Abstract
In his book, Viewed from the Top, Dutch policy scientist Hoogerwerf records the following statement made by a former Dutch minister regarding the implementation of political decisions:
’ I think that bureaucrats in the Netherlands are generally very loyal. They implement policy reasonably clearly and operate within the framework of the policy. (…) But nothing is sacred. Bureaucrats attempt to push forward their ideas in all possible ways, and also to postpone and prevent certain things’ (op. cit. Hoogerwerf, 1986: 259).
.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
In relation to the governing body of the mayor and office holders and the bureaucratic agencies.
Proposed measures which were viewed as being less desirable were the proposals to involve council commissions at an earlier stage (7th place), to establish council investigations (12th place), and the selection of the mayor by the local council (22nd place).
This is ironic because it is of no use for them: this study shows that dissension among the party groupings in the councils has no effect on the course of implementation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Torenvlied, R. (2000). Where Politics Makes Sense. In: Political Decisions and Agency Performance. Library of Public Policy and Public Administration, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4285-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4285-4_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5857-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4285-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive