Samenvatting lectures PAP Public Administration &
Governance
College 2
Communications play both an instrumental and constitutive role in public governance.
Important concepts:
Public policy
Public administration
Government
Public governance
Policy context
Public policy
Public policy may or may not be in the public’s, as a whole, best interest. When you increase
taxes on rice, which contains lots of sugars, obesity may go down. But it is a cheap source of
nutrition for the poor, and they won’t benefit from the increase in price. Who benefits from
the policy and who do not?
Public policy is:
Elite struggle over ‘who gets what, when, how’
Political decisions for implementing programmes to achieve societal goals
Whatever governments choose to do or not to do
The sum of government activities, whether acting directly or through agents, as it has
an influence on the life of citizens
The struggle over ideas as a medium of exchange and a mode of influence
The ‘public’ in public policy
Private “outside the legitimate bounds of government coercion and regulation”
Public – within government’s control
Public and private can be very fluid, what’s private for me doesn’t has to be private
for someone else.
Public administration
public administration is what government does:
fundamentally the exercise of control on the basis of knowledge. This makes it
specifically rational
A category of public officers on long term tenure, so that there can be assurance of
the development of skills and expertise, experience and specialization
Government in action – the management of public affairs or
the implementation of public policies
Public administration as a stage in the policy cycle:
,Public administration:
Public administration is what government is
The whole of structures and processes within which binding decisions are made
Public administration as a whole of roganizations and activities aimed at the
management of society
The shining new modern thing that would solve problems related to those unreliable
amateurs – politicians – and those dull, tea-drinking, rule-following bureaucrats
Public administration is also a field of study
from political philosophy to political practice
context: post-WWII reconstruction in North America and Europe
Public administration as a multidisciplinary field of study
Laswell: shift focus from political structures to policy sciences
Van Poelje: shift in focus from public law to political action
What is peculiar about the rise of public administration in the Netherlands? (EXAM
Kickert and Toonen)
According to Kickert and Toonen 2006, how did public administration envolve in the
Netherlands?
Government
‘institutions and political processes through which public policies are made’
Makes decisions that are binding in nature
Weberian ideal: ‘Monopoly on violence’
Is concerned with steering
Has administrative and political echelons/levels (unelected and elected government
officials)
Has distinct branches (legislative, executive, judiciary)
Public Governance
What is the difference between government and governance?
Public governance is how societies coordinate actions of individuals, channeling energies to
solve problems, whether by government or in coordination with non-state actors like,
lobbyists, or social movements (farmprostesters).
The changing ‘public’: from government to governance
Shift as a legacy of Reagan and Thatcher
Blurring of boundaries between state and private sector
o ‘Neoliberalism’: Encroachment of market-based principles in wider spheres of
the social/public
o Networked governance: interorganizational efforts at solving problems,
steered by government
‘Good governance’ and the ‘return’ of government
, Social context matter!
Gender dynamics
Age distribution
Race and immigration
Politics matter!
Relative power of political groups (political parties, interest groups)
‘National mood’
Organisational structure of government (degree of centralization: veto point;
separation of power)
Economics matter!
Size of economic production:
o Creates fiscal space for public interventions and choices
o Structures social demands
Sectoral distribution and technologies of production:
o Structure strength of interest groups
o Structure place in the global economy
Takeaway points
Note the fluidity, linkages, and evolution of the concepts
When using these concepts, it is important to clarify in which sense you are invoking
them
Both ideas and practice are shaped by broader contexts – thus the importance of
multidisciplinary lens
1. What inspired the rise of Dutch Public administration during the post-World-War-II
period?
The rise of the welfare state and the need for scientific approach to guide policy-making.
2. The evolution of Dutch Public Administration has been most influence by which of
the following countries?
The USA.
3. Although Public Administration was initially strongly based on Public Law, it has since
become more multidisciplinary and strongly linked to Political Science.
True.
4. Which of the following has most characterized public governance in the Netherlands?
Deliberation and compromise
College 3:
How have scholarly ideas about public administration (PA) and the overnance
of society developed over time?
