Albert J Meijer
Biographic Data
| ID | 4082817 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Albert J Meijer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Albert J |
| FAMILY NAME | Meijer |
| SIGNATURE | MEIJER A J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Utrecht University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8532-7894 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 98 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1158 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 98 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 18 |
The twin transition puzzle: Can city governments align digital and sustainability paradigms
Cities are increasingly expected to harness the potential of the “twin transition” — the coupling of sustainability and digital transitions — to shape the speed and direction of socio-technical change. Yet, little is known about how the twin transition imperative is approached and acted upon by city governments and what internal capabilities and support structures they develop to align the twin transition. Drawing on 82 interviews and extensive d…
Government Capabilities for the Twin Transition: A Multilevel Framework Based on a Narrative Literature Review
Two different external socio-technical developments – the (ecological) sustainability transition and the digital transition – require governments to build the capability to respond and lead the way. While there is extensive literature on the sustainable transition and on the digital transition, so far limited attention has been paid to the interconnectedness of these transitions. Furthermore, a thorough understanding of the government capabilitie…
Governing Ethics for the Digital Transformation: Developing, Testing, and Validating a Framework
The digital transformation in the public sector and administrative organizations promises to enhance efficiency and personalized service delivery. At the same time, the usage of digital technologies such as algorithms, chatbots, and camera surveillance can jeopardize citizens' fundamental rights and public values, like autonomy and privacy. To mitigate risks of digital technologies, embedding digital ethics as an organizational practice is necess…
Transdisciplinary public administration research: Developing and testing a model for transdisciplinary knowledge integration in the public sector
While transdisciplinarity—a combination of interdisciplinary work and coproduction of knowledge with practitioners—has become increasingly popular in various disciplines as a research approach to investigate and tackle wicked problems, its application in public administration research is still limited. Transdisciplinary research contains elements of well-known approaches for impactful research in our field. The notion of transdisciplinarity provi…
Is it Time to Slow Down
Peer Review in Academia
How Does Research Influence Policy
Trending Now
Digital transformation leadership: A public value-centered measurement scale
The contribution of the humanities to the theory and practice of public administration in the 21st century
This Forum Article integrates a range of four contributions which are all underpinned by the conviction that the rediscovery of the humanities may be beneficial to the field of public administration. The first piece examines the contribution that philosophy, as a key discipline of the humanities, can provide to the field of public administration; notably, the piece reflects on the ‘fixation with numbers’ that seems to characterise large part of r…
There is no such thing as a digital twin: Deconstructing sociotechnical imaginaries of digital twin technologies in Dutch urban governance
Within the context of three-dimensional simulations of urban space and their variables within, digital twin technologies (DTs) are touted as making urban governance and planning effective, calculable, evidence-based while reducing costs and complexity. We conducted 3 years of in-depth fieldwork on the application of DTs for urban governance in the Netherlands. Our empirical and critical analysis shows that DTs are not characterized by a novel qua…
Design science in public administration: Producing both situational interventions and generic knowledge
Design science is making a comeback in the discipline of public administration: inspired by the growing popularity of design thinking, various scholars have highlighted the value of design science for the public sector. This theoretical and methodological article aims to contribute to the academic value of design science and focuses on the “double burden” of design science: how can it be applied in such a way that it generates both (relevant) sit…
A public values perspective on energy justice: Building a theoretical lens for understanding decision-making in the energy transition
Energy justice literature provides no clear indications on why energy justice is sometimes not safeguarded in decision-making processes. What is needed is a theoretical understanding of how decision-makers balance different considerations. Drawing on public values theory, we build a theoretical lens for understanding decision-making in the energy transition. Through this lens, we recognize that decision-makers can (i) altogether overlook justice,…
In Memoriam: Miriam Lips (1967–2024): An Appreciation of Her Life
Perspectives on the twin transition: Instrumental and institutional linkages between the digital and sustainability transitions
A rich academic understanding of the relation between e-governance and sustainable development is crucial for studying the current ‘twin transition’, i.e. the connection between the digital and sustainability transition. An analysis of current literature highlights that there is a strong emphasis on the question how e-governance can be an instrument for realizing sustainable development. This research is important but does not cover all relevant …
Studying complex systems through design interventions Probing open government data ecosystems in the Netherlands
