The strange and terrible visions of Wilhelm Friess: the paths of prophecy in Reformation Europe
In: Cultures of Knowledge in the Early Modern World
In: Cultures of Knowledge in the Early Modern World
In: VOR Kohnstammlezing
Nederland is in de ban van de canon. In zijn lezing 'Een zaak van alleman' reflecteert Van Oostrom op de stand van zaken, en vooral op de bredere implicaties waartoe het canonproces volop uitnodigt. Over het grote chiasme in het Nederlandse onderwijs van de afgelopen vijftig jaar. Over de eeuwigdurende vlam die voor het ministerie van OCW zou moeten branden. En wat leert de nationale universiteitsquiz - zoals die het afgelopen seizoen op de Nederlandse televisie was - ons? Het betoog zal uitmonden in drie ferme aanbevelingen voor de aantredende minister van OCW - en voor ons allen. De Kohnstam
Dit boek van antropoloog en oud-'NRC'-redacteur Dirk Vlasblom is het eerste moderne overzichtswerk van de geschiedenis van westelijk Nieuw-Guinea, van de vroegste tijden tot de 21ste eeuw. De auteur baseert zich op gepubliceerd en ongepubliceerd bronnenmateriaal en op talloze interviews met rechtstreeks betrokkenen.0In de proloog wordt meteen duidelijk hoe heilsverwachtingen het wereldbeeld van de Papoea's beheersen. Nieuwkomers die opdoken vanaf de 17de eeuw werden door hen dan ook welwillend tegemoet getreden. Slavernij en uitbuiting door Molukse vorsten was vervolgens hun deel.0De Nederlanders eisten het immense gebied op, maar hadden er nauwelijks oog voor totdat het aan het einde van de 19de eeuw tot hen doordrong dat ze het konden verliezen als ze het niet daadwerkelijk onder bestuur brachten. Nieuw-Guinea bleef het 'stiefkind van Indië' tot aan de vooravond van de Tweede Wereldoorlog.0Na de oorlog nam Nederland de verplichting op zich westelijk Nieuw-Guinea als goede kolonisator te beheren en de Papoea's te leiden op de weg van ontwikkeling en uiteindelijk naar onafhankelijkheid. Voor deze inhaalmanoeuvre resultaat kon opleveren, zette Indonesië zijn aanspraken op het gebied kracht bij met militaire prikacties. Grote internationale druk dwong Den Haag in 1962 de vlag te strijken. Een tijdelijk VN-bestuur maakte uiteindelijk plaats voor een Indonesische gouverneur.0Meer dan ooit is westelijk Nieuw-Guinea in de Indonesische tijd een wingewest geworden. De Papoea's bleven aan de rand van de geldeconomie en hun zelfbewustzijn werd gekrenkt door de massale immigratie van Indonesiërs uit andere delen van de archipel.0In deze geheel vernieuwde tweede editie is geput uit de meest recente literatuur en is het verhaal bijgewerkt tot 2018
This book contains a unique new selection of his most important essays from the extensive oeuvre of the Dutch historian Johan Huizinga. These essays and studies have been chosen on the basis of the different subject matter that Huizinga was involved in; ranging from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Modern History and Cultural History in general. These selections are introduced and illuminated by Prof. dr. Willem Otterspeer who is also Huizinga's biographer. Johan Huizinga was born in Groningen, in 1872. He studied Dutch and Oriental language and literature at the University of Groningen (1891 - 1895) and comparative linguistic at the University of Leipzig (1895-1896). In 1915, he was appointed professor of general history at the Leiden University. His most famous works include The Autumn of the Middle Ages (1919), which dealt with life, ideas, art, and behaviors of the upper classes of Burgundy in the 14th and 15th centuries, Erasmus (1924), a biography of the famous Dutch Renaissance scholar, and Homo Ludens (1938), focusing on the element of play in human culture. - De hand van Huizinga bevat een nieuwe selectie van de belangrijkste essays uit het omvangrijke oeuvre van de wereldberoemde Nederlandse historicus Johan Huizinga. Deze essays en studies zijn geselecteerd op basis van de diverse disciplines waarmee Huizinga zich bezighield - van de Middeleeuwen tot de Renaissance en van de moderne tot de algemene culturele geschiedenis. Deze selectie wordt geïntroduceerd en toegelicht door Huizinga-biograaf Willem Otterspeer. Johan Huizinga werd in 1872 in Groningen geboren. Tot zijn bekendste werken behoren Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen (1919), Erasmus (1924) en Homo Ludens (1938). De hand van Huizinga wordt gepubliceerd als onderdeel van "http://www.oapen.org/">OAPEN. "http://www.oapen.org/">OAPEN is een Open Access project voor het publiceren van monografieën in de geesteswetenschappen en sociale wetenschappen. De Open Access-beweging heeft zich snel ontwikkeld bij de publicaties van tijdschriften op het gebied van de natuurwetenschappen. Het consortium "http://www.oapen.org/">OAPEN bestaat op dit moment uit zes universitaire academische uitgevers, zij geloven dat de tijd rijp is dat de mogelijkheden van Open Access ook voor de geesteswetenschappen en de sociale wetenschappen volledig benut kunnen worden.
