In just over 10 years, the UK, a Western, democratic, industrialised nation has experienced two economic crises that have been unrivalled in the last 100 years of economic history; the 2008...Show moreIn just over 10 years, the UK, a Western, democratic, industrialised nation has experienced two economic crises that have been unrivalled in the last 100 years of economic history; the 2008 Financial Crisis and the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic. The 2008 financial crisis is often discussed in terms of the extremity of its impact on the British economy, specifically in its status of inflicting the largest accumulative financial loss since the Post-War period. This is an accolade it has held until the crisis induced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Both crises were unexpected and far-reaching in their consequences, resulting in the British Government introducing unparalleled policies to protect the health of its population and economy. This thesis seeks to explore welfare policy responses to economic crises in the United Kingdom. An extensive literature review is presented, covering the present academic discussion around welfare and crisis management. This thesis uses a most-similar research design to compare two crisis situations in the same country, to assess the success of the policies based on the two measurements of generosity and coverage. The focus will be on the design, implementation and outcome of the reactive employment policies in two distinct cases.Show less
Abstract Objectives: The main objective of this thesis is to create and provide empirical data on the socio-demographic background of the top administrative elite in the Netherlands, the Top...Show moreAbstract Objectives: The main objective of this thesis is to create and provide empirical data on the socio-demographic background of the top administrative elite in the Netherlands, the Top Management Group of the Algemene Bestuursdienst. It furthermore seeks to connect elite studies literature to a public administration context. Methods: The thesis is based on a data set primarily constructed using LinkedIn data and data provided by the Algemene Bestuursdienst at times of new appointments. The thesis uses descriptive statistics to analyze some of its findings. Results: The thesis finds that in doing research on elites, discussing context is crucial. On the Top Management Group of the Algemene Bestuursdienst it finds that the people who occupy the top functions within the Algemene Bestuursdienst have a largely varying profile regarding their educational background. Most civil service elites grew their career inside the civil service. Data on whether elites were sticky was inconclusive as variances and standard deviations were too big relative to their respective mean.Show less
This thesis applies collective action theory from a historical institutionalist perspective. With applying collective action theory on an international level, the boundaries of collective action...Show moreThis thesis applies collective action theory from a historical institutionalist perspective. With applying collective action theory on an international level, the boundaries of collective action theory are pushed further than before. Collective action theory from a historical perspective is used to investigate the scope of regime complexity intergovernmental organizations experience and the development of state membership of intergovernmental organizations.Show less
Crowdsourcing has gained attention in every realm, including the public sector, which got interested in how the participatory tool can increase public values, especially with the interactive...Show moreCrowdsourcing has gained attention in every realm, including the public sector, which got interested in how the participatory tool can increase public values, especially with the interactive potential of digital platforms. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of implementing the crowdsourcing process, but not much focus is on the outcomes. Moreover, with the increase in evidence-based policymaking, a few studies have been conducted on the impact of crowdsourcing data. This thesis intends to answer the question of how crowdsourcing outcomes can impact decision-making. The case of Frena La Curva (FLC) in Spain during Covid- 19 was studied, which has positively impacted the policy-making process. The approach of this thesis is qualitative, using semi-structured interviews to delve into the experiences of public employees and volunteers involved in the platform. The results show benefits for the public administration in implementing crowdsourcing. The significant benefits that crowdsourcing can apport to the decision- making process are the openness of participation, speedy action by the public administration, and the re- calibration of the policy tools. The technological infrastructure of FLC has allowed to gather an enormous number of outcomes which allowed policymakers to make swifter decisions in some cases. However, the technological dependency on crowdsourcing represents a challenge for the public sector, which might want to cooperate with the private sector. Moreover, depending on the nature of the evidence, crowdsourcing can have a different impact on tool calibration and tool changes in the policy process. The situation of the crisis has also had an effect on the emergence of FLC, which was favored by the pandemic. The contribution of this study is essential as it sparks light on a field that has been investigated less. Further research may investigate the replicability of the case of FLC as well as test the impact of outcomes in other crowdsourcing initiatives.Show less
By integrating the theoretical frameworks of goal-setting theory and collaborative governance, this study explores the relationship between goal core properties (goal-clarity and goal-difficulty)...Show moreBy integrating the theoretical frameworks of goal-setting theory and collaborative governance, this study explores the relationship between goal core properties (goal-clarity and goal-difficulty) and work motivation among employees in collaborative public services. It does so by using a case of the Focalized Prevention Program (PPF) within the National Service for Specialized Protection of Children in Chile. A single-case qualitative design was adopted, and data was collected through eight semi-structured in-depth interviews with professionals at all levels in the PPF. The findings reveal that while job-goals are perceived as clear “on paper”, and job-goals are always perceived as very challenging, their direct influence on work motivation is complex. Collaborative structures involving multiple stakeholders introduce ambiguity, making goal clarity less influential, and goal-difficulty detrimental to work motivation, based on a very low sense of self-efficacy. The sector-specific unpredictable and pressing demands of Child Protection Services require high levels of adaptability, challenging the assumption of clear goals as the primary motivator. This research offers a nuanced perspective, adding new insights to goal setting theory and opening new paths for its integration with frameworks such as collaborative governance and Public Service Motivation.Show less
