Global environmental assessments assume an increasingly central role in international policymaking. Among them, the IPCC stands out as the authoritative voice of climate science. According to...Show moreGlobal environmental assessments assume an increasingly central role in international policymaking. Among them, the IPCC stands out as the authoritative voice of climate science. According to reputation theory, the maintenance of such a positive reputation requires the communication of organizational strengths to its audiences. The theory predicts patterns of emphasis and change over time, but has yet to be tested in this institutional setting. This thesis contributes to reputational theory through testing and extending its theoretical expectations to the case of the IPCC based on GEA literature. It quantitatively analyses the IPCC outputs and communication material over the course of 1994-2022, and qualitatively investigates the experience of IPCC leadership during that time. The results suggest that the IPCC becomes more reputationally aware over time, but does not diversify its legitimization strategies along hypothesized dimensions to the public - despite leadership commitment to those dimensions – but rather reinforces its technical image.Show less
In the Netherlands, top civil servants have an important role, as they influence the policies that affect the daily life of the Dutch population. Among top civil servants, there is an elite group...Show moreIn the Netherlands, top civil servants have an important role, as they influence the policies that affect the daily life of the Dutch population. Among top civil servants, there is an elite group called the Top Management Group (TMG) which were established in 2000 and now consist of the 94 highest civil servants in the Netherlands. The TMG members are selected based on certain competences: political craft, managerial competencies, and subject-matter expertise. Each of these competences are influenced by the TMG member’s education. Post-educational institutes have also become more common for top civil servants to attend. Which could change the education background of the top civil servants. The aim of this research is therefore to evaluate the TMG members’ educational backgrounds and determine whether there is a difference between the educational background for the TMG members between 2000 and 2022. The following question is central to this research: ‘How and why has the educational background of the civil servants in the Dutch Top Management Group (TMG) changed between 2000 and 2022?’.Show less
The New Public Management (NPM) paradigm in the public sector has led to a shift in the roles of top civil servants among many European countries. This study aims to discover to what extent this...Show moreThe New Public Management (NPM) paradigm in the public sector has led to a shift in the roles of top civil servants among many European countries. This study aims to discover to what extent this new ‘managerial’ role has been internalized by top civil servants with regard to their educational background. Education plays an important role in the development of competencies, ideas, values, and role perceptions. Using this as a point of departure, the present study focuses on how different levels and fields of education may influence top civil servants’ orientation to NPM-related values and roles, or in other words, ‘NPM-orientation’. A survey dataset (N=6975) of high-level executives in 19 European countries has been used to discover if such a relationship exists. The results revealed that only business, management and economics related studies contribute to NPM-orientation, while studying law and medical science leads to low NPM-orientation. It was also established that there is no linear relationship between the level of education followed and NPM-orientation.Show less
This thesis uses a unique dataset of 200 current trainees for the Dutch government to investigate civil servant competencies. Using an inductive approach, typical civil servant qualifications are...Show moreThis thesis uses a unique dataset of 200 current trainees for the Dutch government to investigate civil servant competencies. Using an inductive approach, typical civil servant qualifications are detected and subsequently compared to civil servant competencies which are indicated by academic literature. The general trend found in the research is that in the case of the Netherlands, generalist expertise is valued highly. Furthermore, trainees show highly developed communicative and leadership skill. Matching qualifications and competencies proved to be quite a challenge due to the lack of research in that field.Show less
Accredited Parliamentary Assistants are ‘eyes and ears’ of Members of the European Parliament, yet their influence on MEPs and role as a backstage support has not been widely discussed. The scope...Show moreAccredited Parliamentary Assistants are ‘eyes and ears’ of Members of the European Parliament, yet their influence on MEPs and role as a backstage support has not been widely discussed. The scope of APAs tasks and employment status prevent unequivocal categorisation. This paper draws from the literature on ‘policy professionals’ and three types of knowledge provision: problem formulation; process expertise; information access to shed more light on their work and environment which they operate. To answer the research question, six hypotheses were formulated and descriptive statistics and statistical analysis were applied. The anonymous, online survey was conducted among APAs and the set of data was collected (N = 116). The thesis concluded that APAs share similarities with policy professionals – yet they differ in their attitude towards academic education and on-the-job training.Show less
The economic crisis of 2008 is a perfect example of governance failure resulting in a global economic crisis. Crises form windows of opportunity for change, while a crisis is living proof that the...Show moreThe economic crisis of 2008 is a perfect example of governance failure resulting in a global economic crisis. Crises form windows of opportunity for change, while a crisis is living proof that the status quo is unsustainable. Since the economic crisis was caused by inadequate and the lack of financial regulations, countries all over the globe changed their financial policies. These policies, however, were a product of policy-makers. Since these policy-makers, or bureaucrats, bear responsibility for developing these policies, one would expect that changes also occurred at these bureaucrats. Nevertheless, literature on the effect of the economic crisis on the competencies of these bureaucrats is missing. This research, therefore, aimed to fill this gap. This resulted in the following research question: ‘How has the economic crisis of 2008 influenced the competencies of top and mid-level financial bureaucrats working at the financial ministries of the United Kingdom and Germany?’ The expectations were that the crisis resulted in a change of the economic ideas and technical competency of these top- and mid-level bureaucrats. In order to test these expectations, a quantitative statistical large-N analysis (N = 124) is conducted. The research results were that the economic crisis of 2008 did not affect the economic ideas and technical competency of top- and mid-level bureaucrats. The conclusion on the latter, however, may be false negative. The analysis provided indications that the economic crisis actually did affect the technical competency of top- and mid-level bureaucrats. Besides that, the number of observations used for this research was relatively small. Further research with more observations is, therefore, necessary.Show less