In: Acta politica: AP ; international journal of political science ; official journal of the Dutch Political Science Association (Nederlandse Kring voor Wetenschap der Politiek), Band 15, Heft 1, S. 39-60
ISSN: 0001-6810
Data from political anthropology, archeology, & history are used to develop an overview of the evolution of political organization up to the point of the emergence of the early state. While evolution is a process of gradual transformation, it is possible to distinguish several broad evolutionary states: egalitarian, rank, stratified, & state society. The evolution of political organization is influenced on the one hand by general forces, such as population growth & pressure, & on the other hand by such specific forces as surplus production, obligations caused by reciprocity, ideological convictions, & kinship type; in interplay, these cause specific types of political organization. Such factors as population pressure, war or threat of war, & conquest seem to play the most important role in the gradual emergence of the state. A necessary condition for this emergence seems to be that existing ideological convictions not be incompatible with hierarchization & centralization. Modified HA.
In: Studia diplomatica: Brussels journal of international relations, Band 52, Heft 5-6, S. 179-204
ISSN: 0770-2965
Is an object made from bone or ivory? Was an elephant, walrus or hippo's tusk used to in the production? In this book the author illustrates how the various materials of animal origin can be recognized. All hard animal material, bones, antlers, ivory, horns, tortoise shells, whalebones and hoofs are examined. This book details the building blocks and structure; it's distinctive features and a brief history of the use of these materials from the late prehistory to the 18th century Netherlands. This resourceful book is not only useful for archaeologists and museum conservators but also for the general public with a curious mind. - Is een voorwerp gemaakt van bot of ivoor? Is er gebruik gemaakt van olifant- walrus- of nijlpaardivoor? In dit handboek wordt uiteengezet hoe men de verschillende materialen van dierlijke oorsprong kan herkennen. Alle harde dierlijke materialen - bot, gewei, ivoor, hoorn, schildpad, balein en hoef - worden behandeld. Besproken worden de opbouw en de structuur van de dierlijke materialen, de determinatiekenmerken en een beknopte geschiedenis van het gebruik van deze materialen vanaf de late prehistorie tot aan de 18e eeuw in Nederland. Een bruikbaar handboek niet alleen voor archeologen en museummedewerkers, maar ook voor kunsthistorici en verzamelaars.
Y. Kleistra, Hollen of stilstaan. Beleidsverandering bij het Nederlandse ministerie van buitenlandse zaken P.R. Baehr, M.C. Castermans-Holleman, F. Grünfeld, Human rights in the foreign policy of the Netherlands E.M. van den Berg, The influence of domestic NGOs on Dutch human rights policy. Case studies on South Africa, Namibia, Indonesia and East Timor. The role of human rights in post-1945 Dutch foreign policy: Politicological and historical literature, Maarten KuitenbrouwerThe second Dutch government under Prime Minister Kok fell in 2002 following the publication of a critical report by the Dutch Institute for Wartime Documentation (NIOD) on the Srebenica issue. This event forms the starting point for a review of the recent literature on the role of human rights in Dutch foreign policy during the last few decades in both political science and history. Both disciplines share the 'decisionmaking analysis' in international relations theory as a common background. In addition, political scientists and historians have often found themselves researching the same human rights issues that affect Dutch relations with a series of non-Western countries. An explanation of Dutch policy is usually sought based on a combination of internaland external factors. In general, comparative analyses and research into its effectiveness are still conspicuous by their absence. All in all, there are more similarities than differences between recent political and historical studies on the role of human rights in Dutch foreign policy.
