Partnership Arrangements: Governmental Rhetoric or Governance Scheme?

It has become popular to advocate partnership arrangements. Such partnerships may be seen as new forms of governance, which fit in with the imminent network society. However, the idea of partnership is often introduced without much reflection on the need to reorganize policy-making processes and to adjust existing institutional structures.
In this contribution, we discuss the ambiguity of partnerships. An empirical basis is provided by means of an analysis of the policy making on the expansion of the Rotterdam harbor. This case indicates that although new governance schemes are being proposed and explored, they still have to comply with the existing procedures in which they are imbedded. Governments especially are not prepared to adjust to governance arrangements. Policy making continues to be based on self-referential organizational decisions, rather than on joint interorganizational policy making. This raises questions about the added value of intended cooperative governance processes.     

Street-level bureaucrats' emotional intelligence and its relation with their performance

This article analyses whether the emotional intelligence (EI) of street-level bureaucrats, in this case inspectors, predicts their individual performance. It explores whether EI predicts the aggression that inspectors face and whether this explains the relation between EI and performance. Our survey among 547 inspectors, measuring their (self) perceptions, shows that inspectors' ability to appraise others' emotions and use their emotions intelligently (i.e., motivating themselves and maintaining a positive attitude) is significantly associated with inspectors' performance. Ability to appraise others' emotions predicts increases encountered aggression (as perceived by inspectors), and capacity to regulate one's emotions correlates with decreased perceived encountered aggression. The paper contributes to street-level bureaucracy literature by identifying affective factors that help explain performance, and to EI literature by theorizing and testing succedents of various dimensions of EI rather than assuming that EI is unidimensional. Dit artikel verkent of de emotionele intelligentie (EI) van inspecteurs hun individuele prestaties voorspelt. Er wordt onderzocht of EI verklarend is voor de agressie waarmee inspecteurs te maken krijgen, en of deze ondervonden agressie vervolgens de prestaties verklaart. Uit dit onderzoek waarin we de (zelf)perceptie van 547 inspecteurs hebben gemeten, blijkt dat het vermogen van inspecteurs om emoties van anderen in te schatten en hun eigen emoties intelligent te gebruiken (d.w.z. zichzelf te motiveren en een positief te blijven) significant samenhangt met de prestaties van inspecteurs. Het vermogen om emoties van anderen in te schatten voorspelt een toename van agressie die inspecteurs ondervinden, en het vermogen om hun eigen te emoties te reguleren correleert met een afname van ondervonden agressie. Het artikel draagt bij aan de literatuur over contactambtenaren (street-level bureaucracy) door affectieve factoren te identificeren die prestaties helpen verklaren, en aan de EI-literatuur door verschillende dimensies van EI te theoretiseren en te testen in plaats van aan te nemen dat EI eendimensionaal is.     

Politicians and Interactive Decision Making: Institutional Spoilsports or Playmakers

In recent years interactive decision making has become quite popular in The Netherlands, especially at the level of local government. It involves new forms of participation of citizens, consumers of public services and interest groups in the process of policy formation. Workshops, panels, internet discussions and a lot of other techniques are used to arrive at innovative and supported solutions for existing problems. The ambitions are high: these new forms of participation should result in better government both in the sense of providing better policies, but also in bridging the democratic gap between local government and citizens. However, these new forms of participation in local government are not without problems. Recent experiences suggest that one of the major problems is the challenge interactive decision making constitutes for the existing practice of representative politics. On the basis of two cases — the decision-making process concerning the expansion of the Rotterdam Harbour and the discussion about a new administrative structure for the Rotterdam region — this article illustrates that one of the barriers that stands in the way of the success of such processes is the ambiguous attitude of elected politicians. Although politicians often initiate interactive decision-making processes, they do not actively support these processes when they are in progress. The outcomes of interactive decision-making progress are often not used in the formal political procedures that follow. Because elected politicians fear that these new forms of participation threaten their political primacy, they find it hard to play a constructive role in these processes.     

Managers in Governance Networks: How to Reach Good Outcomes?

