Michiel S De Vries
Biographic Data
| ID | 1417818 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michiel S De Vries |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michiel S |
| FAMILY NAME | De Vries |
| SIGNATURE | DE VRIES M S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Radboud University Nijmegen |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6827-2852 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 170 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1988 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Coordination as the flagship to the efficacy of humanitarian aid: Research on the influence of different coordination types on the efficacy of humanitarian aid operations in Africa
Annually, global populations need humanitarian aid due to various crises. Whilst numerous actors aim to provide assistance in these critical situations, this aid is often deemed ineffective due to duplication of efforts and a failure to ensure that all individuals in need are reached. This research aims to raise awareness of the significance of coordination in this field, as well as setting the stage for further research of issues and potential s…
International Trends in Participatory Budgeting: Between Trivial Pursuits and Best Practices
Item does not contain fulltext
The experimental method in Public Administration: Lessons from replication in Psychology
In recent years, an increasing number of studies adopting the experimental method have appeared in Public Administration journals. It has been argued that the advantage of experiments in behavioral sciences is that researchers can control contextual factors while investigating the effect of manipulations on a variable of interest. Another point is that experiments can be replicated and, thus, increase confidence in research results. However, repl…
Bracketing Democracy: A Comparison of Frames Used to Demarcate Democracy and Its Application to Developments in Poland
This paper proposes a framework to analyze the varying understanding of democratic developments. Based on the theory of frame-analysis, it distinguishes six brackets within which democratic developments can be interpreted. This framework is applied to identify the nature of international rankings of domestic democracy and to compare the framing of developments in Polish democracy in reports on democratic developments from international organizati…
Factors and Determinants of the Quality of Public Administration in the CEE-Region
This chapter addresses the progress seen in PA research in Central and Eastern Europe. It does so by first describing the societal contexts with their problems, historical legacies and transformation during the last 25 years. Subsequently it addresses the professionalization of the civil service and other important dimensions of PA reforms in the region. The main conclusion is that, although huge differences are seen in the context of varying cou…
Enhancing coproduction through the lens of policy development: A comparison between two developing countries
This article examines how the practice of coproduction can be enhanced from the perspective of choosing and implementing policy instruments in countries like Ghana and Nigeria. The findings show that it is a specific combination of substantive and procedural policy instruments embedded in governing resources relating to information, authority, treasury and organization, which make for effective and sustainable coproduction. Social outcomes of cop…
Distinguishing symbolic and evidence-based policies: The Brazilian efforts to increase the quality of basic education
This article addresses the question how to distinguish symbolic policies from evidence-based policies, using the efforts of the Brazilian government to improve the achievements of pupils in primary schools as an illustration. The Brazilian government aimed for achievements in basic education in its country equal to those in the developed world and implemented policies in line with decentralization of the schooling system and improvement of the tr…
Value and virtue in public administration: A Comparative Perspective
A multidisciplinary analysis of the role of values and virtue in public administration, this book calls for a rediscovery of virtue. It explores ways of enabling the public sector to balance the values that are presently dominant with classic values such as accountability, representation, equality, neutrality, transparency and the public interest
Performance measurement and the search for best practices
Current performance measurement methods are a-contextual and unable to measure the effectiveness of policies. They usually result in rankings that measure the extent of the policy problem, but they fail to reveal anything substantive about the quality of policies, and they are equally unhelpful in the search for best practices. The goal of this article is to further develop and validate a mixed method of performance measurement — a combination of…
The Importance of Neglect in Policy-Making
De Vries argues that it is possible to explain when and in what direction policy change is likely to occur. He argues that what is neglected at present is likely to become dominant in policies of the
Technical cooperation within the context of foreign aid: Trends for the CEE countries in transition (1991—2004)
This article investigates technical assistance (TA) to CEE countries in relation to development aid in general. There is plenty of literature examining the foreign aid, but specific components of aid, like technical assistance, remain largely unexplored. One debate about development aid focuses on whether aid is primarily given to improve the situation in the recipient countries or if this improvement is simply a side-effect from aid based on pol…
Stability despite Reforms: Structural Asymmetries in Dutch Local Policy Networks
