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Koen Pr Bartels

Biographic Data

ID317318
NAMEKoen Pr Bartels
GIVEN NAMESKoen Pr
FAMILY NAMEBartels
SIGNATUREBARTELS K P
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Birmingham
ORCID0000-0002-9445-4884
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS25
TOTAL CITATIONS183
AUTHOR COUNT25
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2009
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX8
  • Reversing the Accountability Chain: How Relational Power Can Shape Accountability in Public Encounters

    Open Access•Sara C Closs-Davies, Koen Pr Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•Journal of Public Administration…•2026

    Public administration plays a fundamental role in accountability relationships between citizens and the State, but how these take shape in public encounters is remarkably understudied. Analysing relational dynamics within and around public encounters expands the relational perspective on accountability in public administration–challenging core assumptions of the principal-agent model underpinning studies of citizen-State accountability relationsh…

  • Public Encounters: Advancing the Study and Practice of Citizen‐State Relationships

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•Social Policy and Administration•2026•References: 23

    The sub‐field of public encounters has significant untapped potential to advance the study and practice of citizen‐state relationships. The main aim of this special issue is to put the spotlight on this growing literature on relational dynamics between citizens and agents of the state. In this editorial introduction, we synthesise emerging empirical and conceptual insights across the special issue articles and wider literature to explain the prof…

  • Seven quality choicepoints for ARJ: Ambition is welcome

    Open Access•Hilary Bradbury, Simon Divecha et al.•ARTICLE•Action Research•2025•Cited by: 6•References: 1

  • Reconfiguring Relationships: Social Innovation, Action Research, and Transformation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Julia M Wittmayer et al.•ARTICLE•Action Research•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 2

  • Introduction: Advancing the Commonsverse: The Political Economy of The Commons

    Open Access•Hendrik Wagenaar, Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•International Journal of the…•2024•Cited by: 1•References: 4

    This introductory article sets out the twin goals of this special issue: “Advancing the Commonsverse: The Political Economy of the Commons”. The first is to introduce the innovative work of David Bollier and Silke Helfrich in theorizing and researching the commons. The second is to explore the possibilities and constraints of the commons and the process of commoning as they unfold in real-world political-economic settings. Bollier and Helfrich ha…

  • Relational Ecosystems: Sustaining Prefigurative Change by Creating Conditions for Mutual Learning and Change

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•International Journal of the…•2024•Cited by: 2•References: 7

    This article coins and develops the notion of relational ecosystems to address the existential paradox cutting across theories and practices of prefigurative change. Innovative ways of relating, thinking, and acting that aim to transform hegemonic state powers struggle to sustain themselves in interaction with governance systems that stimulated such prefigurative change. This paradox has given rise to cross-disciplinary calls to reimagine our pol…

  • Experiential learning: A relational approach to sustaining community-led social innovation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Innovation The European Journal…•2022•Cited by: 2•References: 13

    Community-led social innovations have great potential to drive sustainable change but often struggle to sustain themselves in urban governance systems. Social learning is a prevalent strategy for sustaining social innovation, but limits understanding of, and abilities for transforming its relational dynamics. Drawing on classical pragmatism, I explain how experiential learning offers a relational framework for facilitating an interactive, holisti…

  • Shining light on the dark side of action research: Power, relationality and transformation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Victor J Friedman•ARTICLE•Action Research•2022•Cited by: 12•References: 6

  • Introduction: Action Research, Policy and Politics. Special Issue of the International Journal of Action Research

    Open Access•Julia M Wittmayer, Koen Pr Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•IJAR – International Journal of…•2021•Cited by: 2•References: 5

    Bibliography: Wittmayer, Julia/Bartels, Koen/Larrea, Miren: Introduction: Action Research, Policy and Politics. Special Issue of the International Journal of Action Research, IJAR – International Journal of Action Research, 1-2021, pp. 3-17. https://doi.org/10.3224/ijar.v17i1.01

  • Relational public administration: A synthesis and heuristic classification of relational approaches

