Government Institutions: Effects, Changes and Normative Foundations

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-7

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2. Institutional Change

   1. Institutional Crises and Reforms in Policy Sectors

      • Arjen Boin, Paul ‘T Hart

      Pages 9-31

   2. Institutional Change of Welfare States

      • Romke Van Der Veen, Willem Trommel, Bert De Vroom

      Pages 33-53

   3. The Interplay of Institutional Sectors

      • Anton Hemerijck

      Pages 55-74

3. Testing Institutional Theory

   1. Dedicated Followers of Fashion

      • Jeroen Huisman

      Pages 75-88

   2. Constitutional Change in the European Union

      • Bernard Steunenberg

      Pages 89-108

4. Normative Foundations of Government Institutions

   1. Legitimate Governance Within the State

      • Bärbel Dorbeck-Jung, Huib De Jong

      Pages 109-127

   2. The Procrustean Bed of the Rational Organization

      • Petra Schreurs

      Pages 129-145

   3. Oedipus in the Welfare Office

      • Hendrik Wagenaar, Rogier Hartendorp

      Pages 147-177

5. Institutional Design

   1. Cultural Bias and Framing Wicked Problems

      • John Grin, Robert Hoppe

      Pages 179-199

   2. Institutional Change and Implementation

      • Gerrit Dijkstra, Frans Jorna

      Pages 201-215

   3. Organizing Accountability: From Best Practices to Dilemmas in Design

      • Mark Van Twist

      Pages 217-233

   4. Design in Context: Applying Institutional Analysis to Social Designing

      • Arco Timmermans

      Pages 235-250

6. Back Matter

   Pages 251-258

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Research on government institutions is one of the most exciting intellectual areas in political science and policy studies today. Increasingly it is recognized by scholars in these fields that effective and legitimate policies depend on the design and maintenance of complex institutional arrangements. This book brings together some of the leading scholars in institutional research in The Netherlands. Their work addresses such perennially difficult questions in institutional research such as: How do we understand institutional change? How do we measure the effects of institutions on societal sectors and public policy? How do the normative foundations of government institutions influence their functioning? What are the principles of effective and legitimate institutional design? Through analysis of well-researched examples ranging from the fabled Dutch `poldermodel', through the transformation of the welfare state, through privatizations of the Dutch telecommunications industry, to the work of welfare officials, these authors demonstrate the interpenetration of normative, empirical and design issues in institutional theory. The book is intended for scholars and graduate students in political science, public policy, public administration, and law.

• European Union
• European Union (EU)
• Governance
• Government
• Institutions
• Parliament
• Policy
• Political Science
• state

• Department of Public Administration, Leiden University, The Netherlands

  Hendrik Wagenaar

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