Ebook: Governance in Modern Society: Effects, Change and Formation of Government Institutions

This book is the immediate result of the co-operation of a great number of scholars in the Netherlands Institute of Government (NIG). NIG is an interuniversity research school. As such it has a double task. In addition to offering a Ph.D program to students in Public Administration it also is a research institute in which a great number of scholars from seven Dutch universities participate and work on a common research program. The chapters in this book are all products of the research program that started in 1995. This program had the ambition to explore the frontiers of the discipline in two respects. First by studying a number of recent developments in society and their consequences for the functioning of government. These consequences can be summarised as the development of a system of multi level and multi actor governance. Second, by contributing to the knowledge of institutions, both by studying what factors are most important in the formation and change of institutions and by studying the effects of institutions on the behaviour of actors in different political and administrative settings. Most contributions to this volume either have their origin in conferences organized by the NIG or were published as an NIG working paper. We are grateful to Marcia Clifford and Connie Hoekstra who prepared the final version of the manuscript, to Ian Priestnall who took care of the language editing and to an anonymous reviewer whose comments were gratefully used.

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Tremendous changes are affecting the institutions of government in many Western European countries. Globalisation, European integration, economic, technological, and societal developments have a major influence on public policies and governmental performance. These developments have furthered a framework in which governmental and non-governmental actors are linked by both reciprocal connections and more complex network relationships. This volume attempts to identify and analyse the effects, the change, and the formation of government institutions in relation to the above-mentioned developments. More specifically the following topics are discussed: the European Union as a system of multi-level governance, national government institutions and policies, change of government institutions and changing state-society relations, new public management reforms, ICT and changing organizational boundaries, political institutions and policy-oriented learning, management of public-private partnerships, interactive policy making, and structural legal institutions. This volume will be of particular interest to administrators, researchers, policy makers, and students in the field of public administration and public policy.

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Tremendous changes are affecting the institutions of government in many Western European countries. Globalisation, European integration, economic, technological, and societal developments have a major influence on public policies and governmental performance. These developments have furthered a framework in which governmental and non-governmental actors are linked by both reciprocal connections and more complex network relationships. This volume attempts to identify and analyse the effects, the change, and the formation of government institutions in relation to the above-mentioned developments. More specifically the following topics are discussed: the European Union as a system of multi-level governance, national government institutions and policies, change of government institutions and changing state-society relations, new public management reforms, ICT and changing organizational boundaries, political institutions and policy-oriented learning, management of public-private partnerships, interactive policy making, and structural legal institutions. This volume will be of particular interest to administrators, researchers, policy makers, and students in the field of public administration and public policy.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-1
Introduction: Multi-Level and Multi-Actor Governance....Pages 3-11
Front Matter....Pages 13-13
The Comitology Game: European Policymaking with Parliamentary Involvement....Pages 15-33
Institutional Change in the Emerging European Polity....Pages 35-60
The Secret and Cost of Success: Institutional Change and Policy Change....Pages 61-86
The Swamp of Dutch Politics: How the Impact of Modernization on Political Behavior is Modified by Institutional Context....Pages 87-108
Interactive Decision Making and Representative Democracy: Institutional Collisions and Solutions....Pages 109-134
Is Mediation a Suitable Alternative to Court Trials?....Pages 135-152
Institutionalism: State Models and Policy Processes....Pages 153-177
Front Matter....Pages 179-179
Restructuring a Corporatist Welfare State....Pages 181-201
Administrative Conditions to Institutional Politics: Federalism in an Unitary State....Pages 203-222
Public Governance in Europe: A Historical- Institutional Tour D’Horizon....Pages 223-255
Information and Communication Technology and the Redefinition of the Functional and Normative Boundaries of Government....Pages 257-278
Front Matter....Pages 279-279
The Mobilization of Bias Revisited: Institutional Design, Cultural Bias and Policy-Oriented Learning....Pages 281-297
Interactive Policy Making as a Serious Alternative: Balancing Between an Open and Closed Approach....Pages 299-312
Process Management....Pages 313-328
Managing Public-Private Partnerships: Influencing Processes and Institutional Context of Public-Private Partnerships....Pages 329-348
Legal Institutions as Systems of Legal Norms....Pages 349-366
Back Matter....Pages 367-379

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Tremendous changes are affecting the institutions of government in many Western European countries. Globalisation, European integration, economic, technological, and societal developments have a major influence on public policies and governmental performance. These developments have furthered a framework in which governmental and non-governmental actors are linked by both reciprocal connections and more complex network relationships. This volume attempts to identify and analyse the effects, the change, and the formation of government institutions in relation to the above-mentioned developments. More specifically the following topics are discussed: the European Union as a system of multi-level governance, national government institutions and policies, change of government institutions and changing state-society relations, new public management reforms, ICT and changing organizational boundaries, political institutions and policy-oriented learning, management of public-private partnerships, interactive policy making, and structural legal institutions. This volume will be of particular interest to administrators, researchers, policy makers, and students in the field of public administration and public policy.
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-1
Introduction: Multi-Level and Multi-Actor Governance....Pages 3-11
Front Matter....Pages 13-13
The Comitology Game: European Policymaking with Parliamentary Involvement....Pages 15-33
Institutional Change in the Emerging European Polity....Pages 35-60
The Secret and Cost of Success: Institutional Change and Policy Change....Pages 61-86
The Swamp of Dutch Politics: How the Impact of Modernization on Political Behavior is Modified by Institutional Context....Pages 87-108
Interactive Decision Making and Representative Democracy: Institutional Collisions and Solutions....Pages 109-134
Is Mediation a Suitable Alternative to Court Trials?....Pages 135-152
Institutionalism: State Models and Policy Processes....Pages 153-177
Front Matter....Pages 179-179
Restructuring a Corporatist Welfare State....Pages 181-201
Administrative Conditions to Institutional Politics: Federalism in an Unitary State....Pages 203-222
Public Governance in Europe: A Historical- Institutional Tour D’Horizon....Pages 223-255
Information and Communication Technology and the Redefinition of the Functional and Normative Boundaries of Government....Pages 257-278
Front Matter....Pages 279-279
The Mobilization of Bias Revisited: Institutional Design, Cultural Bias and Policy-Oriented Learning....Pages 281-297
Interactive Policy Making as a Serious Alternative: Balancing Between an Open and Closed Approach....Pages 299-312
Process Management....Pages 313-328
Managing Public-Private Partnerships: Influencing Processes and Institutional Context of Public-Private Partnerships....Pages 329-348
Legal Institutions as Systems of Legal Norms....Pages 349-366
Back Matter....Pages 367-379
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