    Koen Pr Bartels, Nick Turnbull•ARTICLE•Public Management Review•2020

    Interest in the relational dimensions of public administration is growing. However, the significance of relationality has not been understood, nor has the diversity of relational approaches been synthesized into a coherent research agenda. Relational public administration developed from the decline of rational policy models and the advent of network governance. We draw on relational sociology to formulate a relational perspective of larger scope,…

  • How action research can make deliberative policy analysis more transformative

    Koen Pr Bartels, Davydd J Greenwood et al.•ARTICLE•Policy Studies•2020•Cited by: 2•References: 53

    Hajer and Wagenaar originally proposed Deliberative Policy Analysis (DPA) as an approach suited to transforming a policy world characterized by complexity, pluralism and unpredictability. Because its transformative ambitions have long remained unfulfilled, DPA has begun embracing a variety of Action Research (AR) approaches committed to generating policy change in a world beset by multiple sustainability crises. However, a systematic assessment o…

  • Introduction: Towards deliberative policy analysis 2.0

    Koen Pr Bartels, Hendrik Wagenaar et al.•ARTICLE•Policy Studies•2020•Cited by: 3•References: 34

    The purpose of this second special issue is to build on and extend the development of Deliberative Policy Analysis (DPA) 2.0 that was set in motion by the first special issue on DPA in this journal. It is set up around a symposium focused on integrating DPA’s pillars of interpretation, practice, and deliberation. We identify three key threads for interweaving these three pillars and advancing DPA 2.0 and introduce the five other contributions to …

  • Transforming the relational dynamics of urban governance: How social innovation research can create a trajectory for learning and change

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•Urban Studies•2020•Cited by: 8•References: 55

    This article examines how social innovation (SI) research can co-produce transformative change in cities. A key challenge is to diffuse and sustain SIs in ways that transform the relational webs that constitute local spaces and their governance. The relational approach to SI is conceptually promising in this respect, but its foundations and practices need to be further developed. Therefore, I develop a relational ‘theory–methods package’ of pract…

  • Collaborative dynamics in street level work: Working in and with communities to improve relationships and reduce deprivation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•Environment and Planning C…•2018•Cited by: 8•References: 32

    Joint service delivery is a well-established aspect of urban governance but does not necessarily improve interagency collaboration or reduce socio-spatial deprivation. What happens in interactions between street level workers has a large influence on collaborative processes and outcomes but is remarkably underexplored. This article develops an understanding of the nature and impact of the relational practices enacted in street level collaboration…

  • Doubt and excitement: An Experiential Learning Approach to Teaching the Practice of Qualitative Research

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Hendrik Wagenaar•ARTICLE•Qualitative Research•2018•Cited by: 5•References: 33

    This article diagnoses that qualitative research (QR) methods courses and literature often remain silent on how to actually do QR and explores how practice theory can improve learning and teaching the practice of QR. It develops an experiential learning approach of turning experiences and emotions of doubt and excitement into a dialogical process of asking creative questions, imagining new ideas, and animating a practical relationship to the worl…

  • The double bind of social innovation: Relational dynamics of change and resistance in neighbourhood governance

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen Bartels•ARTICLE•Urban Studies•2017•Cited by: 11•References: 40

    While current discourse promotes social innovation as a normative good, in practice it is highly contested by institutionalised ways of thinking, acting and organising. Concurrently stimulating and resisting innovation creates a ‘double bind’ of conflicting communicative signals that weaken capacities for joint sense making and sustainable change. I develop a meta-theoretical framework that explains what is involved in these relational dynamics o…

  • A Relational Grounding for (Urban) Governance: Street‐Level Practices of Responsive Improvisation and Practical Change

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Public Administration Review•2017•References: 3

    Related Content: Balfour (PAR May/June 2017) Related Content: Spicer (PAR May/June 2017) Related Content: Raadschelders (PAR May/June 2017) Related Content: Benavides (PAR May/June 2017)

  • Integrating process. Follettian thinking from ontology to administration, by Margaret Stout and Jeannine M. Love

    Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Critical Policy Studies•2016

    Integrative Process by Margaret Stout and Jeannine M. Love highlights the momentous significance of Mary (Parker) Follett for our field. While Follett (1868–1933) was at the forefront of American p...