Recently, we have seen a rising interest in the study of complex systems in public administration. This paper demonstrates how specific design interventions, also referred to as ‘probes’, can be used to investigate complex systems. The value of this strategy is demonstrated by probing three open data ecosystems in the Netherlands. The probes produce a new understanding of the interrelations between underlying patterns and dynamics of open governm…
Understanding data professionals in the police: A qualitative study of system-level bureaucrats
Through the introduction of algorithmic systems into police organizations, a new employee emerged: the data professional. Contrary to street-level officers, little is known of the discretionary power of these system-level bureaucrats. Our qualitative research into the Netherlands Police provides a first empirical and theoretical understanding. The study shows that data professionals exert discretion and are aware of public values, but their value…
Open data work for empowered deliberative democracy: Findings from a living lab study
Open government data have the potential to facilitate democratic debate and collaboration between government and citizens. This assumes that citizens can effectively use data. However, not all citizens possess these skills. Building on the Empowered Deliberative Democracy Framework, this study examined how open data work - a variety of interventions and activities facilitated by intermediaries - can foster inclusive democratic processes at the lo…
Civil servant tactics for realizing transition tasks understanding the microdynamics of transformative government
The transition literature argues that governments have an essential role in facilitating societal transitions. The current paper aims to provide a theoretical and empirical understanding of this government role by analyzing the work of entrepreneurial civil servants. These civil servants try to execute transition tasks but are often resisted by their colleagues who invoke dominant traditions in Public Administration. This raises the question of h…
Screen-level bureaucrats in the age of algorithms: An ethnographic study of algorithmically supported public service workers in the Netherlands Police
Algorithms are rapidly transforming government bureaucracies. The implications of this transformation for the work of public service employees are not yet well understood. So far, the literature has mostly neglected the use of algorithms by these “screen-level bureaucrats”, and this constitutes a major gap in our knowledge about how algorithms affect bureaucracies. To understand the work of screen-level bureaucrats and to explore how they activel…
Hybrid Data Competencies for Municipal Civil Servants: An Empirical Analysis of the Required Competencies for Data-Driven Decision-Making
This study focuses on an important yet often neglected topic in public personnel competency studies: competencies required for digital government. It addresses the question: Which competencies do civil servants need for data-driven decision-making (DDDM) in local governments? Empirical data are obtained through a combination of 12 expert interviews and 22 Behavioral Event Interviews. Our analysis shows that DDDM as observed in this study is a hyb…
Legitimacy of Algorithmic Decision-Making: Six Threats and the Need for a Calibrated Institutional Response
Algorithmic decision-making in government has emerged rapidly in recent years, leading to a surge in attention for this topic by scholars from various fields, including public administration. Recent studies provide crucial yet fragmented insights on how the use of algorithms to support or fully automate decisions is transforming government. This article ties together these insights by applying the theoretical lenses of government legitimacy and i…
The academic and societal value of research
The academic and societal value of research For academic papers, we traditionally distinguish two audiences: scholars and practitioners.This is especially the case in the field of eGovernment where research is often closely aligned to governmental practice.This issue of Information Polity is a case in point.It touches upon topics as diverse as: robots in the public sector, designing a digital index, social media engagement, digital government in …
Predatory journals and the use and abuse of special issues
Transparency and the efficiency of multi-actor decision-making processes: An empirical analysis of 244 decisions in the European Union
Studies into decision-making suggest the existence of a tension between transparent and efficient decision-making. It is assumed that an increase in transparency leads to a decline in the efficiency of decision-making processes; however, this assumption has not been tested empirically. This study provides a starting point for investigating the complex relationship between transparency and efficiency on a set of 244 European Union legislative proc…
Effects of Transparency on the Perceived Trustworthiness of a Government Organization: Evidence from an Online Experiment
Although the effect of government transparency on trust is heavily debated, our theoretical and empirical understanding of this relationship is still limited. The basic assumption tested in this article is whether transparency leads to higher levels of perceived trustworthiness. This article uses theories from social psychology to advance our understanding of the effects and mechanism of the relationship between transparency and the perceived tru…
New Media and the Coproduction of Safety: An Empirical Analysis of Dutch Practices
The new media have been argued to strengthen the coproduction of safety by reducing the costs of interactions between government and citizens and providing new communicative potential. Does that lead to relevant additional input from citizens in police work? Or are preexisting interactions reproduced online? This empirical study of police practices in the Netherlands shows that new media indeed strengthen the coproduction of safety by enabling th…
