Dissertation
Betwist bestuur in Rotterdam: een bestuurskundige heranalyse
The central research question in this study was twofold: 1. To what extent are the three reconstruction models useful in a reconstruction of the public decision-making process concerning decentralized government between 1947 and 2014? 2. To what extent does the reconstruction of this public decision-making process using the three reconstruction models add value to the governance-history research that has already been done by me?
- Author
- J.W.E. van de Poel
- Date
- 26 January 2023
- Links
- Full text in Scholarly Publications Leiden University
The dissertation is in fact a public administration sequel to the governance-historical book Betwist bestuur – Wijkraden en deelgemeenten in Rotterdam (2017) by the same author. The dissertation includes an extensive summary of this book.
Both works primarily describe the administrative decision-making process regarding intra-municipal territorial decentralisation of governance in Rotterdam, as shaped by the Rotterdam municipal council and the executive board of mayor and aldermen. More specifically, it concerns the political-administrative decision-making on ‘the Coolsingel’ with regard to the establishment of district councils and sub-municipalities in Rotterdam between 1947 and 2014. In the latter year, the sub-municipalities in Rotterdam and Amsterdam were abolished through an amendment to the Municipalities Act.
In the dissertation, the empirical material described in the 2017 book Betwist bestuur is subjected to a public administration re-analysis. This is carried out on the basis of three public administration models for reconstructing complex decision-making processes: the phases model, the streams model, and the rounds model. Through this re-analysis, the processual side of the administrative decision-making process concerning decentralised governance in Rotterdam is brought into sharper focus. Success and failure factors in achieving the primary policy objective – to involve the people of Rotterdam more effectively in the governance of the municipality and its parts – can thus be more clearly identified.
It appears that there is still a long way to go to achieve inclusion based on gender and sexual orientation. It seems important to continue to investigate both conscious and unconscious heteronormative messages and to address them in policy. More representation of counter-stereotypical role models and the normalization of public expressions and relationships of lesbian women and gay men seem necessary.