  • Symposium introduction: Usable knowledge in practice. What action research has to offer to critical policy studies

    Koen Pr Bartels, Julia M Wittmayer•ARTICLE•Critical Policy Studies•2014•Cited by: 10•References: 5

    Critical policy analysts aim to serve policy actors in dealing with the intricate problems they face by facilitating productive communication, critical learning and sustainable change. Action research is a valuable approach for living up to this ambition. As it is rarely used in the field of critical policy analysis, this symposium further explores what action research has to offer. In this introduction, we draw out the main principles, practices…

  • Facilitative Leadership and the Challenge of Renewing Local Democracy inItaly

    Open Access•Sonia Bussu, Koen Pr Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•International Journal of Urban…•2014•Cited by: 5•References: 36

    Participatory arrangements have become a popular way of addressing modern challenges of urban governance but in practice face several constraints and can trigger deep tensions. Facilitative leadership can play a crucial role in enabling collaboration among local stakeholders despite plural and often conflictual interests. Surprisingly, this style of leadership has received limited attention within debates linking urban governance and participator…

  • Communicative Capacity: The Added Value of Public Encounters for Participatory Democracy

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•The American Review of Public…•2013•Cited by: 11•References: 23

    Questions have arisen about the added value of public encounters for participatory democracy: Do problems with living up to its promises occur because of or despite public professionals and citizens coming together? This article presents the findings of a study that examined their public encounters, or communicative “in-between,” in participatory projects in three European cities. A narrative analysis revealed how the communicative capacity of pu…

  • Public Encounters: The History and Future of Face‐to‐face Contact Between Public Professionals and Citizens

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Public Administration•2013•Cited by: 72•References: 18

    Public encounters, face‐to‐face contact between public professionals and citizens, was first identified as a key issue in public administration 80 years ago, but never developed into a subject area of its own. Although receiving attention in research on street‐level bureaucrats' contact with customers, clients, and citizens, the concept of public encounters is hardly used. However, it has great potential to overcome current limitations in underst…

  • The Actionable Researcher: Cultivating a Process-Oriented Methodology for Studying Administrative Practice

    Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Administrative Theory & Praxis•2012•Cited by: 2•References: 16

    Recent calls for a process-oriented public administration focus on the ontological and epistemological foundations of this approach and not on its methodological groundings. A full-fledged approach to understanding administrative practice as process requires critical examination of what kinds of methods are helpful to produce such knowledge. This article is a first attempt at conceptualizing a process-oriented methodology. It suggests that making…

  • The Big Society,” Public Expenditure, and Volunteering

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•Public Administration Review•2012•Cited by: 11•References: 7

    The debate on volunteering has paid insufficient attention to the relationship between public spending and volunteering. The importance of this relationship is highlighted by the British government's “Big Society” plan, which asserts that an increase in volunteering will compensate for the withdrawal of public agencies and spending. This idea is based on the widely held belief that a high degree of government intervention decreases voluntary acti…

  • The Disregard for Weber'sHerrschaft: The Relevance of Weber's Ideal Type of Bureaucracy for the Modern Study of Public Administration

    Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Administrative Theory & Praxis•2009•Cited by: 9•References: 44

    The great relevance of Max Weber's ideal type of bureaucracy for understanding modern public administration is insufficiently acknowledged. Critical examination of the claims made to support "new conventional wisdoms" in the study of public administration reveals a remarkable similarity in the arguments made against Weber's ideal type of bureaucracy. The currently fashionable public-values approaches replicate neoliberal arguments that downplay b…

  • Public Encounters: The History and Future of Face‐to‐face Contact Between Public Professionals and Citizens

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Public Administration•2013•Cited by: 72•References: 18

    Public encounters, face‐to‐face contact between public professionals and citizens, was first identified as a key issue in public administration 80 years ago, but never developed into a subject area of its own. Although receiving attention in research on street‐level bureaucrats' contact with customers, clients, and citizens, the concept of public encounters is hardly used. However, it has great potential to overcome current limitations in underst…

