Working Conditions in Central Public Administration

During the last few decades, public administration workers have been subject to a number of structural, modernising reforms, in a framework often designated as ‘new public management’. The current economic and financial crisis has also meant that the steep rise in public debt has prompted many authorities to try to reduce public expenditure by introducing freezes and reductions in pay and employment for civil servants. This report sets out to provide an overview of the main causes and reasons for change in central public administration in the European member states plus Norway. It also looks at the impact these changes have had on the sector\u27s working conditions, as well as exploring how this situation is expected to evolve

Green knowledge exchange Turkey-The Netherlands : priority issues identified for cooperation in the field of biodiversity protection and conservation : interviews with experts from Governmental and Non-Governmental Organisations based in Turkey and based in The Netherlands

As a consequence of its geographical location Turkey is very rich in biodiversity; its flora is richest, both in terms of overall plant diversity and level of endemism compared to Europe, North Africa, or countries in the Middle East. This report gives an overview of important biodiversity issues in Turkey and priorities for cooperation selected by Turkish and Dutch parties. The project aimed to facilitate the set up of a long-term cooperation between Turkey and The Netherlands in a structural ‘Green Knowledge Exchange’ between officials and experts of the two countries. Reports of interviews with (non)governmental organizations (Netherlands and Turkey) form the backbone of this publication. It also provides a SWOT analysis and comparison of the information obtained from Turkish side and the information provided by organisations based in The Netherlands

How Dutch Institutions Enhance the Adaptive Capacity of Society

This report examines the adaptive capacity of the institutional framework of the Netherlands to cope with the impacts of climate change. Historically, institutions have evolved incrementally to deal with existing social problems. They provide norms and rules for collective action and create continuity rather than change. However, the nature of societal problems is changing as a result of the processes of globalization and development. With the progress made in the natural sciences, we are able to predict in advance, to a certain extent, the potential environmental impacts of various human actions on society, for example, climate change. This raises some key questions: Are our institutions capable of dealing with this new knowledge about future impacts and, more importantly, with the impacts themselves? Are our institutions capable of dealing with the inherent uncertainty of the predictions

Multilevel governance patterns and the protection of groundwater and drinking water in Florida and the Netherlands

This paper develops a model of ‘governance’ as an aid for comparing such\ud governance structures and applies these to a particular policy arena: policies\ud on the protection of groundwater and on drinking water quality in the\ud Netherlands and Florida.\ud The research questions examined by this paper are:\ud 1. Which elements make up a governance structure?\ud 2. In what ways do these elements influence each other?\ud 3. What are the differences between the multilevel structure of protection for\ud aquifers in Florida and the Netherlands, and how do these differences\ud relate to other differences in the governance structure?\ud The analysis in this paper has shown that ‘governance’ involves more\ud elements than policy objectives and the means to implement policy. These\ud elements are not simply the sum of individual aspects but are closely\ud interlinked. We have tried to illustrate how these interrelations work. The case\ud study we used for this was the comparison between the Netherlands and\ud Florida regarding the protection of the quality of groundwater and drinking\ud water. The high degree of similarity between both states highlights the\ud differences, which exist as well. The interrelations between these differences\ud can be understood by using our hypotheses of the mechanisms by which they\ud work

Dutch agriculture and horticulture with a glance at South Korea : policies and results in the past, present en future

Dit rapport geeft inzicht in de huidige verschillen en overeenkomsten tussen Zuid-Korea en Nederland. Meer specifiek is ingegaan op de ontwikkelingen van de Nederlandse land- en tuinbouw in verleden, heden en toekomst en wat de voorwaarden zijn geweest voor de sterke internationale positie van de Neder landse land- en tuinbouw. Ook de ontwikkelingen in het beleid van de Europese Unie en de Nederlandse Overheid, het gehele agro!complex en het landelijk gebied zijn in deze studie beschouwd. In het rapport is ook een bijlage opgeno men met adressen van de meest belangrijke instanties, instituties en bedrijven rondom de land- en tuinbouwsecto

The quest for public management reform : theory and practice in the case of The Netherlands 1970-1995

Public management reform and public reorganisation are undertaken now for more than two decades in the Western world. These attempts to modernise the institutions in the public sector and their public policies have been inspired by criticisms on big and classical government and on notions of a smaller but better government. Theoretical analysis, empirical research and ideological beliefs are elements in the debate, and many times they are confused In this research memorandum, the quest for public management reform is described, analysed and evaluated in a case study of the Netherlands for the period 1970-1995. The early beginnings of the reform debate and of reform policies can be traced back to the late nineteen sixties. This resulted in the nineteen eighties in six Big Operations at three levels of the public sector: at the central government level, at the local government level and in the third sector. These operations are in various ways interrelated. The miscellaneous and sometimes even disappointing outcomes of these operations resulted in more modest attempts to public management reform in the nineteen nineties. This memorandum concludes with a theoretical analysis of the determinants of success and failure of public management reform and public reorganisation. Public management reform is in particular a difficult and complicated learning process, which has to be undertaken in horizontal and democratic policy networks, and in consultations and negotiations with all political actors involved: the politicians as political principals, the bureaucrats as executing agents, and the public as consumers of public service delivery. NEDERLANDS ABSTRACT De Zoektocht naar Hervorming van het Overheidsmanagement. Theorie en Praktijk in Nederland 1970-1995. Hervorming van het overheidsmanagement en van de organisatie van de overheid wordt reeds twintig jaar in de Westerse wereld ondernomen. De pogingen tot fundamentele hervorming van de organisatie en het management van de overheid vinden hun inspiratiebron in de aanhoudende en radicale kritiek op de grootschalige en klassiek georganiseerde overheid en in het concept van een kleinere maar betere overheid. Theoretische analyse, empirisch onderzoek en politiek-ideologische stellingnamen vormen onderdeel van het debat, maar worden vaak door elkaar gehaald waar zij zouden moeten worden onderscheiden. In dit research memorandum wordt de speurtocht naar hervorming van de organisatie en het management van de overheid in Nederland beschreven, geanalyseerd en geëvalueerd voor de periode 1970-1995. Het vroege begin van het hervormingsdebat en van het hervormingsbeleid kan worden getraceerd in de late jaren zestig. Een en ander resulteerde uiteindelijk in de jaren tachtig in de zes zogeheten Grote Operaties op drie niveaus van de publieke sector: op het niveau van de centrale overheid, op het niveau van de lokale overheid en in de derde of non-profit sector. Deze operaties hangen onderling op velerlei manier samen. De wisselende en soms ronduit teleurstellende resultaten van deze operaties leidden tot meer bescheiden hervormingspogingen in de jaren negentig. Dit memorandum sluit af met een theoretische analyse van de succes- en faalfactoren van hervorming van de organisatie en het management van de overheid. Hervorming van de publieke sector is in het bijzonder een moeilijk en gecompliceerd leerproces, dat ter hand genomen moet worden in het kader van horizontale en democratische beleidsnetwerken, en in voortdurend consultatie en onderhandeling met alle betrokken politieke actoren: de politici als opdrachtgevers, de bureaucratische functionarissen als uitvoerders, en het publiek als consumenten van openbare dienstverlening.public economics ;