ABSTRACT

There is a large amount of literature and research on network management activities. This article explores the role of network managers in governance networks. It fits into the discussion of managerial activities and their outcome. This article discusses and analyses the results of a survey that was conducted in 2006–2007 among those involved in environmental projects in the Netherlands (323 respondents, 111 of whom were managers of these projects). The respondents were asked questions about their background, trust, project characteristics, network management activities, and outcomes (both process and content outcomes). This article uses the data collected on network managers to study some of their background characteristics, the management activities they use, and project outcomes. The research shows that more experienced managers achieve good outcomes (trust and substantive outcome). However, the most important insight gained from this research is that network managers who employ a large number of management activities in the management of their network achieve good outcomes.     

Privatizing Environmental Resources: The Need for Supervision of Clean Development Mechanism Contracts?

This article argues that a current trend in global sustainable development governance is actively to engage the private sector in participating in the process of implementing global and national policy goals. This trend is based on the notion that the private sector has the ideas, technologies and resources at its disposal that can be channelled to addressing global environmental challenges. This new trend does not, however, take into account the past and present implications of private sector investment in fields such as mining and forestry. Nor does it closely examine how private sector rules will subsequently infiltrate and govern environmental management. On the basis of an examination of current policy developments and contracts in the area of environmental management and their implications for developing countries, this article argues in favour of establishing an authority that oversees the legitimacy and legality of these new contracts, especially in, but not limited to, the area of climate change.     

How do professionals perceive the governance of public–private partnerships? Evidence from Canada,the Netherlands and Denmark

In public–private partnerships (PPPs), the collaboration between public and private actors can be complicated. With partners coming from different institutional backgrounds and with different interests, governing these partnerships is important to ensure the projects' progress. There is, however, little knowledge about the perceptions of professionals regarding the governance of PPPs. This study aims to exlore professionals' viewpoints about governing PPPs, and to explain potential differences using four theoretical governance paradigms. Using Q methodology, the preferences of 119 public and private professionals in Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark are explored. Results show four different viewpoints regarding the governance of PPPs. Experience, country and the public–private distinction seem to influence these viewpoints. Knowledge of these differences can inform efforts to govern PPPs and contribute to more successful partnerships.     

Project Versus Process Management in Public-Private Partnership: Relation Between Management Style and Outcomes

ABSTRACT

This article elaborates the relation between two management styles, project and process management, and perceived outcomes in public-private partnerships (PPPs). The research is based on an extensive face-to-face survey conducted with 32 managers of 18 large complex infrastructure projects. The managers were asked questions about management strategies and outcomes. Based on theoretical literature on process and project management we conceptualized and measured these two types of management and looked at which type of strategies contributed more to perceived outcomes. The results show that a process management style correlates to outcomes and that project management does not correlate to outcomes.     

The governance of self-organization: Which governance strategy do policy officials and citizens prefer?

Policy Sciences - This article compares views of policy officials and members of community-based collectives on the ideal role of government in processes of community self-organization. By using Q...     

Does Disclosure of Performance Information Influence Street‐level Bureaucrats’ Enforcement Style?

Governments use different regulatory instruments to ensure that businesses owners or “inspectees” comply with rules and regulations. One tool that is increasingly applied is disclosing inspectees’ performance information to other stakeholders. Disclosing performance information has consequences for street‐level bureaucrats because it increases the visibility of their day‐to‐day work. Using a survey (n = 507) among Dutch inspectors of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, this article shows that the disclosure of performance information has an impact on enforcement style at the street level. Findings show that perceived disclosed performance information positively enhances all three dimensions of street‐level bureaucrats’ enforcement style (legal, facilitation, and accommodation). This effect is strongest for facilitation and accommodation and weakest for the legal style. Perceived resistance by inspectees partly explains this effect. Contrary to expectations, more perceived disclosure does not result in more but in less perceived resistance of inspectees by street‐level bureaucrats.     

Place Marketing as Governance Strategy: An Assessment of Obstacles in Place Marketing and Their Effects on Attracting Target Groups

Place marketing is increasingly being used as a governance strategy for managing perceptions about regions, cities, and towns. What are the most important obstacles to implementing place marketing? Based on a survey of 274 public managers involved in place marketing in the Netherlands, this article analyzes the main obstacles as perceived by public managers. It also analyzes the effects of obstacles on perceived results of place marketing in terms of attracting target groups. A factor analysis of a variety of obstacles investigated in the survey shows three clearly demarcated obstacles: administrative obstacles within municipalities, obstacles in developing the substance of marketing campaigns, and political obstacles. Obstacles in developing the substance of the marketing campaigns have significant effects on the results of place marketing in terms of attracting stakeholders, whereas the two other obstacles have no significant influence.