  • Shining light on the dark side of action research: Power, relationality and transformation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Victor J Friedman•ARTICLE•Action Research•2022•Cited by: 12•References: 6

  • The double bind of social innovation: Relational dynamics of change and resistance in neighbourhood governance

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen Bartels•ARTICLE•Urban Studies•2017•Cited by: 11•References: 40

    While current discourse promotes social innovation as a normative good, in practice it is highly contested by institutionalised ways of thinking, acting and organising. Concurrently stimulating and resisting innovation creates a ‘double bind’ of conflicting communicative signals that weaken capacities for joint sense making and sustainable change. I develop a meta-theoretical framework that explains what is involved in these relational dynamics o…

  • Communicative Capacity: The Added Value of Public Encounters for Participatory Democracy

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•The American Review of Public…•2013•Cited by: 11•References: 23

    Questions have arisen about the added value of public encounters for participatory democracy: Do problems with living up to its promises occur because of or despite public professionals and citizens coming together? This article presents the findings of a study that examined their public encounters, or communicative “in-between,” in participatory projects in three European cities. A narrative analysis revealed how the communicative capacity of pu…

  • The Big Society,” Public Expenditure, and Volunteering

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•Public Administration Review•2012•Cited by: 11•References: 7

    The debate on volunteering has paid insufficient attention to the relationship between public spending and volunteering. The importance of this relationship is highlighted by the British government's “Big Society” plan, which asserts that an increase in volunteering will compensate for the withdrawal of public agencies and spending. This idea is based on the widely held belief that a high degree of government intervention decreases voluntary acti…

  • Symposium introduction: Usable knowledge in practice. What action research has to offer to critical policy studies

    Koen Pr Bartels, Julia M Wittmayer•ARTICLE•Critical Policy Studies•2014•Cited by: 10•References: 5

    Critical policy analysts aim to serve policy actors in dealing with the intricate problems they face by facilitating productive communication, critical learning and sustainable change. Action research is a valuable approach for living up to this ambition. As it is rarely used in the field of critical policy analysis, this symposium further explores what action research has to offer. In this introduction, we draw out the main principles, practices…

  • The Disregard for Weber'sHerrschaft: The Relevance of Weber's Ideal Type of Bureaucracy for the Modern Study of Public Administration

    Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Administrative Theory & Praxis•2009•Cited by: 9•References: 44

    The great relevance of Max Weber's ideal type of bureaucracy for understanding modern public administration is insufficiently acknowledged. Critical examination of the claims made to support "new conventional wisdoms" in the study of public administration reveals a remarkable similarity in the arguments made against Weber's ideal type of bureaucracy. The currently fashionable public-values approaches replicate neoliberal arguments that downplay b…

  • Transforming the relational dynamics of urban governance: How social innovation research can create a trajectory for learning and change

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•Urban Studies•2020•Cited by: 8•References: 55

    This article examines how social innovation (SI) research can co-produce transformative change in cities. A key challenge is to diffuse and sustain SIs in ways that transform the relational webs that constitute local spaces and their governance. The relational approach to SI is conceptually promising in this respect, but its foundations and practices need to be further developed. Therefore, I develop a relational ‘theory–methods package’ of pract…

  • Collaborative dynamics in street level work: Working in and with communities to improve relationships and reduce deprivation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•Environment and Planning C…•2018•Cited by: 8•References: 32

    Joint service delivery is a well-established aspect of urban governance but does not necessarily improve interagency collaboration or reduce socio-spatial deprivation. What happens in interactions between street level workers has a large influence on collaborative processes and outcomes but is remarkably underexplored. This article develops an understanding of the nature and impact of the relational practices enacted in street level collaboration…

  • Seven quality choicepoints for ARJ: Ambition is welcome

    Open Access•Hilary Bradbury, Simon Divecha et al.•ARTICLE•Action Research•2025•Cited by: 6•References: 1

  • Doubt and excitement: An Experiential Learning Approach to Teaching the Practice of Qualitative Research

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Hendrik Wagenaar•ARTICLE•Qualitative Research•2018•Cited by: 5•References: 33

