Political Cultures in England and the Netherlands: Similar Discourse, Different Results

Abstract

We determined early in this project that we wanted to compare the English and Dutch political cultures because the language of New Public Management (NPM) has been prominent in educational discussions there for several decades. NPM has engaged ministers and other key political figures, and there is also evidence of policy borrowing, particularly in explicit interactions among officials in the Netherlands discussing the significance of English initiatives for reform in the Dutch context. However, the consequences of efforts to create a more “modern,” streamlined, and efficient system in the two countries are very different.