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One of the unmistakable trends in current country house research is the growing interest in the landscape context of country houses. The unquestioned emphasis on the main house and the garden is increasingly giving way to an approach that includes or focuses on the wider setting: village, nature, town, infrastructure, farms, churches, and other country houses. This article sketches the rise of this approach and offers an overview of the various perspectives. Among the aspects covered by landscape studies are country house regions, choice of location, the productive landscape, infrastructure, the political landscape and the mental landscape. Although this growing interest in the landscape setting is one of the most important recent developments in country house research, most of these studies are predominantly descriptive. This article calls for the establishment of a firmer methodological and theoretical underpinning – a task to which it is to be hoped that future researchers will devote themselves. ; Een van de onmiskenbare trends in het huidige buitenplaatsenonderzoek is de toegenomen aandacht voor de landschappelijke context van buitenplaatsen. De vanzelfsprekende nadruk op het hoofdhuis en de tuin maakt steeds vaker plaats voor een benadering die ook de wijdere omgeving (dorp, natuur, stad, infrastructuur, boerderijen, kerken, andere buitenplaatsen) in het onderzoek betrekt of als onderwerp heeft. Dit artikel schetst de opkomst van deze benadering en biedt een overzicht van de verschillende invalshoeken. Landschappelijke studies onderscheiden onder meer buitenplaatsenregio's, vestigingslocaties, het productielandschap, de buitenplaats en infrastructuur of het politieke of mentale landschap. Hoewel de aandacht voor het landschap een van de belangrijkste recente ontwikkelingen is in onderzoek naar de buitenplaats, valt op dat de meeste studies voornamelijk beschrijvend van aard zijn. Dit artikel bepleit een steviger methodologisch en theoretisch fundament; een taak waaraan toekomstige onderzoekers zich ...

In Europe archeology often has been connected with regionalist or nationalistic interested movements. In some cases archeology thus landed in very risky fairways and in this case it certainly did not promote the development to an independent science with proper theoretical basis. In Africa this is different. Directly after the independence the first president of Mali, Modibo Keita, has sent some promising new-coming students to Europe to study historic sciences, also archeology. In that new country, of which the borders sometime had been drawn by French offices, tribes lived together who often possessed little affinity to one another. To the average inhabitant the identity as Malinesian hardly counted as opposed to the identity as member of a certain section of the population. Keita's intention was to stimulate the interest in the common past of the empires Ghana, Mali, the Songhai and the Bambara. He realized that for the development of the country a common consciousness of the Malinesian identity could not be missed. Generally speaking this thought has found acceptance at the Malinesian intelligentsia. There the interest in the own past is strongly alive. From this thought the Institute des Sciences Humaines at Bamako has started a project to take stock of the numerous old hills of settlement in the inner delta of the Niger, from an economic and demographic point of view forming the most important area in the empire of the rich. The project has been financed by D.G.I.S. and is being executed in co-operation with Dutch archeologists.

In August 2013, a committee of peers visited the Waddenacademie to evaluate its performance according to a standard protocol. The Waddenacademie was established in 2008 to coordinate and reinforce research towards understanding geobio- physical and socio-economic processes in the Wadden sea area, and to attune research that is done to the needs for knowledge in the area. The review committee was impressed by the quality of the work of the Waddenacademy. That work is unique because it integrates knowledge from many disciplines. The quality of the work was rated as 'very good'. Productivity was 'very good to excellent': many publications were produced that had a very high impact. Societal relevance was rated as 'very good', because publications, symposia etc were highly appreciated by many parties, such as the trilateral Common Wadden Sea Secretariat, and because many stakeholders rely on the Waddenacademie for help to get access to research. On this moment, the position of the Waddenacademie is critical. Current financing ends on July 1st 2014, and on the same date the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), of which the Waddenacademie is part, will give up its responsibility as part of her strategy towards her affiliated but non research organisations. A decision for new financing will be made at the end of 2013. The committee is concerned about these circumstances. The committee states that the Waddenacademie deserves her right to exist beyond doubt, and formulated some considerations and recommendations about additional tasks and organization.

Few other countries are so interrelated with the world around us in political, economic, and social respects as the Netherlands. This means that the Dutch government needs to be alert in its response to the risks and opportunities presented by a rapidly changing world. Addressing this issue, the Scientific Council for Government Policy (wrr) offers some reflections in this report, guided by the question how the Netherlands can develop a foreign policy strategy that matches the changing power relations in the world and the radically changed character of international relations. The answer to this question is a reorientation. This means making transparent choices, making smarter use of Europe as our dominant arena, and, finally, choosing an approach that makes better use of the growing role of non-state actors. The report's recommendations not only underline the necessity of reorientation but also show how this could be accomplished in practice.

Die politische Landschaft der Niederlande wurde viele Jahre lang von drei Strömungen - den Christdemokraten, den Sozialdemokraten und den Liberalen - dominiert. Die Lage veränderte sich ab Mitte der 1960er Jahre: An die Stelle der vorherigen Stabilität trat eine immer grössere Unberechenbarkeit. Auch nahm die politische Zersplitterung zu und seit 2002 verzeichneten populistische Gruppierungen wiederholt Erfolge. Die raschen Veränderungen im Parteienspektrum sorgen bei oberflächlicher Betrachtung für eine Überbewertung der Unterschiede zwischen "damals" und "heute": Der aktuellen Instabilität steht die erstarrte Unbeweglichkeit der Vergangenheit gegenüber. Ein solches Bild ist jedoch eine Vereinfachung, denn auch in früheren Jahren konnten die politischen Spannungen eskalieren, und immer wieder scheiterten Kabinette vorzeitig. Neben allen Veränderungen sind somit auch Kontinuitäten und langfristig wirksame Traditionslinien in der niederländischen Politik zu beobachten. Der Sammelband Eine zersplitterte Landschaft geht auf diese Kontinuitäten und Veränderungen ein, indem er all jene Parteien betrachtet, die im Jahr 2017 in die Zweite Kammer des niederländischen Parlaments gewählt worden sind. Die älteste von ihnen existiert bereits seit beinahe 100 Jahren (SGP), die jüngsten Parteien (DENK und FvD) sind erst kurz vor der Wahl gegründet worden. Fast alle Beiträge sind von Vertretern der wissenschaftlichen Büros der Parteien verfasst worden, wodurch ein einzigartiger Blickwinkel entstanden ist: wissenschaftliche Distanz kombiniert mit einer Betrachtung von "innen heraus".

This paper - written for a conference held in Leuven (KUL) in 2001- offers a global analysis of the European Insolvency Regulation. At the time the paper was written, the Regulation was a very recent instrument. The paper reviews the Regulation based on previous experiences at harmonising the law of cross-border insolvencies (such as the European Insolvency Convention and the Istanbul Convention). Particular attention is paid to the issues of jurisdiction (which court has jurisdiction to open insolvency proceedings), jurisdiction conflicts (what happens if two courts decide to exercise jurisdiction simultaneously) and recognition and enforcement of foreign insolvency judgments.

The text is in the form of a letter addressed to the author by a friend, signed at the end (p. 91): Q.N. Rotterdam 23 Jan. 1781. In the preface the author states that it is a commentary, written at his suggestion, in response to a pamphlet entitled "Het politieck systema van de regeering van Amsterdam," attributed to Hendrik Calkoen. The subject in part is the unauthorized negotiations for a commercial treaty between the burgomasters of Amsterdam and the United States. Attributed to Elie Luzac by Knuttel. Date of publication from preface, page [4], signed Middelburg, 1 February 1781. ; Florida Atlantic University Libraries' Marvin and Sybil Weiner Spirit of America Collection, Pamphlets: Foreign Language B8F17 ; Florida Atlantic Digital Library Collections

In 1635 or shortly thereafter, a Dutch ship was laden with all sorts of materials and products, mostly metals, but also textiles from the booming wool industries in both Flanders and Holland, a shipment of leather and exotic ivory. It was a ship of considerable size (at least 300 last) and departed from the Dutch Republic at a time of profound troubles. The Eighty Years' War between the Republic and Spain was far from settled. War at sea was unremitting and intensifying, with Dunkirk privateers an unruly menace to Dutch shipping. Spanish rule in the southern Low Countries was highly militarised, and constant campaigns were waged against it from the North. Central Europe was devastated by the Thirty Years' War, which had entered a new phase through new alliances. The heavy and strategically valuable cargo of the Dutch ship was assembled from North and South, as well as from a range of places in central Europe. The ship departed for a destination that it never reached. It sank off the coast of Texel, where it was discovered 350 years later. From 1985 to 1999 the wreck site and finds were subject to archaeological research, producing information on the ship, its setting and historical context as well as on the production and distribution of the individual shipments in the cargo, and informing us about the structure of early modern industry and trade, operating despite and because of the war. The present study, initiated by Wilma Gijsbers in 2010 and supported by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE), the Maritime Archaeology Programme at the University of Southern Denmark (MAP-SDU) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO; a one-year Odyssee grant), is the first to bring together all this evidence and evaluate it as a whole.