    This article diagnoses that qualitative research (QR) methods courses and literature often remain silent on how to actually do QR and explores how practice theory can improve learning and teaching the practice of QR. It develops an experiential learning approach of turning experiences and emotions of doubt and excitement into a dialogical process of asking creative questions, imagining new ideas, and animating a practical relationship to the worl…

  • Facilitative Leadership and the Challenge of Renewing Local Democracy inItaly

    Open Access•Sonia Bussu, Koen Pr Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•International Journal of Urban…•2014•Cited by: 5•References: 36

    Participatory arrangements have become a popular way of addressing modern challenges of urban governance but in practice face several constraints and can trigger deep tensions. Facilitative leadership can play a crucial role in enabling collaboration among local stakeholders despite plural and often conflictual interests. Surprisingly, this style of leadership has received limited attention within debates linking urban governance and participator…

  • Introduction: Towards deliberative policy analysis 2.0

    Koen Pr Bartels, Hendrik Wagenaar et al.•ARTICLE•Policy Studies•2020•Cited by: 3•References: 34

    The purpose of this second special issue is to build on and extend the development of Deliberative Policy Analysis (DPA) 2.0 that was set in motion by the first special issue on DPA in this journal. It is set up around a symposium focused on integrating DPA’s pillars of interpretation, practice, and deliberation. We identify three key threads for interweaving these three pillars and advancing DPA 2.0 and introduce the five other contributions to …

  • Relational Ecosystems: Sustaining Prefigurative Change by Creating Conditions for Mutual Learning and Change

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•International Journal of the…•2024•Cited by: 2•References: 7

    This article coins and develops the notion of relational ecosystems to address the existential paradox cutting across theories and practices of prefigurative change. Innovative ways of relating, thinking, and acting that aim to transform hegemonic state powers struggle to sustain themselves in interaction with governance systems that stimulated such prefigurative change. This paradox has given rise to cross-disciplinary calls to reimagine our pol…

  • Experiential learning: A relational approach to sustaining community-led social innovation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Innovation The European Journal…•2022•Cited by: 2•References: 13

    Community-led social innovations have great potential to drive sustainable change but often struggle to sustain themselves in urban governance systems. Social learning is a prevalent strategy for sustaining social innovation, but limits understanding of, and abilities for transforming its relational dynamics. Drawing on classical pragmatism, I explain how experiential learning offers a relational framework for facilitating an interactive, holisti…

  • Introduction: Action Research, Policy and Politics. Special Issue of the International Journal of Action Research

    Open Access•Julia M Wittmayer, Koen Pr Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•IJAR – International Journal of…•2021•Cited by: 2•References: 5

    Bibliography: Wittmayer, Julia/Bartels, Koen/Larrea, Miren: Introduction: Action Research, Policy and Politics. Special Issue of the International Journal of Action Research, IJAR – International Journal of Action Research, 1-2021, pp. 3-17. https://doi.org/10.3224/ijar.v17i1.01

  • How action research can make deliberative policy analysis more transformative

    Koen Pr Bartels, Davydd J Greenwood et al.•ARTICLE•Policy Studies•2020•Cited by: 2•References: 53

    Hajer and Wagenaar originally proposed Deliberative Policy Analysis (DPA) as an approach suited to transforming a policy world characterized by complexity, pluralism and unpredictability. Because its transformative ambitions have long remained unfulfilled, DPA has begun embracing a variety of Action Research (AR) approaches committed to generating policy change in a world beset by multiple sustainability crises. However, a systematic assessment o…

  • The Actionable Researcher: Cultivating a Process-Oriented Methodology for Studying Administrative Practice

    Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Administrative Theory & Praxis•2012•Cited by: 2•References: 16

    Recent calls for a process-oriented public administration focus on the ontological and epistemological foundations of this approach and not on its methodological groundings. A full-fledged approach to understanding administrative practice as process requires critical examination of what kinds of methods are helpful to produce such knowledge. This article is a first attempt at conceptualizing a process-oriented methodology. It suggests that making…

  • Reconfiguring Relationships: Social Innovation, Action Research, and Transformation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Julia M Wittmayer et al.•ARTICLE•Action Research•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 2