In every democratic country in the world, elections are a very common occurrence. In modern times, the electoral systems change too, resulting in the emergence of electronic voting. This research...Show moreIn every democratic country in the world, elections are a very common occurrence. In modern times, the electoral systems change too, resulting in the emergence of electronic voting. This research distinguishes voting on voting machines and Internet voting and compares the cases of the Netherlands, Belgium and Estonia to understand the most important factors to drive implementation of digital voting initiatives. The technological aspects of this have been researched enough by other authors, so this research focusses on the success factors generated by the Enacting Electronic Government Success (EEGS) framework. To place it in a historical perspective, the Historical Institutionalist view is added. The unique contribution of this research is to derive success factors of digital voting from the perspective of frameworks closely related to e-Governance, that have not yet researched digital voting.Show less
This paper sought to find out how public healthcare employees with an ethnic minority background experience more job stress than their native Dutch counterparts. Based on existing literature it was...Show moreThis paper sought to find out how public healthcare employees with an ethnic minority background experience more job stress than their native Dutch counterparts. Based on existing literature it was expected that ethnic minority public healthcare staff has less job resources and more job demands due to their experiences with differential treatment at work, resulting in higher levels of job stress. The research question was answered through deductive qualitative research with interviews. The empirical findings confirmed the theoretical expectations. Generally, the cultural distance felt by ethnic minority employees made them lack social support in job settings with predominantly native Dutch colleagues, leading to less job resources. Furthermore, experiences with differential treatment at any intensity increased emotional demand from work, leading to more job demands. The enlarged imbalance between job resources and demands increased job stress. These effects were experienced by respondents in various degrees. Overall, respondents could be categorised into three groups: Those who felt their ethnic background strongly has a negative impact on their job stress, those who felt their ethnic background may sometimes have a negative impact on their job stress and those who did not feel as though their ethnic background significantly impacts their job stress.Show less
The main research question of this thesis is “to what extent has the position of women within Afghan society regressed since the 2021 Taliban takeover?” This paper will analyse how the recent shift...Show moreThe main research question of this thesis is “to what extent has the position of women within Afghan society regressed since the 2021 Taliban takeover?” This paper will analyse how the recent shift in Afghan governance has impacted the social status of women in Afghanistan. The social status indicators will be “labour force participation,” political participation,” “education,” and “healthcare”. In contrast to many other studies in the field, this thesis also highlights the importance of the cultural and historical context of Afghanistan since its independence in 1919. Using a variety of literature, research, and reports, this thesis’ findings show that most of the progress made post-2001 has almost completely disappeared since the 2021 government shift in Afghanistan.Show less
The aim of this thesis is to conduct research on challenges to the effectiveness of the WhatsApp neighbourhood watch team (WNWT) ‘Buurtpreventie Uithofslaan’ in The Hague, as a security network....Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to conduct research on challenges to the effectiveness of the WhatsApp neighbourhood watch team (WNWT) ‘Buurtpreventie Uithofslaan’ in The Hague, as a security network. WhatsApp neighbourhood watch teams are continuing to increase in number and use, especially with the shift into a ‘smartphone society’. Relevance lies in the necessity to understand whether this growth of WNWT’s and their use is justified, or if they primarily make the lives of participating member-residents harder. The research question ‘What are the challenges to the effectiveness of a WhatsApp neighbourhood watch team?’ has been answered. The method used for research conducting consists of a mixed method approach, involving five semi-structured interviews with members of ‘Buurtpreventie Uithofslaan’, and a document analysis regarding the groups’ messages. The analysis had displayed multiple challenges findings to the effectiveness of a WNWT. Firstly, ‘non-safety’ related messages, and messages deemed as panicking and/or false alarm. Furthermore, information overload inside of the group, the size of the group, and emerging confrontations inside the group. Lastly, distrust amongst the WNWT’s members and lack of actual action taking by the groups’ residents form the final revealed challenges. While the thought of a neighbourhood watch team seems terrific, there are multiple challenges to its effectiveness that cause problems. These existing challenges take away (some) value of ‘Buurtpreventie Uithofslaan’. Recommendations to tackle some challenges hear: creating an alternate (WNWT) group inside of the neighbourhood, and the assessing of some members as actual action takers so the lack of action-taking will dissolve. Limitations lie in the fact that this study cannot quantify its effect in large scales study hence the relatively short period and therefore small data samples.Show less
Dear reader, This thesis uses levels and indicators of effectiveness and legitimacy intending to identify challenges to the effectiveness and legitimacy of the National Coordinator of...Show moreDear reader, This thesis uses levels and indicators of effectiveness and legitimacy intending to identify challenges to the effectiveness and legitimacy of the National Coordinator of Counterterrorism in the Netherlands (NCTV). A literature review is conducted to assess different scholars’ work on measuring the effectiveness and legitimacy of security networks. This literature review develops the indicators that are utilized in the thesis. The indicators for effectiveness are a controlling state actor, goal consensus, and network structure. Whereas the indicators for legitimacy are democratic (parliamentary authority), legal (a clear legal framework), and social legitimacy (transparency). Afterward, to identify the challenges, this thesis implements document analysis. By the latter, this thesis identifies and explains challenges to the effectiveness and legitimacy of the NCTV by using news articles, and parliamentary documents, e.g., a debate concerning the NCTV. Using the indicators, the challenges are identified. Ultimately, these challenges are discussed using quotes and pieces from hearings, debates, and news articles. It is significant to identify the challenges to effectiveness and legitimacy as this lays the groundwork for further research on NCTV’s activities.Show less