Open government: Connecting vision and voice
The term open government is often used to describe initiatives of putting government information on the Internet. This conceptualization is too restricted since open government is not only about openness in informational terms ( vision) but also about openness in interactive terms ( voice). On the basis of an analysis of 103 articles, this article provides insight into the concepts of openness, transparency and participation, their interactions, …
Does transparency strengthen legitimacy
Does enhanced transparency, through the Internet, boost the legitimacy of the EU? In this paper we present a critical perspective on the assumptions underlying the relation between transparency and legitimacy. We reconstruct three assumptions from EU
Does Twitter Increase Perceived Police Legitimacy
Social media use has become increasingly popular among police forces. The literature suggests that social media use can increase perceived police legitimacy by enabling transparency and participation. Employing data from a large and representative survey of Dutch citizens ( N = 4,492) , this article tests whether and how social media use affects perceived legitimacy for a major social media platform, Twitter. A negligible number of citizens engag…
Networked Coproduction of Public Services in Virtual Communities: From a Government‐Centric to a Community Approach to Public Service Support
Research on and practical attention for the coproduction of public services is increasing. Coproduction is seen as a way to strengthen the quality and legitimacy of public service and reduce costs. Scholarship on coproduction of public services repeatedly ignores the role of the new media. This is surprising since many proponents highlight its potential for changing traditional, government‐centric approaches to delivering public services. This ar…
E-governance innovation: Barriers and strategies
Social media strategies: Understanding the differences between North American police departments
Open data for democracy: Developing a theoretical framework for open data use
Open data platforms are hoped to foster democratic processes, yet recent empirical research shows that so far they have failed to do so. We argue that current open data platforms do not take into account the complexity of democratic processes which results in overly simplistic approaches to open data platform design. Democratic processes are multifaceted and open data can be used for various purposes, with diverging roles, rules and tools by citi…
Social Media and the New Organization of Government Communications: An Empirical Analysis of Twitter Usage by the Dutch Police
Do social media de-bureaucratize the organization of government communications? Key features of the bureaucratic ideal-type are centralized and formalized external communications and disconnection of internal and external communications. Some authors argue that this organizational model is being replaced by a less bureaucratic model that better fits the communication demands of the information society. To explore this argument empirically, the us…
Urban Technological Innovation: Developing and Testing a Sociotechnical Framework for Studying Smart City Projects
Urban technological innovation—the innovative use of technologies to tackle urban problems—has become increasingly popular under the label smart city. Our understanding of this sociotechnical process is limited, and therefore, this article develops a framework on the basis of the literature on social and technological innovation. This framework identifies four perspectives—a technological, an instrumental, a collaborative, and a symbolic perspect…
The Politics of Open Government Data: Understanding Organizational Responses to Pressure for More Transparency
This article contributes to the growing body of literature within public management on open government data by taking a political perspective. We argue that open government data are a strategic resource of organizations and therefore organizations are not likely to share it. We develop an analytical framework for studying the politics of open government data, based on theories of strategic responses to institutional processes, government transpar…
Rationality and politics of algorithms. Will the promise of big data survive the dynamics of public decision making
Big data promises to transform public decision-making for the better by making it more responsive to actual needs and policy effects. However, much recent work on big data in public decision-making assumes a rational view of decision-making, which has been much criticized in the public administration debate. In this paper, we apply this view, and a more political one, to the context of big data and offer a qualitative study. We question the impac…
Legitimizing transformative government
The Covid-19-crisis and the information polity: An overview of responses and discussions in twenty-one countries from six continents
Governments around the world are utilizing data and information systems to manage the COVID-19-crisis. To obtain an overview of all these efforts, this global report presents the expert reports of 21 countries regarding the relation between the COVID-19-crisis and the information polity. A comparative analysis of these reports highlights that governments focus on strengthening six functions: management of information for crisis management, publis…
A metatheory of e-government: Creating some order in a fragmented research field
Social Media and Value Conflicts: An Explorative Study of the Dutch Police
The use of social media produces new value conflicts in public governance. The police force is a public organization directly confronted with these changes. However, there is no systematic understanding of these conflicts in daily police practice or of the coping strategies used. This article presents an explorative understanding of the value conflicts and coping strategies within the police force by combining the literature on social media use i…