n Contains fulltext :\n 68795.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
High expectations, varying outcomes: Decentralization and participation in Brazil, Japan, Russia and Sweden
In the past 20 years, decentralization has been proposed as a strategy for enhancing public participation. Aid-providing organizations, such as the World Bank, stimulated decentralization processes in several countries in the hope that this would promote civic empowerment, diminish corruption, enhance efficiency, and improve public service delivery. This assumption forms the basis for a comparative analysis into the relation between decentralizat…
The History of Governance in the Netherlands: Continuity and Exceptions
THE HISTORY OF GOVERNANCE IN THE NETHERLANDS: CONTINUITY AND EXCEPTIONS W.J.M. Kickert Reed Elsevier, 2004, 121 pp., €17.85 (pb) ISBN: 9059014359
Generations of interactive policy-making in the Netherlands
In two previous articles in this journal, I posed the hypothesis that policy generations exist and are able to explain policy changes (De Vries, 1999, 2002). Those articles argued that shifts in the dominant policy goals and the policy instruments being dominant in public policy-making processes occur periodically and simultaneously, congruent with the predictions derived from a model on policy generations. This article completes the trilogy by a…
Trust and governance practices among local leaders
This article investigates patterns of generalized trust among local political and administrative leaders. It explains the differences therein and studies the impact of such trust on the inclination to involve people in policy-making processes. The research is based on a survey among approximately 16,000 local administrators and politicians in 665 communities in 18 countries. The findings are analyzed using a multi-level model. It is found that ge…
Changing policy views at the local level: The effect of age, generations and policy‐periods in five European countries
This article addresses the question of how far turnover among those who make policy is relevant for understanding changing policy views. Does age or generation determine changing attitudes about policy making, or does the period in which new policy makers get dominant positions determine changes in attitudes? The research is based on a survey conducted in 1989, and repeated in 1996 and 2000, among local politicians and senior administrators in Sw…
Framing Crises: Response Patterns to Explosions in Fireworks Factories
This article investigates the primary response patterns of officials in the early days after a crisis occurs, in this case regarding explosions in fireworks factories, happening all over the world and often having grave consequences in terms of deaths and damage. It argues that misframing is rather the norm than the exception. The article hypothesizes that the most likely outcome of crisis is that nothing changes because the event closes more win…
The Inclusion and Exclusion of Minorities in European Countries: A Comparative Analysis at the Local Level
Facing the reality of groups in Europe being in effect socially and politically marginalized, this article asks how the political inclusion of minorities is and should be established at the local level. First, a model is developed building on normative theories of political inclusion. This points to the importance of two dimensions of inclusion and exclusion, namely the possibility of direct participation and the granting of (special) rights to m…
The Macro Polity
Can you Afford Honesty: A Comparative Analysis of Ethos and Ethics in Local Government
This article discusses the honesty of local politicians and public administrators in 17 countries. First, it goes into deontological, consequential, virtue, and dialogic ethics. Based on a large-scale survey, this article concludes that the ethos (general principle) of honesty is a universal value, which conforms to deontological principles. Regarding ethics (the application of the principle in practice), however, important differences between th…
The Changing Functions of Laws and its Implication for Government and Governance
Many people see a continuing trend towards governance and away from government. This article tries to show that trends last only for so long. Based on long-term reasoning it is seen that within any trend a countertrend is visible, which will eventually become dominant when being suppressed for too long and when the side effects of the current trend are neglected for too long. This is congruent with the idea of policy generations I introduced in a…
The Attack on the State: A Comparison of the Arguments
The Bureaucratization of Participation
n Contains fulltext :\n 140602.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
The rise and fall of decentralization: A comparative analysis of arguments and practices in European countries
This paper addresses the arguments in favour of both the decentralization and centralization of public policy making. It points out that the same arguments are sometimes used to advance either claim and that in different countries opposite arguments are used to support the same claim. Clearly, the inherent features of centralization and decentralization are far from obvious. A closer look at the attention given to the issue by political parties a…
The rise and fall of decentralization: A comparative analysis of arguments and practices in European countries
This paper addresses the arguments in favour of both the decentralization and centralization of public policy making. It points out that the same arguments are sometimes used to advance either claim and that in different countries opposite arguments are used to support the same claim. Clearly, the inherent features of centralization and decentralization are far from obvious. A closer look at the attention given to the issue by political parties a…
