Policy and power: A conceptual framework between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ policy idioms

During the last few decades, both policy practices and policy idioms have drastically changed. Concepts such as interactive planning, network management, stakeholder dialogue, deliberative democracy, policy discourses, governance, etc. have replaced older ones such as public administration, policy programmes, interest groups, institutions, power, and the like. Although we recognise the relevance and importance of this shift in vocabulary, we also regret related ‘losses’. We particularly regret that the concept of power has – in our view – become an ‘endangered species’ in the field of public policy analysis. We therefore will develop a framework to analyse power – being a multi-layered concept – in policy practices in this article. We will do so on the basis of the so-called policy arrangement approach, which combines elements of the old and new policy vocabularies. In addition, we draw upon different power theories in developing our argument and model. As a result, we hope to combine the best of two worlds, of the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ idioms in policy studies, and to achieve our two aims: to bring back in the concept of power in current policy analysis and to expand the policy arrangement approach from a power perspective.     

An American Perestroika in Dutch Cities? Urban Policy in the Netherlands at the End of a Millennium

This paper discusses the implications of the recent adoption of interactive forms of governance in Dutch urban policy. Advocates of this new approach claim that interactive governance will have positive effects for (1) the quality of urban democracy and urban governability and (2) for the solution of the information problems inherent in coping with (wicked) urban problems. On the basis of an extensive evaluation of the implementation of the new policies in four of the 25 Dutch municipalities involved, these claims are critically assessed.     

扩增X—Y同源Amelogenin基因内含子在性别鉴定中的应用研究

本文用一对针对X－Y同源的Amelogenin基因第一内含子的引物，于同一试管中分别扩增出针对于x和Y染色体的特异性DNA片段：106bp及112bp的PCR产物，经聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳后用银染法观察扩增结果，取得了满意的效果．对50pgDNA模板室温放置16年的血痕及单根毛发、烟头等检材均可得到明确的性别鉴定结果．本实验证明该方法简便、灵敏、可靠、特别适用于腐败降解检材的法医学性别鉴定．     

The Asymmetry of Legitimacy

State legitimacy is often said to have two aspects: an internal and an external one. Internally, a legitimate state has the right to rule over its subjects. Externally, it has a right that outsiders not interfere with its domestic governance. But what is the relation between these two aspects? In this paper, I defend a conception of legitimacy according to which these two aspects are related in an importantly asymmetrical manner. In particular, a legitimate state??s external right to rule affords it protections that include and go beyond what its internal right to rule enables it to do. This asymmetrical view, I argue, is preferable to its two main rivals: the view that a state??s internal and external legitimacy are separate issues, and the view that internal and external legitimacy are mirroring.     

Treatment-Related Reductions in Disability Are Associated with Reductions in Perceived Injustice Following Treatment of Whiplash Injury

Emerging evidence suggests that perceived injustice is a risk factor for poor recovery outcomes in individuals with whiplash injuries. The present study examined the relative contributions of treatment-related reductions in pain severity, depressive symptoms, and disability in the prediction of reductions in perceived injustice in individuals with whiplash injury. The study sample consisted of 71 individuals (43 women and 28 men) who sustained whiplash injuries in motor vehicle accidents and who were enrolled in a treatment program designed to promote functional recovery following whiplash injury. For the purposes of this study, only individuals who scored above the risk threshold on a measure of perceived injustice were included in the study sample. Participants completed measures of pain severity, disability, depressive symptomatology, and perceived injustice prior to treatment and after treatment. Change scores were computed for study variables. The results revealed that reductions in pain severity and disability were correlated with reductions in perceived injustice. Regression analyses revealed that only reductions in disability contributed significant unique variance to the prediction of reductions in perceived injustice. Clinical and theoretical implications of the present findings are discussed.     

Fiscal Adjustments and Their Effects During the Transition to the EMU

The transition phase to EMU hasbeen accompanied by considerable monetaryand fiscal consolidation efforts in the EU.This paper analyses this consolidationprocess and its effects on economicactivity in the EU. It is tested to what extent fiscal retrenchment efforts havedepressed or stimulated private spending. Inthe case of the latter non-Keynesian effectsdominate the traditional Keynesianexpenditure effects of government spending,taxation and transfer payments.     

Regulatory delay and growth: a cross country analysis

This paper exploits cross country data on regulatory delay for 135 countries. The results from the regression analysis suggest that waiting time stemming from business procedures has a negative impact on economic growth, especially when we take into account possible endogeneity.     

Citizens’ Initiatives: How Local Governments Fill their Facilitative Role

In the context of drastic cutbacks many Dutch municipalities consider citizens’ initiatives (CIs) as an attractive alternative for municipal policies aimed at improving the livability and safety in neighbourhoods, simultaneously building responsible citizenship. In this paper we combine different theoretical perspectives to analyse the institutional settings in which CIs are being realised, and how municipalities try to facilitate such initiatives. Municipalities can do this by either trying to structure the relevant networks or by various forms of process management. This analysis sheds light on how municipalities use a variety of instruments to mobilise citizens to participate in CIs. In using such instruments they can influence various factors (like motivations, personal resources, social capital and expected responsiveness; cf. Lowndes et al.’s CLEAR model) that increase the likelihood of civic engagement.