  • Introduction: Advancing the Commonsverse: The Political Economy of The Commons

    Open Access•Hendrik Wagenaar, Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•International Journal of the…•2024•Cited by: 1•References: 4

    This introductory article sets out the twin goals of this special issue: “Advancing the Commonsverse: The Political Economy of the Commons”. The first is to introduce the innovative work of David Bollier and Silke Helfrich in theorizing and researching the commons. The second is to explore the possibilities and constraints of the commons and the process of commoning as they unfold in real-world political-economic settings. Bollier and Helfrich ha…

  • The Disregard for Weber'sHerrschaft: The Relevance of Weber's Ideal Type of Bureaucracy for the Modern Study of Public Administration

    Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Administrative Theory & Praxis•2009•Cited by: 9•References: 44

    The great relevance of Max Weber's ideal type of bureaucracy for understanding modern public administration is insufficiently acknowledged. Critical examination of the claims made to support "new conventional wisdoms" in the study of public administration reveals a remarkable similarity in the arguments made against Weber's ideal type of bureaucracy. The currently fashionable public-values approaches replicate neoliberal arguments that downplay b…

  • The Actionable Researcher: Cultivating a Process-Oriented Methodology for Studying Administrative Practice

    Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Administrative Theory & Praxis•2012•Cited by: 2•References: 16

    Recent calls for a process-oriented public administration focus on the ontological and epistemological foundations of this approach and not on its methodological groundings. A full-fledged approach to understanding administrative practice as process requires critical examination of what kinds of methods are helpful to produce such knowledge. This article is a first attempt at conceptualizing a process-oriented methodology. It suggests that making…

  • The Big Society,” Public Expenditure, and Volunteering

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•Public Administration Review•2012•Cited by: 11•References: 7

    The debate on volunteering has paid insufficient attention to the relationship between public spending and volunteering. The importance of this relationship is highlighted by the British government's “Big Society” plan, which asserts that an increase in volunteering will compensate for the withdrawal of public agencies and spending. This idea is based on the widely held belief that a high degree of government intervention decreases voluntary acti…

  • Communicative Capacity: The Added Value of Public Encounters for Participatory Democracy

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•The American Review of Public…•2013•Cited by: 11•References: 23

    Questions have arisen about the added value of public encounters for participatory democracy: Do problems with living up to its promises occur because of or despite public professionals and citizens coming together? This article presents the findings of a study that examined their public encounters, or communicative “in-between,” in participatory projects in three European cities. A narrative analysis revealed how the communicative capacity of pu…

  • Public Encounters: The History and Future of Face‐to‐face Contact Between Public Professionals and Citizens

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Public Administration•2013•Cited by: 72•References: 18

    Public encounters, face‐to‐face contact between public professionals and citizens, was first identified as a key issue in public administration 80 years ago, but never developed into a subject area of its own. Although receiving attention in research on street‐level bureaucrats' contact with customers, clients, and citizens, the concept of public encounters is hardly used. However, it has great potential to overcome current limitations in underst…

  • Symposium introduction: Usable knowledge in practice. What action research has to offer to critical policy studies

    Koen Pr Bartels, Julia M Wittmayer•ARTICLE•Critical Policy Studies•2014•Cited by: 10•References: 5

    Critical policy analysts aim to serve policy actors in dealing with the intricate problems they face by facilitating productive communication, critical learning and sustainable change. Action research is a valuable approach for living up to this ambition. As it is rarely used in the field of critical policy analysis, this symposium further explores what action research has to offer. In this introduction, we draw out the main principles, practices…

  • Facilitative Leadership and the Challenge of Renewing Local Democracy inItaly

    Open Access•Sonia Bussu, Koen Pr Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•International Journal of Urban…•2014•Cited by: 5•References: 36

    Participatory arrangements have become a popular way of addressing modern challenges of urban governance but in practice face several constraints and can trigger deep tensions. Facilitative leadership can play a crucial role in enabling collaboration among local stakeholders despite plural and often conflictual interests. Surprisingly, this style of leadership has received limited attention within debates linking urban governance and participator…

  • Integrating process. Follettian thinking from ontology to administration, by Margaret Stout and Jeannine M. Love

    Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Critical Policy Studies•2016

    Integrative Process by Margaret Stout and Jeannine M. Love highlights the momentous significance of Mary (Parker) Follett for our field. While Follett (1868–1933) was at the forefront of American p...

