundamentadas em fatores de input e na responsabilizacao de professores, apontando suas limitacoes.

Generations of interactive policy-making in the Netherlands

In two previous articles in this journal, I posed the hypothesis that policy generations exist and are able to explain policy changes (De Vries, 1999, 2002). Those articles argued that shifts in the dominant policy goals and the policy instruments being dominant in public policy-making processes occur periodically and simultaneously, congruent with the predictions derived from a model on policy generations. This article completes the trilogy by analyzing shifts in the relations between policy-makers and various societal actors. It argues that these shifts also reflect the periodical changes in the design of policy-making processes and that they occur simultaneously with the shifts in policy goals and the dominant policy instruments used. This supports the hypothesis that major policy change can be understood as a shift in attention simultaneously visible in the policy goals, the instruments used and the role of societal actors; that it is a periodical change; and that such change can be theoretically expl...In two previous articles in this journal, I posed the hypothesis that policy generations exist and are able to explain policy changes (De Vries, 1999, 2002). Those articles argued that shifts in the dominant policy goals and the policy instruments being dominant in public policy-making processes occur periodically and simultaneously, congruent with the predictions derived from a model on policy generations. This article completes the trilogy by analyzing shifts in the relations between policy-makers and various societal actors. It argues that these shifts also reflect the periodical changes in the design of policy-making processes and that they occur simultaneously with the shifts in policy goals and the dominant policy instruments used. This supports the hypothesis that major policy change can be understood as a shift in attention simultaneously visible in the policy goals, the instruments used and the role of societal actors; that it is a periodical change; and that such change can be theoretically explained and predicted by the necessary neglect of aspects of policy-making not addressed in the previous period.

Technical cooperation within the context of foreign aid: trends for the CEE countries in transition (1991—2004)

This article investigates technical assistance (TA) to CEE countries in relation to development aid in general. There is plenty of literature examining the foreign aid, but specific components of aid, like technical assistance, remain largely unexplored. One debate about development aid focuses on whether aid is primarily given to improve the situation in the recipient countries or if this improvement is simply a side-effect from aid based on political-military factors. This article argues that development aid, unlike technical assistance, is often provided based on political-military factors with the accompanying side-effect of improving the situation. To investigate aid money to CEE countries during their transition (1990—2004), we used data from OECD DAC that distinguishes technical assistance as a component of foreign aid. The analysis shows that the foreign aid to CEE countries in general seems to have been largely determined by political factors while the money provided for TA is shown to be especially determined by the recipient countries’ needs. The technical assistance has proved to be much more sustainable. The article concludes that empirical research should analyze the components of aid separately. Points for practitioners The volume of technical assistance to CEE countries cannot be explained by political and military developments in recipient countries. Instead, such assistance is intended to contribute to the adaptation and development of the recipient countries to their new situation. This analysis shows that the main motivation for TA is to improve the situation in the recipient country. This underlines the importance of such technical assistance as well as efforts to improve the way in which such the technical assistance is planned, provided and evaluated.