One Policy analysis in the Netherlands: an introduction
-
Frans van Nispen
Abstract
Like in most countries, policy analysis and evaluation originated from a rationalist or positivist tradition. Focusing on the institutional embedding of policy analysis, this chapter first analyses the birth of policy analysis and evaluation in government institutions in the 1970s. Subsequently, it analyses how policy analysis and evaluation are institutionalized in a number of government associated but increasingly also independent research institutes. Perhaps more than in many other countries, a strongly institutionalized research-policy nexus emerged in the 1970s. In the context of the Dutch fragmented political system, carrying the legacy of societal fragmentation from the period of pillarization, this made policy analysis into a key source of consensus-building, depoliticization and policy legitimization. Since the 1980s, the institutional embedding of policy analysis has become even more diversified, with policy analysis and evaluation also obtaining a central position in academia. Though a critical tradition never gained ground in Dutch policy analysis (as it did in the UK), the Netherlands become important source of the development of a postpositivist and interpretivist tradition of policy analysis in the 1990s.
Abstract
Like in most countries, policy analysis and evaluation originated from a rationalist or positivist tradition. Focusing on the institutional embedding of policy analysis, this chapter first analyses the birth of policy analysis and evaluation in government institutions in the 1970s. Subsequently, it analyses how policy analysis and evaluation are institutionalized in a number of government associated but increasingly also independent research institutes. Perhaps more than in many other countries, a strongly institutionalized research-policy nexus emerged in the 1970s. In the context of the Dutch fragmented political system, carrying the legacy of societal fragmentation from the period of pillarization, this made policy analysis into a key source of consensus-building, depoliticization and policy legitimization. Since the 1980s, the institutional embedding of policy analysis has become even more diversified, with policy analysis and evaluation also obtaining a central position in academia. Though a critical tradition never gained ground in Dutch policy analysis (as it did in the UK), the Netherlands become important source of the development of a postpositivist and interpretivist tradition of policy analysis in the 1990s.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures and tables ix
- List of acronyms x
- Notes on contributors xiv
- Editors’ introduction to the series xx
- Preface and acknowledgements xxii
- Policy analysis in the Netherlands: an introduction 1
-
Styles and modes of policy analysis
- Policy analysis in practice: reinterpreting the quest for evidence-based policy 17
- Policy analysis in networks: the battle of analysis and the potentials of joint fact-finding 33
- Patterns of science–policy interaction 49
- Interpretive policy analysis in the Netherlands 69
-
Policy analysis in government
- Policy analysis and evaluation in national government 89
- Policy analysis at the local government level 107
- Policy analysis and performance audit at the ‘highest level’: looking for evidence and responsiveness 121
-
Advisory bodies, consultancy firms, research institutes and think tanks
- Advisory boards and planning bureaus 139
- The Dutch policy research industry 155
-
Policy analysis in politics and by interest groups in society
- Policy analysis in the Dutch Parliament 171
- Policy analysis and political party think tanks 187
- Policy analysis by negotiation: trade unions, employers’ organisations and the Social and Economic Council 203
-
Policy analysis in the academic world
- Policy analysis as instruction 217
- Contested knowledge in theory-driven policy analysis: setting the Dutch stage 231
- Institutionalisation and performance of policy analysis and evaluation in the Netherlands 247
- Index 255
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures and tables ix
- List of acronyms x
- Notes on contributors xiv
- Editors’ introduction to the series xx
- Preface and acknowledgements xxii
- Policy analysis in the Netherlands: an introduction 1
-
Styles and modes of policy analysis
- Policy analysis in practice: reinterpreting the quest for evidence-based policy 17
- Policy analysis in networks: the battle of analysis and the potentials of joint fact-finding 33
- Patterns of science–policy interaction 49
- Interpretive policy analysis in the Netherlands 69
-
Policy analysis in government
- Policy analysis and evaluation in national government 89
- Policy analysis at the local government level 107
- Policy analysis and performance audit at the ‘highest level’: looking for evidence and responsiveness 121
-
Advisory bodies, consultancy firms, research institutes and think tanks
- Advisory boards and planning bureaus 139
- The Dutch policy research industry 155
-
Policy analysis in politics and by interest groups in society
- Policy analysis in the Dutch Parliament 171
- Policy analysis and political party think tanks 187
- Policy analysis by negotiation: trade unions, employers’ organisations and the Social and Economic Council 203
-
Policy analysis in the academic world
- Policy analysis as instruction 217
- Contested knowledge in theory-driven policy analysis: setting the Dutch stage 231
- Institutionalisation and performance of policy analysis and evaluation in the Netherlands 247
- Index 255