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In the summer of 2013, the Vlaams Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed (Flemish Immovable Heritage Agency) investigated a modest little school building in the vicinity of Ghent (Belgium). The old building proved to be a reconstruction of the model school in the Modern Village, a Belgian government pavilion of great social significance at the 1913 World's Fair in Ghent. The model school is the only surviving building from the Modern Village.Since this discovery, further investigations by the heritage agency have revealed the dearth of scholarly studies of either the Modern Village or the model school building. The great social importance of this Belgian rural model school is, however, becoming increasingly clear. This article is a critical assessment of that importance. A brief outline of the historical context in which the Modern Village and the model school came about is followed by a description of their social significance and the impact on Belgian and European society. The starting point is an analysis of the evaluation reports of the Modern Village published in book form by the then director general of the Ministry of Agriculture, Paul De Vuyst, and a member of parliament, Emile Tibbaut. The authenticity of the reconstruction of the model school is assessed based on recent construction history research. Finally, the question of the extent to which the model school design was adopted was explored during a field trip with the help of local cultural and archival agencies. The 1913 World's Fair in Ghent took place in a period of mass rural migration that resulted in poverty and social unrest in many parts of Europe. The Belgian government was keen to do something about this by building a new countryside with a better quality of life. To that end they exhibited the Modern Village – a practical and instructive embodiment of their policy – at the Ghent World's Fair. The ambition was to modernize the rural economy and beautify the villages. Via the introduction of compulsory education for children between the ages of six and fourteen, future generations would be taught the skills and techniques needed to modernize the economy and simultaneously achieve the edification of the rural population, central to which was a love of one's own region and traditions. The effects of the Modern Village on the modernization of agriculture and on the improvement of the quality of life were felt mainly after the First World War, not just in Belgium but in other countries, too, such as Hungary. The model school in the Modern Village was conceived as an affordable and easy-to-build school building that would facilitate the realization of this new rural culture. The construction survey has demonstrated the authenticity based on the specific roof shapes in stone dating from over a hundred years ago. Recent field research complements the latest investigations by the Flemish Government and strengthens the hypothesis that the model school was widely emulated and played an important role in the implementation of compulsory schooling in Belgium. Further research is necessary, not least to obtain clarity about the adoption of the new teaching methods presented in the model school and the significance of small primary school libraries for the general edification of the rural population.
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Although in recent years more and more attention has been paid to the clitoris,
often little attention to the attitude towards her existence in the past.
This article takes a look at the clitter's history and focuses on her
appear in Dutch publications by (and for) doctors and teachers in the
last 400 years. The conclusion is that the clitoris has never been completely forgotten or
ignored, but that the ignorance about this female organ is due
is due to cultural and social factors: a lack of attention to sexuality
in general and for the female genitalia in particular. pass
in the last decade this has been slowly changing: attention to
the full anatomy of the clitoris is widely used for the first time
combined with attention to the sexual experience of women within
a framework in which she is equal to the man. - Hoewel er de laatste jaren steeds meer aandacht wordt besteed aan de clitoris, is
vaak maar weinig oog voor de houding tegenover haar bestaan in het verleden.
Dit artikel gaat in op de geschiedenis van de kittelaar en richt zich op haar
voorkomen in Nederlandse publicaties van (en voor) medici en docenten in de
laatste 400 jaar. De conclusie luidt dat de clitoris nooit volledig is vergeten of
genegeerd, maar dat de onwetendheid over dit vrouwelijke orgaan te wijten
is aan culturele en sociale factoren: een gebrek aan aandacht voor seksualiteit
in het algemeen en voor de vrouwelijke geslachtsorganen in het bijzonder. Pas
in het laatste decennium is dit langzaam aan het veranderen: aandacht voor
de volledige anatomie van de clitoris wordt voor het eerst op grote schaal
gecombineerd met aandacht voor de seksuele beleving van de vrouw binnen
een kader waarin ze gelijkwaardig is aan de man.