Publishing public performance results on the Internet
Applying design science in public policy and administration research
There is increasing debate about the role that public policy research can play in identifying solutions to complex policy challenges. Most studies focus on describing and explaining how governance systems operate. However, some scholars argue that because current institutions are often not up to the task, researchers need to rethink this ‘bystander’ approach and engage in experimentation and interventions that can help to change and improve gover…
Understanding modern transparency
Proponents and opponents fiercely debate whether computer-mediated transparency has a positive effect on trust in the public sector. This article enhances our understanding of transparency by presenting three perspectives: a premodern, modern and post-modern perspective, and analyzing the basic assumptions of these perspectives about transparency. The analysis shows that the proponents of computer-mediated transparency have a modern perspective o…
Digital platforms for the co-creation of public value
This article provides a theoretical understanding of the potential contribution of digital platforms to the co-creation of public value. On the basis of insights from different academic disciplines, a layered model is developed for the relations between technology, governance, users and societal outcomes. The theoretical model proposes that these layers can result in basic configurations – consistent combinations of the four elements – but also h…
Transparent government: Parliamentary and legal accountability in an information age
There are several indications that the (long-term) memory of electronic government is in danger and that this decline in organizational memory may have important negative effects on accountability. Case study research in the Netherlands, however, hig
Citizen participation in the smart city: Findings From an International Comparative Study
This article focuses on understanding the dynamics of citizen participation in smart city initiatives. With different degrees of emphases, the literature identifies citizens as key actors in smart cities. At the same time, our understanding of their roles and influence is underdeveloped. Using modes of urban governance to provide contextual depth, alongside the literature on citizen participation in smart cities, this article conducts an in-depth…
Smart Governance: Using a Literature Review and Empirical Analysis to Build a Research Model
The attention for Smart governance, a key aspect of Smart cities, is growing, but our conceptual understanding of it is still limited. This article fills this gap in our understanding by exploring the concept of Smart governance both theoretically and empirically and developing a research model of Smart governance. On the basis of a systematic review of the literature defining elements, aspired outcomes and implementation strategies are identifie…
Taming the snake in paradise: Combining institutional design and leadership to enhance collaborative innovation
The growing expectations to public services and the pervasiveness of wicked problems in times characterized by growing fiscal constraints call for the enhancement of public innovation, and new research suggests that multi-actor collaboration in networks and partnerships is superior to hierarchical and market-based strategies when it comes to spurring such innovation. Collaborative innovation seems ideal as it builds on diversity to generate innov…
The gap between legal rules and practice in advertising non-registered pharmaceutical products
Accountability in an information age: Opportunities and risks for records management
Electronic Records Management and Public Accountability: Beyond an Instrumental Approach
In evaluating government actions accountability fora depend on public records. ICTs candepending on how they are used -positively or negatively affect the availability of records for accountability. Dominant trends in the effect of ICTs on records management are (1) the mixing of 'on the record' and 'off the record' communication, (2) the shift of control over information to the individual, (3) the focus on present rather than on historic informa…
Geographical information systems and public accountability
This paper explores the question which consequences the use of geographical information systems (GISs) may have for public accountability. Empirical data from a Delphi-survey were used for this exploration. Respondents were asked to reflect on the consequences of GISs for the availability of data for accountability. Based on their answers four hypotheses were formulated. The use of a GIS leads to an increased focus on up-to-date data at the expen…
Trust This Document! ICTs, Authentic Records and Accountability
Transparent government: Parliamentary and legal accountability in an information age
There are several indications that the (long-term) memory of electronic government is in danger and that this decline in organizational memory may have important negative effects on accountability. Case study research in the Netherlands, however, hig
Public eyes’: Direct accountability in an information age
The Internet creates interesting opportunities for citizens to call public organizations to account. Government Web sites provide information and facilitate debates on public sector performance. An explorative study in the Netherlands indicates that citizens make little use of the opportunities to call public organizations to account. Openness, however, does have a direct effect: ‘public eyes’ stimulate government organizations to score better on…
Risk maps on the Internet: Transparency and the management of risks