  • The double bind of social innovation: Relational dynamics of change and resistance in neighbourhood governance

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen Bartels•ARTICLE•Urban Studies•2017•Cited by: 11•References: 40

    While current discourse promotes social innovation as a normative good, in practice it is highly contested by institutionalised ways of thinking, acting and organising. Concurrently stimulating and resisting innovation creates a ‘double bind’ of conflicting communicative signals that weaken capacities for joint sense making and sustainable change. I develop a meta-theoretical framework that explains what is involved in these relational dynamics o…

  • A Relational Grounding for (Urban) Governance: Street‐Level Practices of Responsive Improvisation and Practical Change

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Public Administration Review•2017•References: 3

    Related Content: Balfour (PAR May/June 2017) Related Content: Spicer (PAR May/June 2017) Related Content: Raadschelders (PAR May/June 2017) Related Content: Benavides (PAR May/June 2017)

  • Collaborative dynamics in street level work: Working in and with communities to improve relationships and reduce deprivation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•Environment and Planning C…•2018•Cited by: 8•References: 32

    Joint service delivery is a well-established aspect of urban governance but does not necessarily improve interagency collaboration or reduce socio-spatial deprivation. What happens in interactions between street level workers has a large influence on collaborative processes and outcomes but is remarkably underexplored. This article develops an understanding of the nature and impact of the relational practices enacted in street level collaboration…

  • Doubt and excitement: An Experiential Learning Approach to Teaching the Practice of Qualitative Research

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Hendrik Wagenaar•ARTICLE•Qualitative Research•2018•Cited by: 5•References: 33

    This article diagnoses that qualitative research (QR) methods courses and literature often remain silent on how to actually do QR and explores how practice theory can improve learning and teaching the practice of QR. It develops an experiential learning approach of turning experiences and emotions of doubt and excitement into a dialogical process of asking creative questions, imagining new ideas, and animating a practical relationship to the worl…

  • Relational public administration: A synthesis and heuristic classification of relational approaches

    Koen Pr Bartels, Nick Turnbull•ARTICLE•Public Management Review•2020

    Interest in the relational dimensions of public administration is growing. However, the significance of relationality has not been understood, nor has the diversity of relational approaches been synthesized into a coherent research agenda. Relational public administration developed from the decline of rational policy models and the advent of network governance. We draw on relational sociology to formulate a relational perspective of larger scope,…

  • How action research can make deliberative policy analysis more transformative

    Koen Pr Bartels, Davydd J Greenwood et al.•ARTICLE•Policy Studies•2020•Cited by: 2•References: 53

    Hajer and Wagenaar originally proposed Deliberative Policy Analysis (DPA) as an approach suited to transforming a policy world characterized by complexity, pluralism and unpredictability. Because its transformative ambitions have long remained unfulfilled, DPA has begun embracing a variety of Action Research (AR) approaches committed to generating policy change in a world beset by multiple sustainability crises. However, a systematic assessment o…

  • Introduction: Towards deliberative policy analysis 2.0

    Koen Pr Bartels, Hendrik Wagenaar et al.•ARTICLE•Policy Studies•2020•Cited by: 3•References: 34

    The purpose of this second special issue is to build on and extend the development of Deliberative Policy Analysis (DPA) 2.0 that was set in motion by the first special issue on DPA in this journal. It is set up around a symposium focused on integrating DPA’s pillars of interpretation, practice, and deliberation. We identify three key threads for interweaving these three pillars and advancing DPA 2.0 and introduce the five other contributions to …

  • Transforming the relational dynamics of urban governance: How social innovation research can create a trajectory for learning and change

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•Urban Studies•2020•Cited by: 8•References: 55