In: Acta politica: AP ; international journal of political science ; official journal of the Dutch Political Science Association (Nederlandse Kring voor Wetenschap der Politiek), Band 13, Heft l, S. 48-80
ISSN: 0001-6810
The framework of public administration in many developing countries was, to a large extent, set by the colonial powers: direct or indirect rule, centralization of administrative power benefiting only a small elite, & the abuse of power at the lower levels of government affect the administrative apparatus to this day. Other problems are the psychological insecurity of many administrators, the intertwining of politics & administration, the inability of the administrators to cope with problems of economic planning & performance, & the general shortage of skilled personnel, especially in the field of management. The science of public administration presents various approaches to the study of administration in developing countries, including: (1)`ideographic' analysis (largely descriptive, & directed at the solution of practical problems), & (2) typologies & classifications (`crude' models or sophisticated ideal types, like M. Weber's 'bureaucracy'). F. W. Riggs's bipolar ideal type of 'agraria' & 'industria' deserve particular attention; when used in the context of an ecological approach (eg, Riggs, F. W., Administration in Developing Countries-The Theory of Prismatic Society, Boston: Little, Brown, 1964) it forms a very useful approach to the study of public administration in developing countries. Ideographic analysis suffers from a lack of scientific rigor, but its attention to history & culture & its practical orientation constitute definite advantages. Yet, there are considerable problems in justifying `comparative ideographic' development assistance in the field of public administration. Weber's ideal type offers another useful starting point for the study of development administration, but only if one uses the bureaucratic ideal type in a more inductive way than Weber did, & if one takes great care to avoid simplistic notions about a `modern' bureaucracy. Riggs's ecological approach & Weber's ideal type of `the bureaucracy' as reformulated by F. Heady (Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1966), seem to be the most solid bases for a further development of the study of development administration. Modified HA.
In: Acta politica: AP ; international journal of political science ; official journal of the Dutch Political Science Association (Nederlandse Kring voor Wetenschap der Politiek), Band 13, Heft 1, S. 48-80
ISSN: 0001-6810
The framework of public administration in many developing countries was, to a large extent, set by the colonial powers: direct or indirect rule, centralization of administrative power benefiting only a small elite, & the abuse of power at the lower levels of government affect the administrative apparatus to this day. Other problems are the psychological insecurity of many administrators, the intertwining of politics & administration, the inability of the administrators to cope with problems of economic planning & performance, & the general shortage of skilled personnel, especially in the field of management. The science of public administration presents various approaches to the study of administration in developing countries, including: (1)'ideographic' analysis (largely descriptive, & directed at the solution of practical problems), & (2) typologies & classifications ('crude' models or sophisticated ideal types, like M. Weber's 'bureaucracy'). F. W. Riggs's bipolar ideal type of 'agraria' & 'industria' deserve particular attention; when used in the context of an ecological approach (eg, Riggs, F. W., Administration in Developing Countries--The Theory of Prismatic Society, Boston: Little, Brown, 1964) it forms a very useful approach to the study of public administration in developing countries. Ideographic analysis suffers from a lack of scientific rigor, but its attention to history & culture & its practical orientation constitute definite advantages. Yet, there are considerable problems in justifying 'comparative ideographic' development assistance in the field of public administration. Weber's ideal type offers another useful starting point for the study of development administration, but only if one uses the bureaucratic ideal type in a more inductive way than Weber did, & if one takes great care to avoid simplistic notions about a 'modern' bureaucracy. Riggs's ecological approach & Weber's ideal type of 'the bureaucracy' as reformulated by F. Heady (Public Administration: A Comparative Perspective, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1966), seem to be the most solid bases for a further development of the study of development administration. Modified HA.
In: Tromp , G H M 2001 , ' Politiek door de staten : doel- of waarderationeel handelen in het besloten overleg over de Wadden en het openbaar beraad over de ecologische hoofdstructuur ' , Doctor of Philosophy .