High expectations, varying outcomes: Decentralization and participation in Brazil, Japan, Russia and Sweden
In the past 20 years, decentralization has been proposed as a strategy for enhancing public participation. Aid-providing organizations, such as the World Bank, stimulated decentralization processes in several countries in the hope that this would promote civic empowerment, diminish corruption, enhance efficiency, and improve public service delivery. This assumption forms the basis for a comparative analysis into the relation between decentralizat…
Interdependence, Cooperation and Conflict: An Empirical Analysis
The article presents the results of an empirical analysis of interdependence, cooperation and conflict. The results show a curvilinear relationship between these three variables. Interdependence is measured by four indicators: the politico-military, economic, institutional and diplomatic ties between nation-states. The structure of interdependence relations in the period 1950-60 is analysed by means of multidimensional scaling techniques. The str…
Changing policy views at the local level: The effect of age, generations and policy‐periods in five European countries
This article addresses the question of how far turnover among those who make policy is relevant for understanding changing policy views. Does age or generation determine changing attitudes about policy making, or does the period in which new policy makers get dominant positions determine changes in attitudes? The research is based on a survey conducted in 1989, and repeated in 1996 and 2000, among local politicians and senior administrators in Sw…
Can you Afford Honesty: A Comparative Analysis of Ethos and Ethics in Local Government
This article discusses the honesty of local politicians and public administrators in 17 countries. First, it goes into deontological, consequential, virtue, and dialogic ethics. Based on a large-scale survey, this article concludes that the ethos (general principle) of honesty is a universal value, which conforms to deontological principles. Regarding ethics (the application of the principle in practice), however, important differences between th…
The Importance of Neglect in Policy-Making
De Vries argues that it is possible to explain when and in what direction policy change is likely to occur. He argues that what is neglected at present is likely to become dominant in policies of the
The Bureaucratization of Participation
n Contains fulltext :\n 140602.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
Framing Crises: Response Patterns to Explosions in Fireworks Factories
This article investigates the primary response patterns of officials in the early days after a crisis occurs, in this case regarding explosions in fireworks factories, happening all over the world and often having grave consequences in terms of deaths and damage. It argues that misframing is rather the norm than the exception. The article hypothesizes that the most likely outcome of crisis is that nothing changes because the event closes more win…
The management of public participation in the policy process with special reference to The Netherlands
Stability despite Reforms: Structural Asymmetries in Dutch Local Policy Networks
n Contains fulltext :\n 68795.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
The Attack on the State: A Comparison of the Arguments
Developments in Europe: The Idea of Policy Generations
Performance measurement and the search for best practices
Current performance measurement methods are a-contextual and unable to measure the effectiveness of policies. They usually result in rankings that measure the extent of the policy problem, but they fail to reveal anything substantive about the quality of policies, and they are equally unhelpful in the search for best practices. The goal of this article is to further develop and validate a mixed method of performance measurement — a combination of…
Generations of interactive policy-making in the Netherlands
In two previous articles in this journal, I posed the hypothesis that policy generations exist and are able to explain policy changes (De Vries, 1999, 2002). Those articles argued that shifts in the dominant policy goals and the policy instruments being dominant in public policy-making processes occur periodically and simultaneously, congruent with the predictions derived from a model on policy generations. This article completes the trilogy by a…
The Changing Functions of Laws and its Implication for Government and Governance
Many people see a continuing trend towards governance and away from government. This article tries to show that trends last only for so long. Based on long-term reasoning it is seen that within any trend a countertrend is visible, which will eventually become dominant when being suppressed for too long and when the side effects of the current trend are neglected for too long. This is congruent with the idea of policy generations I introduced in a…
Enhancing coproduction through the lens of policy development: A comparison between two developing countries
This article examines how the practice of coproduction can be enhanced from the perspective of choosing and implementing policy instruments in countries like Ghana and Nigeria. The findings show that it is a specific combination of substantive and procedural policy instruments embedded in governing resources relating to information, authority, treasury and organization, which make for effective and sustainable coproduction. Social outcomes of cop…
Trust and governance practices among local leaders
This article investigates patterns of generalized trust among local political and administrative leaders. It explains the differences therein and studies the impact of such trust on the inclination to involve people in policy-making processes. The research is based on a survey among approximately 16,000 local administrators and politicians in 665 communities in 18 countries. The findings are analyzed using a multi-level model. It is found that ge…
