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A review essay on books by (1) Louis Emmerij, Richard Jolly, & Thomas G. Weiss, Ahead of the Curve? UN Ideas and Global Challenges (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana U Press, 2001); & (2) Thomas G. Weiss, Tatiana Carayannis, Louis Emmerij, & Richard Jolly, UN Voices. The Struggle for Development and Social Justice (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana U Press, 2005).

'It is undeniable that people in our current network and information society empowered and more independent than before. Are combined with the need to reduce the government deficit back, this leads to the classic welfare state slowly but surely turning into a participatory society. From anyone who may be asked to take responsibility for his or her own life and environment. 'Thus King Willem-Alexander in the most discussed part of his first speech from the throne. Prime Minister Rutte characterized the transition from welfare to society participation as a movement from the bottom up by citizens wanted and facilitated by the government. For this installment of the Symposium, we asked experts on the welfare state to reflect the transition indicated by the king. Romke van der Veen puts the development in the Netherlands in a number of major trends and then shows that we are at a crossroads where we can from different sides. Judith van der Veer discusses one of those sides: the transition from welfare to activation city. In the third contribution Flemish politician Mieke Vogels describes (Green, the Flemish green party) how they all late 90s tried to enter the participative society in Belgium and how the movement initiated by her reversed by subsequent ministers. Adapted from the source document.

This special issue of Res Publica about administrative power of municipalities in the Netherlands & Flanders, Belgium, focuses in particular on the meaning of cooperation for the strengthening of administrative power. Until recently discussions on administrative power concentrated mostly on the possibility of the merger of municipalities. The three contributions to this issue demonstrate that different kinds of cooperation are a fair alternative for the strengthening of administrative power of municipalities. Adapted from the source document.