Abstract It is essential for democracy that political parties should act within their promulgated policy frameworks, which are formally represented in election programmes. If political parties deviate from this principle, the election would lose its meaning, jeopardising democracy. In this respect, planning in Groningen in the 1970s, which realised progressive plans like the traffic circulation plan, was democratic, although it was criticised for lacking public participation. However, planning in the 1980s casts serious doubt on its democratic nature. Various large-scale projects were promoted, and they caused harsh criticism even within the government party, Labour Party. This paper focuses on four projects, that is, the PTT (office development), Brink (residential towers), Casino and Museum, all of which were planned in or next to the inner city of Groningen in the 1980s. This paper will examine these projects in terms of the policy frameworks of the Labour Party, which were created in the 1970s. These projects brought about drastic change of historical landscape, and were clearly contrary to the party frameworks or those measures that were introduced to guarantee the frameworks, such as the local land use plan. As a result, they gave rise to not only strong opposition among citizens, but also criticism of party members who still cherished those party frameworks.

Simon van Slingelandt (1664-1736) has been in the service of the Republic of the United Netherlands during his entire working life. In 1690 he started his career as secretary of the Council of State (Raad van State). In 1725 he was appointed Treasurer-General and in 1727 he accepted the position of Grand Pensionary over Holland and West Friesland. In this final position he was 'le premier homme de la Republique' during the Second Stadtholderless period. This period commenced after the death of stadtholder-king William III in 1702 and would last until 1747. As a civil servant, he has left a great impression upon the daily affairs in both domestic and foreign political business. He sharply perceived how hairline cracks in the union of the seven provinces (Utrecht 1579) threatened to become fractures. After the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713), the Republic faced hard times. This incited Van Slingelandt to write critical texts. In both a personal capacity and as secretary of the Council of State, he pointed out the danger of a collapse of the system of government to the domestic allies. He also made propositions to improve the political-administrative system and financial policy. Van Slingelandt gathered these ideas in several treatises. These writings circulated during his lifetime, but were published later, in 1784-1785, titled Staatkundige Geschriften (Political Writings), fifty years after his death. This book contains a complete analysis of these treatises – as yet missing from historiography – which is preceded by an extensive biographical chapter about Van Slingelandt.

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.

Diese Masterarbeit verfolgt das Ziel, die Übertragbarkeit der niederländischen Radverkehrspolitik auf Deutschland zu untersuchen. Aus dieser Zielsetzung ergibt sich die folgende Hauptfrage: "Inwiefern kann die niederländische Radverkehrspolitik als Beispiel für die weitere Förderung der alltäglichen Fahrradnutzung in deutschen Städten dienen?" Es wurden deutsche und niederländische Experten befragt, die sich beruflich mit Radverkehrsförderung auf politischer oder gesellschaftlicher Ebene beschäftigen. Die Interviews wurden durch eine vergleichende Politikdokumentenanalyse der niederländischen und deutschen Masterpläne unterstützt. Aus dieser Studie ergibt sich, dass sich deutsche Städte gut an den Niederlanden orientieren können. Inwiefern aber die niederländischen Elemente tatsächlich in die Praxis der deutschen Städten umgesetzt werden können, hängt von der Stadtgröße, dem zugehörigen Kreis/Bundesland und das politische Engagement der lokalen Verwaltung ab.

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.

The Province of Gelderland has long boasted a large number of country houses and landed estates, which over time coalesced into estate landscapes around the historical capitals of the Duchy of Guelders quarters of Nijmegen, Arnhem and Zutphen. Rapidly increasing urbanization from the end of the nineteenth century onwards threatened the coherence and accessibility of these landscapes. Gelderland's largest cities, Arnhem and Nijmegen, watched in dismay as many country houses and landed estates fell victim to subdivision and development. In response they started to buy up portions of that estate landscape to ensure that they would remain available to city dwellers. In addition, the 'safety net' provided by newly established nature and landscape organizations, in particular Natuurmonumenten and Geldersch Landschap & Kasteelen, also contributed to preservation and permanent accessibility by offering landed families the opportunity to keep their estate intact, albeit no longer under their ownership. Similar motives – the need to preserve attractive, accessible walking areas for the increasingly urbanized society – underpinned the government's introduction of the Nature Conservation Act in 1928. The Act was invoked more frequently in Gelderland than in any other province. It promoted the opening up of private properties as well as the preservation of the cultural value of the kind of 'natural beauty' to be found on landed estates. After the Second World War, in addition to resorting to the Nature Conservation Act, the owners of country houses and landed estates could avail themselves of an increasing variety of grants aimed at preserving (publicly accessible) nature, landscape and heritage, although the emphasis was firmly on nature. Estate landscapes like the Veluwezoom and the County of Zutphen were eventually safeguarded by a patchwork of different government regulations. In the twenty-first century, government policy shifted towards providing financial support for both public and private contributions to ...

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.