POLITICS BY PROVINCE: Goal-oriented rational action or value-oriented rational action in closed debate on the Wadden region and public consultation on the ecological infrastructure General This thesis is a study of political conduct, and of provincial politics in particular. It is based on three research projects. The first two research projects are empirical studies that examine, respectively, the functioning of the discussion platform for government bodies relating to the Wadden Islands area and the relationship between the regional press and provincial political organs. Each of these two projects is based on a defined problem, a theoretical framework, methodology and conclusions. Although both case studies deal with provincial politics, they are completely separate from each other. The third case study is theoretical. It seeks to clarify the rationalization theories of Max Weber and Karl Mannheim, and place the concepts of goaloriented rational action and value-oriented rational action in their theoretical context. This theoretical chapter produces a number of research questions that can be used as a 'rationality grid' to be applied to the two empirical case studies in order to determine what form of action, goal-rational or value-rational, characterizes provincial politics. Chapter One describes the background to the studies and gives a short introduction to the research themes. This chapter also presents a view of contemporary provincial politics and discusses the scientific position from which this thesis has been written, emphasizing the unique role of the sociological vision. How does the government manage the Wadden Sea? The first section examines the way in which the government manages the Wadden Sea. The study is based on an evaluation study of the functioning of the Coördinatiecollege Waddengebied (CCW) in the period 1987 to 1994. The CCW (a platform for administrative consultation between the government, the Wadden provinces and the Wadden municipalities) was set up in 1980 for the purpose of "ensuring coherent administration and an coordinated policy by the government, provinces and municipalities with regard to the Wadden region." The study is based on a bottleneck analysis; in other words, by identifying problems, concrete solutions can be proposed. The evaluation study employed a combination of two popular lines of research in organizational sociology literature – the 'whole-system approach' and the 'parties approach'. In the whole-system approach, shared values or a feeling of solidarity are what unites the organization. In the parties approach, the organization is seen as a coalition of parties with different interests and aims. The parties work together for their own benefit, or because negative sanctions force them to do so. Both approaches are integrated in the 'parties-withina-system' perspective, which focuses on the relationships between the parties and the organization as a whole. This integral approach was used to evaluate the functioning of the CCW because the CCW places great emphasis on shared values and responsibilities, which are the core elements of the whole-system approach. At the same time, however, the CCW is composed of different parties which all have their own tasks, powers and interests – the core elements of the parties approach. This perspective has been tailored to the evaluation of the CCW using the following criteria: shared values, support base, differing interests, power structure, sense of purpose, and success/failure factors. The study is based on qualitative interviews with participants in the CCW platforms, telephone interviews with councillors and members of the States General, dossier analyses and reconstructions from minutes from the CCW consultations on the following cases: enlarging the scope of the Nature Conservation Act; delegation of powers with regard to inspection and control; co-ordination of international activities, problems relating to 'traditional brown shipping'; the review of the Waddenzee II Key Planning Decision, and gas extraction in the Wadden Sea. This treatment of the original research report emphasizes a systematic description of conduct within the context of the administrative co-ordination of the Wadden region, which is usually of a closed nature. The main problem areas are the following: a lack of shared values due to the fact that the purpose of the Wadden consultation platform is given a different interpretation depending on the interests in question; by way of preparation for the Wadden consultations, a process of harmonization takes place within the various authorities, thereby creating an administrative support base. However, this process of preliminary consultation and feedback reveals the other side of the bureaucratic coin – this circuit is, administratively and politically speaking, strongly inward-looking; there are no substantial conflicts of interest between the layers of government. However, mutual suspicion exists with regard to the extent to which other parties are committed to the Wadden policy. Each party suspects that the other parties will ultimately allow economic interests to prevail; with regard to the delegation of authority, the balance of power between the government and the provinces is seen as unacceptable. The continuous lack of consensus, whether manifest or otherwise, is a barrier to discussion on a equal footing; there are various problems relating to the sense of purpose, including the role of the Chairman and the lack of a clear definition/delegation of tasks. This analysis shows that the problems are not related to the structure of the Wadden consultative platform but rather to its culture, and more specifically to the participants' perceptions of the role and responsibilities of the platform. In addition, there appears to be a distinct lack of leadership. The main conclusions are as follows: harmonization within the various Wadden authorities (government, provinces