Distinguishing symbolic and evidence-based policies: The Brazilian efforts to increase the quality of basic education
This article addresses the question how to distinguish symbolic policies from evidence-based policies, using the efforts of the Brazilian government to improve the achievements of pupils in primary schools as an illustration. The Brazilian government aimed for achievements in basic education in its country equal to those in the developed world and implemented policies in line with decentralization of the schooling system and improvement of the tr…
Technical cooperation within the context of foreign aid: Trends for the CEE countries in transition (1991—2004)
This article investigates technical assistance (TA) to CEE countries in relation to development aid in general. There is plenty of literature examining the foreign aid, but specific components of aid, like technical assistance, remain largely unexplored. One debate about development aid focuses on whether aid is primarily given to improve the situation in the recipient countries or if this improvement is simply a side-effect from aid based on pol…
The Inclusion and Exclusion of Minorities in European Countries: A Comparative Analysis at the Local Level
Facing the reality of groups in Europe being in effect socially and politically marginalized, this article asks how the political inclusion of minorities is and should be established at the local level. First, a model is developed building on normative theories of political inclusion. This points to the importance of two dimensions of inclusion and exclusion, namely the possibility of direct participation and the granting of (special) rights to m…
Establishing Priorities: Technocratic Policy-Making in the Netherlands
Foreign Policy Coordination Among Small European States
In this research note an empirical analysis is presented into factors explaining the progress and deterioration of foreign policy coordination among small European states. Nearly 40 percent of the variance in shifts of foreign policy coordination processes could be explained by the theory of structural stability. This is important because only the foreign policies of small states are investigated, and the differences between them do not result in…
Interdependence, Cooperation and Conflict: An Empirical Analysis
The article presents the results of an empirical analysis of interdependence, cooperation and conflict. The results show a curvilinear relationship between these three variables. Interdependence is measured by four indicators: the politico-military, economic, institutional and diplomatic ties between nation-states. The structure of interdependence relations in the period 1950-60 is analysed by means of multidimensional scaling techniques. The str…
Establishing Priorities: Technocratic Policy-Making in the Netherlands
The management of public participation in the policy process with special reference to The Netherlands
Developments in Europe: The Idea of Policy Generations
The Bureaucratization of Participation
n Contains fulltext :\n 140602.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
The rise and fall of decentralization: A comparative analysis of arguments and practices in European countries
This paper addresses the arguments in favour of both the decentralization and centralization of public policy making. It points out that the same arguments are sometimes used to advance either claim and that in different countries opposite arguments are used to support the same claim. Clearly, the inherent features of centralization and decentralization are far from obvious. A closer look at the attention given to the issue by political parties a…
The Attack on the State: A Comparison of the Arguments
Can you Afford Honesty: A Comparative Analysis of Ethos and Ethics in Local Government
This article discusses the honesty of local politicians and public administrators in 17 countries. First, it goes into deontological, consequential, virtue, and dialogic ethics. Based on a large-scale survey, this article concludes that the ethos (general principle) of honesty is a universal value, which conforms to deontological principles. Regarding ethics (the application of the principle in practice), however, important differences between th…
The Changing Functions of Laws and its Implication for Government and Governance
Many people see a continuing trend towards governance and away from government. This article tries to show that trends last only for so long. Based on long-term reasoning it is seen that within any trend a countertrend is visible, which will eventually become dominant when being suppressed for too long and when the side effects of the current trend are neglected for too long. This is congruent with the idea of policy generations I introduced in a…
The Macro Polity
Framing Crises: Response Patterns to Explosions in Fireworks Factories
This article investigates the primary response patterns of officials in the early days after a crisis occurs, in this case regarding explosions in fireworks factories, happening all over the world and often having grave consequences in terms of deaths and damage. It argues that misframing is rather the norm than the exception. The article hypothesizes that the most likely outcome of crisis is that nothing changes because the event closes more win…
The Inclusion and Exclusion of Minorities in European Countries: A Comparative Analysis at the Local Level
