Time needed to evacuate the Netherlands in the event of large-scale flooding: strategies and consequences

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Representing territorial diversity: the role of local government associations

This paper argues that local government associations (LGAs) form a key element in central–local relations. They contribute towards defending local discretion through their three roles: as the collective voices of local authorities; as countervailing public-interest groups; and as feedback mechanisms for central government actors. LGAs are understood as hybrid organizations and their role and influence analyzed in terms of (1) their relationship with central government; (2) their capacity to manage the dilemmas of collectively representing territorial heterogeneity; and (3) the extent of competition from other political and functional interests. These roles are studied by comparing LGAs in England, Germany and the Netherlands

Social Media and Value Conflicts : An Explorative Study of the Dutch Police

The use of social media produces new value conflicts in public governance. The police force is a public organization directly confronted with these changes. However, there is no systematic understanding of these conflicts in daily police practice or of the coping strategies used. This article presents an explorative understanding of the value conflicts and coping strategies within the police force by combining the literature on social media use in the public sector and the literature on value conflicts and by conducting a case study within the Dutch police. The empirical findings show, first, a growing emphasis on conflicts related to the values that are strongly embedded in social media use—specifically, conflicts between efficiency and participation and between transparency and lawfulness. Second, although dynamic coping strategies were expected, the research reveals that the police often use a conservative coping strategy to deal with these rapid changes