and municipalities) hampers harmonization between the Wadden authorities; the representatives from the three layers of government do not present the role and purpose of the consultative platform in a consistent and uniform way; the CCW is hampered in its work by an ongoing debate about how powers are delegated between the layers of government. Because the analysis of success and failure factors revealed that clearly defined relationships between the government authorities are essential for successful consultation, possible solutions aim to create that clarity. Recommendations have been laid down, for example, relating to the role of the Chairman, drawing up the agenda, and clearly defining the tasks of the various bodies. Although, as far back as 1995, the CCW largely acknowledged the problem areas and supported the proposals for improvement, none of the recommendations will actually be implemented before 2001. Politics and the press on the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe Section 2 describes a study of the relationship between the regional press and northern provincial politics. The basis for the study is the political decision-making regarding the establishment of the ecological infrastructure in the provinces of Friesland and Drenthe in the period 1989 to 1996. The conclusion of a survey of the relationship between the printed press and parliamentary democracy is that the main function of the press is to provide information, criticism and comment. The role of information-provider is examined on the basis of the following: actual report of a meeting of the Provincial Councils; a news report giving information about matters relating to the ecological infrastructure in both provinces; a background article describing the context, history and/or different interpretations of matters relating to the ecological infrastructure. The role of critic is examined on the basis of the following: editorial comment; a column in which one of the editors gives his opinion under his own name; opinions of third parties, in which a third party, who is not an editor, is given the opportunity to express an opinion. Using four recent examples, it is then argued that the central question relating to the relationship between politics and the press is one of management – who controls political communication or, put another way, is the relationship determined by 'party logic' or by 'media logic'? The study will compare decision-making on the ecological infrastructure (as this was perceived in decision-making meetings of the provincial councils) with reporting by the regional press in both provinces. The decision-making process of the provincial councils was reconstructed for this purpose. The result is not only an analytical reconstruction of the decision-making surrounding the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe, but also a chronicle of provincial political customs and morals. A quantitative and qualitative analysis subsequently shows how the regional press fulfils its role as information provider and critic. The quantitative analysis addresses the question of how often the press fulfils its role as information provider and critic with regard to decision-making on the ecological infrastructure. The qualitative analysis addresses the question of how the press fulfils those roles. It is argued that the quality of the information provided is determined by the degree of objectivity, but that the best measure of quality is a clear standpoint. These conclusions were used to formulate an 'ideal' against which the quality of informative and critical articles can be measured. A factual report is as objective as possible when: it deals not only with the decision itself, but also with the opinion-forming process; it gives the opinion not only of the representatives of official bodies, but also of opponents or those outside such bodies; the reporter does not give his own opinion. A news report or background article is as objective as possible when: it presents more than one perspective and/or quotes more than one authority on the subject. An editorial or column makes a constructive critical contribution when: the author adopts a clear standpoint; the context (history, background or current event) of that standpoint is given; the author describes how the standpoint was reached, and on which information or authorities it is based. Conclusions about the information function: in almost half of the cases, the regional newspapers do not report on provincial council meetings relating to the ecological infrastructure. The people who live in the province, but fall outside a given environmental or agricultural target group, will not become informed about the ecological infrastructure by reading their local newspaper. Neither will they become informed about the role of the provincial government in this; in the reports which do deal with meetings of the provincial councils, there is a lack of balance. Generally speaking, no effort is made in such reports to show the full palette of political colours represented in the provincial council; there is only relatively wide newspaper coverage on occasions when political emotions are running high. Examples are: Friesland in 1993, when an agreement was reached with the agricultural sector, and Drenthe in 1993, when an amended programme of intent for the soil-protection areas was introduced (the agricultural lobby also played an important role in this). This attention from the press can be explained by incident politics. Political groups hold widely different opinions; they make no effort to hide their differences and journalists are keen to pick up on this. Another possible explanation is that, in these cases, ecological policy is heavily influenced by the farming lobby, which itself is strongly supported by influential political groups; the news reports are usually brief and present an event from only one perspective, without a journalistic contribution from the author. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that press releases sent to the newspapers have been published without any further interpretation; the most common simple perspective is that which opposes the ecological infrastructure; there are very few background articles. Background articles that clarify the situation, and outline the problems confronting provincial politicians, are indispensable with regard to a far-reaching and complex plan such as the development of the ecological infrastructure of the two provinces; it is notable that most of the background articles are only written from one perspective, with very little informative context. On the basis of these findings, it appears that the way in which the regional press fulfils its role as information provider leaves room for improvement. Scant attention is paid to council decision-making and the quality of reporting also leaves something to be desired. Little can be said about how the press fulfils the role as critic because so few articles appear in this context. The question Who controls political communication? cannot therefore be answered because the press pays too little attention to provincial politics. Goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality: which form of rationality determines political action? Section 3 examines which form of rationality (i.e. goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality) occurs most in the closed discussions between government bodies in the Wadden study, or in public discussions on the ecological infrastructure from the study of the relationship between politics and the press. For this purpose the rationalization theories from the work of Weber and Mannheim were used. Both Weber and Mannheim recognise increasing instrumental and formal rationality (Weber) and functional rationality (Mannheim) in all areas of life, and a decrease in material rationality (Weber) and substantial rationality (Mannheim). Weber and Mannheim identify the rise and influence of a specific form of instrumental rationality, particularly within economic, legal and bureaucratic institutions. Within such institutions, actions are characterized by goal-oriented rationality. This means that the prevalent institutional pattern of norms and values that more or less prescribes how people should act within the institutions (role-related behaviour) places great emphasis on goal-rational behaviour. In order to establish whether this also applies in provincial politics and administration, a study was made of the conception of rationality in the work of Weber and Mannheim. The question of whether goal-oriented or value-oriented rationality is dominant is addressed by a secondary analysis of the material. The secondary analysis takes the form of a 'rationality grid' that is applied to the material from the two empirical studies. The grid has a coarsely meshed structure that can separate out goal-oriented and value-oriented rationality. Following the study of Weber and Mannheim's concepts of rationality, goal-oriemted rational action is defined in this study as action that is geared towards finding the most appropriate means to achieve a goal that is considered as given. When action is successful in terms of the defined goal, we speak of goal-oriented rational action and formal rationality. Success or effectiveness is therefore the measure for goal-rational behaviour. The essence of this concept is expressed in the following questions: is conduct geared towards resources and procedures within the given of administrative co-ordination or within the structured political (provincial) discussions? are the goals open to discussion? If action is a logical extension of or derives from a higher value or ideal, we speak of 'valueoriented rational action' and 'material rationality'. The extent to which an action is valueoriented is therefore the measure for value-rationality. In this study, value-oriented rational action is defined as action that is based on the assessment of the desirability of a given goal by means of a party-political value system. The essence of the concept, as used in the present context, is expressed in the following question: is the action geared towards assessing the desirability of a particular goal, based on a political value system? Conclusions: 1. With regard to discussion between government bodies on the subject of the Wadden region, the hypothesis was that, within the sphere of formalised and regulated administrative co-ordination in the Wadden region, actions are largely determined by goal-oriented rationality. The purpose of the discussion platform is, after all, to co-ordinate and realise goals defined elsewhere. The hypothesis is confirmed – the Wadden discussion platform is characterized by goal-oriented rational action. But this type of action is not related to the ultimate goal of the discussion platform but rather to another goal: the increasing of the influence and governance of the government layer in question. 2. With regard to the decision-making on the ecological infrastructure in Friesland and Drenthe, the hypothesis was that political decision-making debates are characterized by the discussion of values to be lived up to and aims to be realised. It is therefore to be expected that such debates are mainly characterized by value-oriented rationality. However, the findings do not confirm this hypothesis. The discussions of the provincial councils of Drenthe and Friesland are certainly not goal-rational in nature, yet neither can they be described as valuerational. Actions are indeed geared towards assessing the desirability of a particular goal, but that assessment is not based on a political value system. It is not party-political principles that determine political conduct; it would be more true to say that conduct is based on notions of consistency in terms of policy and support.
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