    This article examines how social innovation (SI) research can co-produce transformative change in cities. A key challenge is to diffuse and sustain SIs in ways that transform the relational webs that constitute local spaces and their governance. The relational approach to SI is conceptually promising in this respect, but its foundations and practices need to be further developed. Therefore, I develop a relational ‘theory–methods package’ of pract…

  • Introduction: Action Research, Policy and Politics. Special Issue of the International Journal of Action Research

    Open Access•Julia M Wittmayer, Koen Pr Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•IJAR – International Journal of…•2021•Cited by: 2•References: 5

    Bibliography: Wittmayer, Julia/Bartels, Koen/Larrea, Miren: Introduction: Action Research, Policy and Politics. Special Issue of the International Journal of Action Research, IJAR – International Journal of Action Research, 1-2021, pp. 3-17. https://doi.org/10.3224/ijar.v17i1.01

  • Experiential learning: A relational approach to sustaining community-led social innovation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels•ARTICLE•Innovation The European Journal…•2022•Cited by: 2•References: 13

    Community-led social innovations have great potential to drive sustainable change but often struggle to sustain themselves in urban governance systems. Social learning is a prevalent strategy for sustaining social innovation, but limits understanding of, and abilities for transforming its relational dynamics. Drawing on classical pragmatism, I explain how experiential learning offers a relational framework for facilitating an interactive, holisti…

  • Shining light on the dark side of action research: Power, relationality and transformation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Victor J Friedman•ARTICLE•Action Research•2022•Cited by: 12•References: 6

  • Introduction: Advancing the Commonsverse: The Political Economy of The Commons

    Open Access•Hendrik Wagenaar, Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•International Journal of the…•2024•Cited by: 1•References: 4

    This introductory article sets out the twin goals of this special issue: “Advancing the Commonsverse: The Political Economy of the Commons”. The first is to introduce the innovative work of David Bollier and Silke Helfrich in theorizing and researching the commons. The second is to explore the possibilities and constraints of the commons and the process of commoning as they unfold in real-world political-economic settings. Bollier and Helfrich ha…

  • Relational Ecosystems: Sustaining Prefigurative Change by Creating Conditions for Mutual Learning and Change

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels•ARTICLE•International Journal of the…•2024•Cited by: 2•References: 7

    This article coins and develops the notion of relational ecosystems to address the existential paradox cutting across theories and practices of prefigurative change. Innovative ways of relating, thinking, and acting that aim to transform hegemonic state powers struggle to sustain themselves in interaction with governance systems that stimulated such prefigurative change. This paradox has given rise to cross-disciplinary calls to reimagine our pol…

  • Seven quality choicepoints for ARJ: Ambition is welcome

    Open Access•Hilary Bradbury, Simon Divecha et al.•ARTICLE•Action Research•2025•Cited by: 6•References: 1

  • Reconfiguring Relationships: Social Innovation, Action Research, and Transformation

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Julia M Wittmayer et al.•ARTICLE•Action Research•2025•Cited by: 1•References: 2

  • Reversing the Accountability Chain: How Relational Power Can Shape Accountability in Public Encounters

    Open Access•Sara C Closs-Davies, Koen Pr Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•Journal of Public Administration…•2026

    Public administration plays a fundamental role in accountability relationships between citizens and the State, but how these take shape in public encounters is remarkably understudied. Analysing relational dynamics within and around public encounters expands the relational perspective on accountability in public administration–challenging core assumptions of the principal-agent model underpinning studies of citizen-State accountability relationsh…

  • Public Encounters: Advancing the Study and Practice of Citizen‐State Relationships

    Open Access•Koen Pr Bartels, Koen P R Bartels et al.•ARTICLE•Social Policy and Administration•2026•References: 23

    The sub‐field of public encounters has significant untapped potential to advance the study and practice of citizen‐state relationships. The main aim of this special issue is to put the spotlight on this growing literature on relational dynamics between citizens and agents of the state. In this editorial introduction, we synthesise emerging empirical and conceptual insights across the special issue articles and wider literature to explain the prof…

Sociology (19 works) · Political science (16 works) · Public Policy and Administration Research (11 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Corporate governance (9 works) · Epistemology (9 works) · Management and Organizational Studies (9 works) · Economics (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Management (8 works)

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