Suchergebnisse

Sport is traditionally governed by international sports organizations (ISOs), which are at the top of self-regulatory networks that extend further over continental and local levels. These organizations attach great importance to their autonomous functioning, making any form of government interference in their activities is studiously avoided. For decades knew the world of sports in this way to enforce his own place in society: the idea of a kind of private government activities that normally are part of the job of a political system, exercises such as the issuing of rules and sanctions and conduct various forms of social policy. This sport largely escaped the normal application of general legal standards as the labor and tax law. In addition to the hierarchical structure of the self-regulatory networks in sport those at the bottom of these networks, ie clubs and players, rarely consulted and almost never actively involved in their policy processes. Adapted from the source document.

Since the 'argumentative turn' in policy analysis scholars have increasingly focused on discourse as an explanatory factor for the analysis policy processes. This has resulted in a proliferation of rich and deep qualitative discourse-analytical studies on a vast range of policy controversies. However, these studies have two important shortcomings: firstly, they offer limited possibilities for comparative research, because they lack an objectified and standardized measuring instrument. Secondly, according to some critics, these studies do not live up to scientific standards. This article presents a method based on a combination of content analysis and social network analysis which can be complementary to qualitative approaches, in order to answer to these shortcomings. It is exemplified by a limited case study on two debates within the policy domain of transport-mobility in Flanders. The article concludes with a discussion of a number of possible applications of the method within the broader discipline of political science. Adapted from the source document.

In a globalized world the "foreign" aspect is getting more and more important. Despite the much talked about pros and cons, this also means that a number of unforeseen challenges should be met. Karel De Gucht, Belgium's Minister of Foreign Affairs, proposes ten theses regarding preparation and coordination of policies, civic service, communication and public diplomacy, qualification and education of its personal, a network of posts abroad, supportive material and services (informatics and security mainly). References. O. van Zijl

The Belgian politico-administrative relationship is known for its large ministerial cabinets who operate as interfaces between ministers & civil servants. According to Dierickx & Majersdorf (1994) ministerial cabinets are the central nodes in the Belgian policy-making networks, reducing the policy role of civil servants & shielding them from all relevant policy-making interactions. They found that pressure groups hardly ever turned to civil servants & stated that civil servants lived in an administrative beguinage. This article tests whether the conclusions of Dierickx & Majersdorf (1994) are still valid. Next, it seeks to explore the policy-making interactions of both actors in a more detailed way, since Dierickx & Majersdorf (1994) only measured the frequency of their contacts, not the direction, goal and/or content of the interactions. Based on a unique written survey-research among top civil servants & ministerial advisers, we discuss the role differences with regard to their interactions in four 'arenas.'. Adapted from the source document.