Facing the reality of groups in Europe being in effect socially and politically marginalized, this article asks how the political inclusion of minorities is and should be established at the local level. First, a model is developed building on normative theories of political inclusion. This points to the importance of two dimensions of inclusion and exclusion, namely the possibility of direct participation and the granting of (special) rights to m…
Generations of interactive policy-making in the Netherlands
In two previous articles in this journal, I posed the hypothesis that policy generations exist and are able to explain policy changes (De Vries, 1999, 2002). Those articles argued that shifts in the dominant policy goals and the policy instruments being dominant in public policy-making processes occur periodically and simultaneously, congruent with the predictions derived from a model on policy generations. This article completes the trilogy by a…
Trust and governance practices among local leaders
This article investigates patterns of generalized trust among local political and administrative leaders. It explains the differences therein and studies the impact of such trust on the inclination to involve people in policy-making processes. The research is based on a survey among approximately 16,000 local administrators and politicians in 665 communities in 18 countries. The findings are analyzed using a multi-level model. It is found that ge…
Changing policy views at the local level: The effect of age, generations and policy‐periods in five European countries
This article addresses the question of how far turnover among those who make policy is relevant for understanding changing policy views. Does age or generation determine changing attitudes about policy making, or does the period in which new policy makers get dominant positions determine changes in attitudes? The research is based on a survey conducted in 1989, and repeated in 1996 and 2000, among local politicians and senior administrators in Sw…
The History of Governance in the Netherlands: Continuity and Exceptions
THE HISTORY OF GOVERNANCE IN THE NETHERLANDS: CONTINUITY AND EXCEPTIONS W.J.M. Kickert Reed Elsevier, 2004, 121 pp., €17.85 (pb) ISBN: 9059014359
High expectations, varying outcomes: Decentralization and participation in Brazil, Japan, Russia and Sweden
In the past 20 years, decentralization has been proposed as a strategy for enhancing public participation. Aid-providing organizations, such as the World Bank, stimulated decentralization processes in several countries in the hope that this would promote civic empowerment, diminish corruption, enhance efficiency, and improve public service delivery. This assumption forms the basis for a comparative analysis into the relation between decentralizat…
Stability despite Reforms: Structural Asymmetries in Dutch Local Policy Networks
n Contains fulltext :\n 68795.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)\n
Technical cooperation within the context of foreign aid: Trends for the CEE countries in transition (1991—2004)
This article investigates technical assistance (TA) to CEE countries in relation to development aid in general. There is plenty of literature examining the foreign aid, but specific components of aid, like technical assistance, remain largely unexplored. One debate about development aid focuses on whether aid is primarily given to improve the situation in the recipient countries or if this improvement is simply a side-effect from aid based on pol…
Performance measurement and the search for best practices
Current performance measurement methods are a-contextual and unable to measure the effectiveness of policies. They usually result in rankings that measure the extent of the policy problem, but they fail to reveal anything substantive about the quality of policies, and they are equally unhelpful in the search for best practices. The goal of this article is to further develop and validate a mixed method of performance measurement — a combination of…
The Importance of Neglect in Policy-Making
De Vries argues that it is possible to explain when and in what direction policy change is likely to occur. He argues that what is neglected at present is likely to become dominant in policies of the
Distinguishing symbolic and evidence-based policies: The Brazilian efforts to increase the quality of basic education
This article addresses the question how to distinguish symbolic policies from evidence-based policies, using the efforts of the Brazilian government to improve the achievements of pupils in primary schools as an illustration. The Brazilian government aimed for achievements in basic education in its country equal to those in the developed world and implemented policies in line with decentralization of the schooling system and improvement of the tr…
Value and virtue in public administration: A Comparative Perspective
A multidisciplinary analysis of the role of values and virtue in public administration, this book calls for a rediscovery of virtue. It explores ways of enabling the public sector to balance the values that are presently dominant with classic values such as accountability, representation, equality, neutrality, transparency and the public interest
Factors and Determinants of the Quality of Public Administration in the CEE-Region
This chapter addresses the progress seen in PA research in Central and Eastern Europe. It does so by first describing the societal contexts with their problems, historical legacies and transformation during the last 25 years. Subsequently it addresses the professionalization of the civil service and other important dimensions of PA reforms in the region. The main conclusion is that, although huge differences are seen in the context of varying cou…
Political science (29 works) · Economics (20 works) · Law (19 works) · Law (15 works) · Politics (12 works) · Public Administration (12 works) · Public Administration (12 works) · Public Policy and Administration Research (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Psychology (9 works)