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Three Political control and bureaucratic expertise: policy analysis by ministerial cabinet members

  • Marleen Brans , Christian de Visscher , Athanassios Gouglas and Sylke Jaspers
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Policy Analysis in Belgium
This chapter is in the book Policy Analysis in Belgium

Abstract

While in many Western-European countries the ascent of special advisors is a relatively recent phenomenon, Belgium has long engaged ministerial cabinets as structural interfaces between politics and administration. Relatively large by international standards, ministerial cabinets consist of political advisors who as “an extension of their minister” put pressure on the civil servants in order to ensure political responsiveness. At the turn of the millennium, the reduction and revision of ministerial cabinets in favour of strengthening the administration’s role in policy formulation gained a place on the agenda. In several of the Belgian administrations, the policy analytical capacity has been strengthened, and the relations between the administration and ministerial cabinets improved in the direction of greater complementarity of roles. This chapter makes comparative literature on politico-administrative relations, and of survey material on the policy analytical roles of ministerial advisors and civil servants to analyse how bureaucratic policy expertise is balanced with political control. The analysis will point at the enduring functionality of ministerial cabinets in a polity characterized by fragile coalition government and partitocracy.

Abstract

While in many Western-European countries the ascent of special advisors is a relatively recent phenomenon, Belgium has long engaged ministerial cabinets as structural interfaces between politics and administration. Relatively large by international standards, ministerial cabinets consist of political advisors who as “an extension of their minister” put pressure on the civil servants in order to ensure political responsiveness. At the turn of the millennium, the reduction and revision of ministerial cabinets in favour of strengthening the administration’s role in policy formulation gained a place on the agenda. In several of the Belgian administrations, the policy analytical capacity has been strengthened, and the relations between the administration and ministerial cabinets improved in the direction of greater complementarity of roles. This chapter makes comparative literature on politico-administrative relations, and of survey material on the policy analytical roles of ministerial advisors and civil servants to analyse how bureaucratic policy expertise is balanced with political control. The analysis will point at the enduring functionality of ministerial cabinets in a polity characterized by fragile coalition government and partitocracy.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of tables and figures vii
  4. List of abbreviations ix
  5. Notes on contributors xiii
  6. Acknowledgements xx
  7. Editors’ introduction to the series xxi
  8. Introduction: policy analysis in Belgium – tradition, comparative features and trends 1
  9. Policy styles and methods in Belgium
  10. The policy-analytical profession in Belgium 13
  11. Analytical techniques in Belgian policy analysis 35
  12. Political control and bureaucratic expertise: policy analysis by ministerial cabinet members 57
  13. Policy analysis in the government and legislature
  14. Policy analysis in the central and regional governments 81
  15. Local planning in Belgium: A myriad of policy styles? 107
  16. Policy analysis in the Belgian legislatures: the marginal role of a structurally weak parliament in a partitocracy with no scientific and political tradition of policy analysis 129
  17. Policy advisory bodies in Belgium 151
  18. Policy analysis by political parties and interest groups
  19. Ideas as close as possible to power: Belgian political parties and their study centres 173
  20. Interest groups and policy analysis in Belgium: examining the policy-analytical capacities and practices of prominent citizen and economic groups 193
  21. Policy analysis and the public
  22. Public consultation and participation in Belgium: directly engaging citizens beyond the ballot box? 215
  23. The role of news media in the policy process in Belgium 235
  24. Policy analysis by advocates and academics
  25. Thinking in splendid isolation? The organisation and policy engagement of think tanks in Belgium 257
  26. Policy analysis by academics 275
  27. Policy analysis instruction in Belgium 295
  28. Index 311
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781447317265-009

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of tables and figures vii
  4. List of abbreviations ix
  5. Notes on contributors xiii
  6. Acknowledgements xx
  7. Editors’ introduction to the series xxi
  8. Introduction: policy analysis in Belgium – tradition, comparative features and trends 1
  9. Policy styles and methods in Belgium
  10. The policy-analytical profession in Belgium 13
  11. Analytical techniques in Belgian policy analysis 35
  12. Political control and bureaucratic expertise: policy analysis by ministerial cabinet members 57
  13. Policy analysis in the government and legislature
  14. Policy analysis in the central and regional governments 81
  15. Local planning in Belgium: A myriad of policy styles? 107
  16. Policy analysis in the Belgian legislatures: the marginal role of a structurally weak parliament in a partitocracy with no scientific and political tradition of policy analysis 129
  17. Policy advisory bodies in Belgium 151
  18. Policy analysis by political parties and interest groups
  19. Ideas as close as possible to power: Belgian political parties and their study centres 173
  20. Interest groups and policy analysis in Belgium: examining the policy-analytical capacities and practices of prominent citizen and economic groups 193
  21. Policy analysis and the public
  22. Public consultation and participation in Belgium: directly engaging citizens beyond the ballot box? 215
  23. The role of news media in the policy process in Belgium 235
  24. Policy analysis by advocates and academics
  25. Thinking in splendid isolation? The organisation and policy engagement of think tanks in Belgium 257
  26. Policy analysis by academics 275
  27. Policy analysis instruction in Belgium 295
  28. Index 311
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