Governance
College 2
Communications play both an instrumental and constitutive role in public governance.
Important concepts:
Public policy
Public administration
Government
Public governance
Policy context
Public policy
Public policy may or may not be in the public’s, as a whole, best interest. When you increase
taxes on rice, which contains lots of sugars, obesity may go down. But it is a cheap source of
nutrition for the poor, and they won’t benefit from the increase in price. Who benefits from
the policy and who do not?
Public policy is:
Elite struggle over ‘who gets what, when, how’
Political decisions for implementing programmes to achieve societal goals
Whatever governments choose to do or not to do
The sum of government activities, whether acting directly or through agents, as it has
an influence on the life of citizens
The struggle over ideas as a medium of exchange and a mode of influence
The ‘public’ in public policy
Private “outside the legitimate bounds of government coercion and regulation”
Public – within government’s control
Public and private can be very fluid, what’s private for me doesn’t has to be private
for someone else.
Public administration
public administration is what government does:
fundamentally the exercise of control on the basis of knowledge. This makes it
specifically rational
A category of public officers on long term tenure, so that there can be assurance of
the development of skills and expertise, experience and specialization
Government in action – the management of public affairs or
the implementation of public policies
Public administration as a stage in the policy cycle:
,Public administration:
Public administration is what government is
The whole of structures and processes within which binding decisions are made
Public administration as a whole of roganizations and activities aimed at the
management of society
The shining new modern thing that would solve problems related to those unreliable
amateurs – politicians – and those dull, tea-drinking, rule-following bureaucrats
Public administration is also a field of study
from political philosophy to political practice
context: post-WWII reconstruction in North America and Europe
Public administration as a multidisciplinary field of study
Laswell: shift focus from political structures to policy sciences
Van Poelje: shift in focus from public law to political action
What is peculiar about the rise of public administration in the Netherlands? (EXAM
Kickert and Toonen)
According to Kickert and Toonen 2006, how did public administration envolve in the
Netherlands?
Government
‘institutions and political processes through which public policies are made’
Makes decisions that are binding in nature
Weberian ideal: ‘Monopoly on violence’
Is concerned with steering
Has administrative and political echelons/levels (unelected and elected government
officials)
Has distinct branches (legislative, executive, judiciary)
Public Governance
What is the difference between government and governance?
Public governance is how societies coordinate actions of individuals, channeling energies to
solve problems, whether by government or in coordination with non-state actors like,
lobbyists, or social movements (farmprostesters).
The changing ‘public’: from government to governance
Shift as a legacy of Reagan and Thatcher
Blurring of boundaries between state and private sector
o ‘Neoliberalism’: Encroachment of market-based principles in wider spheres of
the social/public
o Networked governance: interorganizational efforts at solving problems,
steered by government
‘Good governance’ and the ‘return’ of government
, Social context matter!
Gender dynamics
Age distribution
Race and immigration
Politics matter!
Relative power of political groups (political parties, interest groups)
‘National mood’
Organisational structure of government (degree of centralization: veto point;
separation of power)
Economics matter!
Size of economic production:
o Creates fiscal space for public interventions and choices
o Structures social demands
Sectoral distribution and technologies of production:
o Structure strength of interest groups
o Structure place in the global economy
Takeaway points
Note the fluidity, linkages, and evolution of the concepts
When using these concepts, it is important to clarify in which sense you are invoking
them
Both ideas and practice are shaped by broader contexts – thus the importance of
multidisciplinary lens
1. What inspired the rise of Dutch Public administration during the post-World-War-II
period?
The rise of the welfare state and the need for scientific approach to guide policy-making.
2. The evolution of Dutch Public Administration has been most influence by which of
the following countries?
The USA.
3. Although Public Administration was initially strongly based on Public Law, it has since
become more multidisciplinary and strongly linked to Political Science.
True.
4. Which of the following has most characterized public governance in the Netherlands?
Deliberation and compromise
College 3:
How have scholarly ideas about public administration (PA) and the overnance
of society developed over time?