This thesis investigates the internationalization of policy advice in foreign policy advisory system of the Netherlands. By applying a quantitative, citation-based analysis, it contributes to...Show moreThis thesis investigates the internationalization of policy advice in foreign policy advisory system of the Netherlands. By applying a quantitative, citation-based analysis, it contributes to existing research on trends affecting the use of transnational academic knowledge and expertise in Dutch policy advisory bodies. The study seeks to contribute to the debate on the changing dynamics of Policy Advisory Systems and the influence of international sources of knowledge on domestic policy formation. Foreign policy advice will be examined as a case study. This adds a novel element, as foreign policy is seldomly analyzed from a Public Administration perspective. The methodology employed will make use of reports published by the Adviesraad Internationale Vraagstukken (AIV), by looking at the number of domestic and international sources cited, amongst other variables. The thesis will be structured as follows; firstly a preliminary overview of policy advisory systems literature will be given before theory on internationalization more generally, and in policy advice specifically, will be included. The theory will be applied to the context of the Dutch Foreign Policy Advisory System before the research design will introduce the methods utilized. The empirical chapter, analysis, conclusion and discussion will round off this thesis.Show less
This thesis examines the European Commission’s influence in Cyprus during the economic reforms in 2013. It aims to answer the question whether the EC influenced Cyprus and if yes, what mechanisms...Show moreThis thesis examines the European Commission’s influence in Cyprus during the economic reforms in 2013. It aims to answer the question whether the EC influenced Cyprus and if yes, what mechanisms did the EC use to achieve that. The theory of International Organizations’ influence was used as a guide of mechanisms that EC could use to influence a member state. Delegation of authority, conditionality, experts and information and rational-legal authority are the four mechanisms used in this qualitative study to explore the reforms in banking, tax, foreign direct investments and the real estate sectors. This qualitative case study uses the method of coding documents to make data-driven decisions based on the literature concepts and tries to find the relations between them. Twenty-seven official documents and newspaper articles are coded and linked to the four mechanisms. The collected data provides three major findings. Firstly, the EC used all four instruments; therefore, all the assumptions made in this research are correct. However, the extent of use regarding each mechanism differed. The second research result drives to effective use of tactics "delegation of authority" and "conditionality", by EC to influence Cyprus. That was an early assumption emanated from the theory and confirmed by the analysis. Last but not least, this study showed a limited use of domestic experts and information during this process and an even less exercise of the rational- legal authority as it founded very few times in all the documents. These findings suggest future research related to the EU influence in its member countries as well as the difference in influence between a small member country compared to a larger one.Show less
In 1990 the Dutch government introduced the workplace-smoking ban for the public sector and finalized a total smoking ban on 1 January 2015. Despite the accumulated evidence on the dangers of...Show moreIn 1990 the Dutch government introduced the workplace-smoking ban for the public sector and finalized a total smoking ban on 1 January 2015. Despite the accumulated evidence on the dangers of tobacco use since 1967, it was not until the 1980’s that a few states took action against the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoking. Since then, throughout Europe the amount of the tobacco-control policies that restrict smoking in public places has grown. These policies are also becoming more restrictive, but there is considerable variation. Notable is also, that not long before this, on European level and on international level an involvement developed. The WHO became involved since 1970 and a European involvement developed in the mid-1980’s. The expectation is that European and international institutions and other countries, have been the driving force in the growing development of similar smoke-free policies throughout Europe. The growing similarity of policies over time, is described as policy convergence. As result of these developments, the following question is formulated: Is there convergence or divergence in the smoke-free policy between the Netherlands and its neighbouring countries, Belgium and Germany? Which role have international institutions and supranational institutions, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Union (EU), played in advancing the Dutch smoke-free policy? What explains this policy convergence? The fact that other countries, international and European institutions created smoke- free policies did not automatically lead to domestic policy innovation in the Netherlands. In the policy convergence literature the discussion has been played out around the central question ‘what describes the adoption of similar innovations i.e. laws, policies instruments across different nations?’ The policy convergence literature has provided a framework which is used to assess if policy convergence occurred in the smoke-free policy area between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and the role that the European Union, The World Health Organisation has played in this development. The literature is also used to make a systematic empirical illustration of the mechanisms that facilitated this policy transfer. The case study has shown that several mechanisms have contributed to the development of policy convergence in the smoke-free policy area. International harmonisation, regulatory competition, lesson drawing and international policy promotion are seen as the driving forces of policy convergence, with international harmonization as the most important causal mechanism that has driven the development of the convergence.Show less
Global political leaders including those in Australia appoint top bureaucrats with certain competencies to produce public policy in line with their agenda. This study aims to uncover what...Show moreGlobal political leaders including those in Australia appoint top bureaucrats with certain competencies to produce public policy in line with their agenda. This study aims to uncover what competencies are held by top bureaucrats in Australia, and how these competency profiles change. The study specifically focuses on the 1980-2020 timeframe, considering whether change occurred as a result of New Public Management reforms, changes in government, and the rise of evidence-based policy-making. A quantitative dataset (N=193) was developed using biographical information of top bureaucrats to determine if external shock impacts bureaucratic competencies. Using the expertise bargain theoretical framework, the research also employs qualitative analysis through process tracing to uncover how competency change occurs. The results reveal managerial competencies are more prominent in top bureaucrats as a result of New Public Management reforms, and these come about through political strategies. Further, the top bureaucrat role has become more politicised, and bureaucrats have greater political know-how to combat the politicisation. In addition, a change in political leadership is used by politicians to revise the existing arrangements with top bureaucrats. Lastly, top bureaucrats are more highly educated as a result of evidence-based policy-making and bureaucrats have progressively used strategies to increase their influence and autonomy.Show less
