Suchergebnisse

Political Science - De aansluiting in de maatschappelijke dienstverlening (welzijn, volkshuisvesting, zorg, arbeidsvoorziening en onderwijs) tussen professionals, instellingen, cliënten en overheid functioneert niet goed. De dienstverlening komt daardoor in de knel. De beknelling wordt versterkt doordat de huidige politieke en wetenschappelijke debat over de maatschappelijke dienstverlening wordt gedomineerd door vragen die als 'dichotomieën' zijn geformuleerd. Moeten de sectoren worden gerekend tot de staat of tot de markt? Ligt de verantwoordelijkheid voor de dienstverlening in de instellingen bij het management of bij de professionals? En moet in de vragen van de cliënten worden voorzien door vraagsturing of juist door aanbodsturing?

Deze dichotomieën doen geen recht aan de veelzijdigheid van de maatschappelijke dienstverlening. In deze verkenning wordt daarom een alternatieve benaderingswijze toegepast. Door een onderscheid te maken tussen institutionele logica, de provisielogica en de vraaglogica van de dienstverlening wordt getracht een beter zicht te krijgen op de problemen die spelen in de vijf bovengenoemde sectoren.

Objectives: In The Netherlands, school health care policy is decentralized to the municipalities and their Municipal Health Services (MHS) in 1990. Since then, an increasing diversity in school health care policy developed, which is is ill-understood, concerning the development of evidence-based public health. Methods: Case-study design in 4 MHS-regions. Documents and half-structured interviews are used as data sources. The analysis of the data is both qualitative and quantitative. Results: Many actors try to influence the policy process: MHS-internal actors like management and professionals as well as external actors like local health care providers, other municipal services, the municipalities and schools. Evidence is found of the use of scientific knowledge: 'body of knowledge' information as well as evidence from new research, of both local and (inter)national origin, mainly medical, but also social science research. Mainly School Health management and -professionals use scientific knowledge as a resource to influence the policy process. Other actors try to influence the policy process by using other resources like formal power, money or 'initiative'. The use of scientific knowledge is related to a combined (medical) scientific en political frame of reference. Conclusions: Policy formation in local public health takes place in a network of actors with mutual power-dependency-relations, using different resoures to influence the process. 'Evidence based public health' can be promoted by regarding evidence from scientific research as a resource in attempts to influence the policy formation process and the implementation of the outcomes of this process.

Political Science - Het belang van de maatschappelijke dienstverlening in het dagelijks leven valt nauwelijks te overschatten. Het rapport analyseert problemen rond de kwaliteit, toegankelijkheid en doelmatigheid van de maatschappelijke dienstverlening. Er wordt een toenemende spanning geconstateerd tussen het institutionele regime waarbinnen deze sectoren functioneren, de oriëntatie waarmee de dienstverlenende instellingen opereren en de vragen van cliënten. Deze spanning wordt versterkt door de strikte scheiding tussen beleid en uitvoering, tussen doelen en middelen en tussen overheid en markt. Om in deze situatie verandering te brengen, doet de overheid er beter aan om meer te vertrouwen op de initiatieven van de in het veld werkzame professionals en bestuurders.

Results of a survey of political candidates in the Nov 1991 elections in Flanders, Belgium, are used to investigate the role of gender differences in degree of political representation. It is noted that male (M) candidates have advantages in educational attainment, professional status, & domestic life. Ms are more likely to hold university degrees & positions of authority in the political party or corporate business. Females (Fs) are more often than Ms responsible for child care & domestic work. F political underrepresentation is a structural problem, despite gains in equality of the sexes over the last fifty years. A structural intervention by the government in guaranteeing gender-based equal opportunity is suggested. 9 Tables. Adapted from the source document.

The gender, profession, & age of local elected Flemish politicians (N = 23,465), 1946-1988, are analyzed with respect to the composition of the population as a whole, & changes in it, drawing on data from the Belgian National Instit for Statistics. It is found that women have been underrepresented in Flemish local politics throughout the era, although slight improvements are observed from 1970 onward, especially after implementation of a representation law in 1994. Higher socioeconomic strata tend to be overrepresented, especially in larger communities; whereas the number of blue-collar workers, agrarians, & employers decreased significantly, the number of intellectuals, employees, & teachers increased. Few representatives under age 35 & over age 60 tended to be elected, but a decrease of average age around 1970 is observed. Differences between representatives of the various political parties are also discussed. 2 Tables. Adapted from the source document.

A profile of the careers of Belgian ministers since WWII is presented, drawing on data from various studies. The ministers are predominantly French-speaking, M, U-educated, & of UMc or Mc origin. The most frequent professional occupations are lawyer, U professor, & business executive. The political career leading to a ministerial post is most likely to go through the legislative bodies (city council, county council, & parliament); a secondary route is via the political parties (district & then national party leader). After their ministerial careers ended, 39% of the ex-ministers continued to play a prominent part in parliament. These findings are compared with those for the Netherlands, West Germany, & France. The main difference is the importance of the bureaucratic component in the structure of the ministerial elite in those three countries; in Belgium this is not very important. 10 Tables. Modified HA

The Christian Democrat/Socialist government Martens IV resigned at the end of Mar 1981, because the socialist party could not agree with an urgency plan to reorganize the public finances. Mark Eyskens, Minister of Finance in that cabinet, put together a new government in Apr & succeeded as Prime Minister. Robert Vandeputte, an extraparlementarian & honorary governor of the Central Bank, became the new Minister of Finance. Like preceding governments, the Eyskens cabinet was strongly hampered by deep mistrust between the coalition partners, opposing views between the two communities of Belgium, & disagreements about resolving the socioeconomic crisis. The Eyskens cabinet was particularly confronted with the organization of a restructured steel mill, increasing unemployment benefits, & the collapse of fiscal revenues. By mid-Sept, the government fell. Parliamentary elections were advanced to Nov. The Christian Democrats lost a considerable number of seats. A Christian-Democrat/liberal cabinet, again headed by Wilfried Martens, emerged by mid-Dec. It adopted a neoliberal policy, & Mark Eyskens became the Minister of Economic Affairs in the new government. Adapted from the source document.