000			02558naa a2200181uu 4500
001			9082115250937
003			OSt
005			20231218161633.0
008			090821s2009 xx ||||gr |0|| 0 eng d
100	1		_92772 _a Vries, Michiel S. de
245	1	0	_aStability despite reforms : _bstructural asymmetries in dutch local policy networks
260			_aBirmingham : _bTaylor & Francis, _cApril 2008
520	3		_aThis article addresses the development of local policy networks in the Netherlands in the period 1996-2005. It is argued that there is a surprising stability in such networks seen from the perspective of local policymakers. Those working inside city hall as politicians and as members of the local administration remain the core members of the inner circle in policy networks, while societal groups remain outsiders and political party groups are absent from local policy networks. This conclusion is based on three identical standardised surveys among local politicians and top administrators at the local level, which were conducted in 1996, 2000 and 2005. This outcome is surprising, because it is contrary to the high expectations arising from numerous institutional reforms taking place in this period, aimed, among other things, at diminishing the gap between citizens and policymakers; the numerous experiments in co-production, public-private partnerships, and interactive policy processes; and the widespread documentation and dissemination of the outcomes of such experiments. Possible explanations for the results are that the experiments, however successful they might have been, never had a structural follow-up, and that the structural reforms, no matter what they accomplished otherwise, did not achieve their goal in enhancing interactive policymaking because they overlooked the fact that local policymakers see the local political system as a representative democracy and not as a direct or participatory one. On that basis it is to be expected that support for policies by policymakers is mainly sought among influential actors who are elected or appointed to develop policies and whose interests have to be taken into account. The public and societal groups do not satisfy that criterion. They can and do seek support from policymakers but the latter are hardly inclined to seek support from them.
773	0	8	_tLocal Government Studies _g34, 2, p. 221-244 _dBirmingham : Taylor & Francis, April 2008 _xISSN 03003930 _w
942			_cS
998			_a20090821 _b1525^b _cDaiane
998			_a20090827 _b1559^b _cDaiane
999			_aConvertido do Formato PHL _bPHL2MARC21 1.1 _c29688 _d29688
041			_aeng