http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/2897/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/39671/ 2013-03-28T00:00:00Z Place branding has been used to influence ideas concerning communities and districts, especially in regeneration programmes. This article approaches branding as a new governance strategy for managing perceptions. Considering the popular criticism that branding is a form of spin that prevents the public from gaining a proper understanding of their government's policies, this article focuses on the democratic legitimacy of branding in urban governance. The branding of two urban communities in the Netherlands is examined empirically in terms of input legitimacy, throughput legitimacy and output legitimacy. The research shows how the democratic legitimacy of branding varies in the two cases. In one case, branding largely excluded citizens, whereas in the other case there was limited citizen participation. The article indicates that, although branding can potentially be a participatory process in which the feelings and emotions of citizens are included, this potential is not always fully realised in practice. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/39882/ 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z Introduction. Since the beginning of the 1990s, local authorities in many European countries have introduced new participatory forms of policy-making in an attempt to reverse perceived downward trends in political participation (Daemen and Schaap 2000; Akkerman, Hajer and Grin 2004; Zittel and Fuchs 2007). Such initiatives are marked by inherent tensions. The new arrangements should be set-up in such a way that they can address the alleged crisis of legitimacy in local democracy. This implies that they should provide citizens with enough scope for effective participation. On the other hand, it would be unusual for political elites to endorse reform strategies that they perceive as threatening their own ‘political primacy’. For example, experiences with ‘interactive governance’ in the Netherlands indicate that politicians find it difficult to adapt to this type of participatory arrangement and to invent new constructive political roles (Klijn and Koppenjan 2000; Edelenbos 2005). This chapter addresses one of the ‘puzzles’ of local democratic reform: tensions between representative and participatory democracy (see Chapter 1 of this volume). The purpose of this chapter is to explore these tensions within different national institutional contexts and to ascertain how a new balance can be found between these two ideals and forms of democracy.... http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/31436/ 2011-07-01T00:00:00Z In November 2007, Dutch secondary school students revolted against a requirement known as the "1040-hour norm." New Web technologies, like instant messaging, YouTube, and social networking sites, played an important role in the mobilization effort. In this article, the authors argue that these technologies facilitate a shift toward micromobilization by individuals and small groups. In this "1040-hour norm" case study, the authors analyze how the course of the political agenda-setting process is being transformed through the interplay between processes of meso- and micromobilization, and through new micro-to-mass media crossover effects. When supported by micromedia, the effects of micromobilization can create strategic surprises for traditional intermediary organizations and policymakers. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/17471/ 2009-04-01T00:00:00Z This paper argues that practices of political participation can be seen as expressions of different styles of democratic citizenship. Through these styles, citizens exhibit certain 'tastes' for particular forms of political activity. Typical empirical analyses of lifestyles and styles of democratic citizenship are discussed. A reinterpretation of these findings according to cultural theory suggests a universe of basic ways of life underlying these citizenship styles. A lifestyle approach to democratic design that focuses on the match between participation opportunities and citizens' tastes for participation is proposed. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11505/ 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z In dit rapport schetsen we allereerst een beeld van het proces, vanaf de voorbereiding van het voorstel om met burgerjury’s te werken tot en met de doorwerking van de adviezen in de besluitvorming over het Omgevingsplan door Provinciale Staten. We geven een korte beschrijving van de feitelijke gang van zaken, met daarbij de beelden die hierover in de interviews zijn verwoord door burgers, politici en projectmedewerkers. Vervolgens bespreken we een aantal belangrijke factoren die het proces hebben beïnvloed, namelijk de taakverdeling tussen GS en PS ten aanzien van de communicatie met de samenleving, de formulering van de vraagstellingen, de status van de burgerjuryadviezen en verschillende factoren die de doorwerking van de adviezen hebben beïnvloed. De beschrijving van het proces vormt ook de basis voor het beantwoorden van de evaluatievragen die ons door de griffie zijn meegegeven. Daarmee komen we toe aan het beantwoorden van de vraag: was de burgerjury een juiste vorm voor burgerparticipatie over het Omgevingsplan en was de koppeling van de burgerjury aan Provinciale Staten een goede keuze? http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7641/ 2006-03-29T00:00:00Z Doelstelling van het onderzoek is een verkenning van eigentijdse vormen van betrokkenheid van bewoners. Dan gaat het om vormen die bewoners reële zeggenschap bieden, het sociaal kapitaal en het probleemoplossend vermogen van buurten versterken en daarmee (op den duur) wellicht het vertrouwen tussen burgers en politiek kunnen helpen herstellen. In de verkenning zijn de volgende vragen beantwoord: • Welke mogelijkheden van buurt - en wijkparticipatie die aan het hierboven aangeduide profiel beantwoorden zijn in Rotterdam voorhanden? • Op welke wijze zijn die vormen gehanteerd in twee grote projecten en hoe is die toepassing te beoordelen? • Welke alternatieve of aanvullende vormen zijn denkbaar? • Wat zijn de voor- en nadelen van deze mogelijkheden en wat zijn de belangrijkste succesvoorwaarden, bijvoorbeeld in termen van organisatie, procesvoering en politiek-bestuurlijke rol van college en raad? http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11507/ 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z Websites for monitoring the past performance of elected representatives in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are analysed according to how they meet the voters’ information needs. The case study reveals two distinct models of information provision. One model supports the evaluation of the enactment of election programmes by political parties, the other model supports the monitoring of the performance of individual representatives in terms of the voters’ current preferences. Guidelines are suggested for the design of retrospective voter information websites. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/11543/ 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z A conceptual framework is proposed for discussing the ICT strategies of intermediaries and their effects on democratic intermediation. The main line of reasoning is that both ‘disintermediation’ and ‘re-intermediation’ have to be related to specific models of democracy and styles of citizenship. The linkage strategies of preference intermediaries, the supportive strategies of information intermediaries and the facilitative strategies of interaction intermediaries are discussed. The quality of democracy would be dependent on the interplay between different democratic practices, types of citizenship and intermediaries. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13034/ 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z In this chapter, we discuss the relation between public innovation and the empowerment of local communities. Specifically, we explore the significance of cooperative public innovation efforts for the capability of local communities to participate in environmental decision-making, focusing on the role of environmental information, and information and communication technologies (ICTs). Our case-study is the city of Cleveland (Ohio) in the United States of America where several citizen-government partnerships have emerged on environmental sustainability and in which the access to information is a major element. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/15706/ 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z Websites for monitoring the past performance of elected representatives in the USA, the UK and The Netherlands are analysed according to information needs of the voters. The case study reveals two distinct models of information provision. One model supports the evaluation of the enactment of election programmes by political parties, the other model supports the monitoring of the performance of individual representatives in terms of the voters' current preferences. Guidelines are suggested for the design of retrospective voter information websites. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/15709/ 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z A conceptual framework is proposed for discussing the ICT strategies of intermediaries and their effects on democratic intermediation. The main line of reasoning is that both ‘disintermediation’ and ‘re-intermediation’ have to be related to specific models of democracy and styles of citizenship. The linkage strategies of preference intermediaries, the supportive strategies of information intermediaries and the facilitative strategies of interaction intermediaries are discussed. The quality of democracy would be dependent on the interplay between different democratic practices, types of citizenship and intermediaries. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/1751/ 2004-10-19T00:00:00Z Session 2: Political representation and legitimacy http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/451/ 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z A common approach towards the role of the moderator in Internet discussions is to see him as a filter. In this article I want to show that the moderator in government-initiated Internet discussions about public issues can be seen as a democratic intermediary, and that this role has the potential to enhance the quality of those discussions as forms of deliberative democracy. I develop a conceptual model of the management of Internet discussions. Five cases of Dutch Internet discussions about public issues are analyzed. The filter function of moderation appears to be of minor importance. Moderators do a lot more. They manage discussions. Particularly, they contribute to the interactivity and openness of discussions and to the accessibility of public administration and institutional politics. In most of the cases described, there had been independent, ???third party??? moderation. As governments gain more experience with the Internet, moderation may shift to governmental agencies. In this perspective, it is important to stress the transparency and to care for the negotiableness of moderation. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/1732/ 2001-07-11T00:00:00Z This is an in-depth study of 12 organizations: six grass-roots organizations, three umbrella organizations and three service organizations within the Dutch women's movement. Also, six 'virtual organizations' (three portal sites, a platform site and two web organizations) were investigated. Apart from the service organizations, the uses of the Internet are almost limited to three communicative functions: information dissemi-nation and retrieval, recruitment and communication between the leaderships of organizations. Most organizations are leaving the 'homepage phase' of site development, but their current new ambitions seem to be more directed at applying network technology for purposes of internal communication than at interaction with the organization's environment. Until now, Internet uses had indeed some effects on the mobilization of resources, the relations with the environment and the 'management of frames', but these effects are almost limited to greater effectiveness and efficiency of existing action patterns. All organizations are now facing a situation in which the internal communication has to proceed along two speeds: only a part of the membership (individual members or member organizations) is online. The virtual organizations are more representative for the innovative potential of Internet. Together, they shape the contours of an information- and communication infrastructure for the women's movement in the information age. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/457/ 2001-06-01T00:00:00Z This is an in-depth study of 12 organizations: six grass-roots organizations, three umbrella organizations and three service organizations within the Dutch women's movement. Also, six 'virtual organizations' (three portal sites, a platform site and two web organizations) were investigated. Apart from the service organizations, the uses of the Internet are almost limited to three communicative functions: information dissemination and retrieval, recruitment and communication between the leaderships of organizations. Most organizations are leaving the 'homepage phase' of site development, but their current new ambitions seem to be more directed at applying network technology for purposes of internal communication than at interaction with the organization's environment. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/712/ 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z Interactieve beleidsvorming kan institutioneel worden opgevat als (1) een nieuwe aanpak van collectieve besluitvorming en (2) als een set van nieuwe rollen voor lokale actoren, zoals politici en ambtenaren. In dit artikel wordt nagegaan hoe nieuwe instituties van interactieve beleidsvorming en bestaande instituties van niet-interactieve beleidsvorming elkaar beinvloeden. Kort na het afsluiten van de vijf onderzochte interactieve processen (in de gemeenten De Bilt, Enschede, Leerdam, Hellevoetsluis en Zeewolde) bleek het (nog?) niet mogelijk om enige doorwerking van de nieuwe instituties te kunnen constateren. Daarentegen kwamen wel allerlei institutionele belemmeringen en weerstanden van de bestaande instituties naar voren, zowel op het niveau van besluitvormingspatronen als het rolgedrag van politici en ambtenaren. Interactieve beleidsvorming mobiliseert vooral aan het eind van het interactieve proces weerstanden. Er doet zich een terugval voor in 'oude instituties'. De grootste institutionele belemmeringen doen zich voor op het niveau van het rolgedrag. Politici en (zij het in iets mindere mate) ambtenaren zijn onzeker en terughoudend om gevestigde posities te relativeren en naar andere rolinvullingen te zoeken. Raadsleden stellen zich in de vijf onderzochte processen voornamelijk passief en afzijdig op. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/756/ 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z In Germany the role of the citizen is a topical issue. Following the reunification of the country, there have been several indications of political dissatisfaction. In connection with this, local democracy may be of particular relevance for closing the growing gap between citizens and government. Two cities have been studied, namely Nuertingen and Leipzig. In both cities, the emphasis lies on co-operation between citizens and the local administration. The strengthening of representative democracy as such gets less attention. In Nuertingen, the policy of involving citizens is based upon communitarian ideas. In Leipzig, the strategy is aimed at improving the problem-solving capacity of the municipality and the functioning of the municipal bureaucracy. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/758/ 2000-01-01T00:00:00Z In the political organization of France, the so-called 'Jacobean logic' plays an important role. It stands for a tendency towards centralisation and uniformity. However, since the 1980s there has been a process of decentralisation to sub-national authorities. Grenoble is an example of a city in which new ways of involving citizens in urban policies are being tried out. Since the 1960s government-citizens relations in Grenoble are structured via the local associations, and mainly on the neighbourhood level. The focus of the city government's recent strategy is to adapt the infrastructure of citizen participation to the conditions of modern urban life.This means, for example, that the associations are stimulated to take into account the level of the agglomeration, and that new forms of involving individual citizens have been established. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/887/ 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z The public sphere is a common place in which members of society meet to discuss matters of mutual interest. It as tempting to scientists as a jar of honey is to bees. This is an important role for scientists. To be accountable for possible impliations of research must not be the exception: it should be part of the standard repertoire according to which democratic control is maintained in the public sphere. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/711/ 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z What is the significance of ICT's for voting decisions? This chapter assesses two uses of ICT's: (1) databases of the voting records of representatives, and (2) a decision support system for party choice. It examines the information-seeking behavior of (prospective and retrospective) voters appraising either parties or individual candidates. Empirically, the significance of both ICT's for the voters' level of information seems to be limited, at least when considered separately. In combination, they provide new information that may attract the interest of more 'Downsian' voters. However, a large-scale and combined use of these ICT's may put the classical liberal model of representation under pressure. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/764/ 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z ICT-ontwikkelingen zijn relevant voor de vormgeving van de democratie. In dit artikel wordt ingegaan op de betekenis van ICT voor het optreden van intermediaire organisaties. Maatschappelijke organisaties gebruiken ICT om informatie te verspreiden, te analyseren en daarover te communiceren. ICT biedt nieuwe mogelijkheden voor collectieve actie. Specifiek wordt ingegaan op de toegankelijkheid van electronische overheidsinformatie voor maatschappelijke organisaties, op basis van het 'recht op weten' principe. Deze toegankelijkheid is van groot belang voor het vestigen van democratische machtsevenwichten tussen samenleving en overheid. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/888/ 1998-01-01T00:00:00Z Als toepassingsgericht en multidisciplinaire wetenschap behoeft de bestuurskunde een eigen methodologie, naast de algemene sociaalwetenschappelijke methodologie voor het doen van empirisch onderzoek. Deze eigen bestuurskundige methodologie zou kunnen uitgaan van een argumentatieve benadering, gericht op versterking van de kwaliteit van de praktijkredeneringen die aan bestuurlijk handelen ten grondslag liggen. In dit artikel wordt aangegeven hoe de door Brasz ontwikkelde praxeologische methode hiertoe kan worden gecombineerd met het door Snellen geformuleerde rationaliteitenmodel.