In this essay the consequences of the transparency of physical risks through the Internet are explored by posing three questions: do citizens in the Netherlands use risk maps to find out what risks there are in their neighbourhoods, does this enhance their involvement in the management of risks, and, do risk maps on the Internet and citizen involvement improve the quality of risk management? It is argued that transparency does not lead to a bette…
Publishing public performance results on the Internet
Does transparency strengthen legitimacy
Does enhanced transparency, through the Internet, boost the legitimacy of the EU? In this paper we present a critical perspective on the assumptions underlying the relation between transparency and legitimacy. We reconstruct three assumptions from EU
Why don't they listen to us? Reasserting the role of ICT in Public Administration
Interpreting the 'Culture Variable' in the Study of Informatization in Public Administration. Selected papers from the 2007 conference of the European Group of Public Administration
‘Culture’ is an encompassing theme in social science, yet one with which researchers struggle. In 2007, the European Group of Public Administration [EGPA] conference was held in Madrid, with culture as its theme. As group directors of the permanent study group on ICT in Public Administration we invited researchers to submit papers that dealt with the various dimensions of the relationship between ICTs, public administration and culture. We found …
E-mail in government: Not post-bureaucratic but late-bureaucratic organizations
Young People, the Internet and Political Participation: Findings of a web survey in Italy, Spain and The Netherlands
Do young people participate in politics? Some claim that young people are not as much involved in politics as their parents were, others argue that young people are interested in politics but in a different way than previous generations. The Internet is said to play an important role in 'new politics'. This raises the question whether the Internet triggers new forms of political participation by young people. We use the results of a large scale w…
Using public administration theory to analyze public innovation
The study of innovation associated with ICT has been strong on the agenda of academics for many years.This focus can be seen as a response to the continuous effort of practitioners in public administration to innovate both public organizations and policies through the use of information and communication technologies.Such innovations offer the prospect of improving public administration without messy political choices being necessary, with the rh…
Biotechnology and social learning: An empirical analysis of the Dutch Animal Biotechnology Act
Understanding modern transparency
Proponents and opponents fiercely debate whether computer-mediated transparency has a positive effect on trust in the public sector. This article enhances our understanding of transparency by presenting three perspectives: a premodern, modern and post-modern perspective, and analyzing the basic assumptions of these perspectives about transparency. The analysis shows that the proponents of computer-mediated transparency have a modern perspective o…
Disclosure and compliance: The 'pillory' as an innovative regulatory instrument
Enforcement agencies increasingly use disclosure as a regulatory instrument to promote compliance and govern societal risks: data about companies are disclosed to expose their level of compliance. This innovative instrument, called the 'pillory', differs from traditional instruments such as financial incentives ('the carrot'), legal sanctions ('the stick') and government communication ('the sermon'). The 'pillory' aims to inform and activate the …
Public information strategies: Making government information available to citizens
New technological opportunities and increasing demands make it imperative for government agencies to make the information they gather available to citizens. How should they go about this? This paper presents a conceptual framework for analyzing the strategic options open to agencies which have information that could be relevant to citizens. The conceptual framework is constructed on the basis of the literature and tested in a case study. The Dire…
Alignment 2.0: Strategic use of new internet technologies in government
Political Individualization: New media as an escape from family control over political behavior
Published online: 31 January 2011
Communities of Public Service Support
Networked Coproduction of Public Services in Virtual Communities: From a Government‐Centric to a Community Approach to Public Service Support
Research on and practical attention for the coproduction of public services is increasing. Coproduction is seen as a way to strengthen the quality and legitimacy of public service and reduce costs. Scholarship on coproduction of public services repeatedly ignores the role of the new media. This is surprising since many proponents highlight its potential for changing traditional, government‐centric approaches to delivering public services. This ar…
The coming of age of e-government studies
The coming of age of e-government studiesThe earliest studies of the impact of information technology on government were undertaken in the United States in the 1970s by pioneering scholars such as John King
ICT, Public Administration and Democracy in the Coming Decade
The physicist Neils Bohr allegedly wrote that Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. Many academics believe that serious scholars should never attempt to write about the future, but some awareness of the ways in which the future of e-government may evolve is needed if well-grounded long-term decisions about issues such as infrastructures, institutions and educational programs are to be made. In addition, future-oriented resear…
Political science (83 works) · Public relations (56 works) · E-Government and Public Services (55 works) · Business (52 works) · Computer Science (50 works) · Sociology (41 works) · Law (39 works) · Law (38 works) · Government (linguistics (37 works) · Politics (33 works)