The European Commission has recently initiated a comprehensive Green Deal with the objective of enhancing the environmental sustainability of agriculture, promoting nature inclusivity, and...Show moreThe European Commission has recently initiated a comprehensive Green Deal with the objective of enhancing the environmental sustainability of agriculture, promoting nature inclusivity, and facilitating the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. However, much controversy has been surrounding the formulation of its Farm to Fork (F2) Strategy policy objectives due to incompatible perspectives regarding the envisioned future sustainable food system between the involved actors and the European Commission. This, therefore, raises the question of what is the role of expert knowledge in the realm of EU policymaking? Moreover, what factors influence the Commission’s utilisation of expert knowledge? The utilisation of expert knowledge has been a topic of academic debate in the social sciences. The scholarly discourse pertaining to the role of expert knowledge in the realm of public policymaking processes, and in particular in the EU context, is abundant in theoretical frameworks; however, it also lacks consistency in defining and explaining the role of expert knowledge in public policymaking. This study aims to address the gap in existing literature by improving the understanding of knowledge utilisation and its features in the context of a new EU policy case. The research question seeks to determine the Commission’s utilisation of expert knowledge in the preparation of the Farm to Fork Strategy and explain whether the combination of internal and external dynamics account for the anticipated type of knowledge utilisation. The study focuses on a single case to achieve the theoretical objectives of demonstrating a causal relationship and examining whether the causal process occurred as anticipated. The study focuses on the timeframe from 2016 to 2021, coinciding with the first mandate of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Waste (FLW) and its efforts towards food waste policies, which were subsequently integrated into the F2F Strategy.Show less
This research has examined to what extent the hiring practices of the EU Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) contribute to the creation of an epistemic community. Classifying this...Show moreThis research has examined to what extent the hiring practices of the EU Agency for Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) contribute to the creation of an epistemic community. Classifying this group of employees as an epistemic community requires a shared knowledge base and degree of socialisation, which practically means a large degree of overlap in knowledge, normative beliefs, and interests. The results do not indicate that ACER has a preference for hiring individuals with the same type of expertise, degree of socialisation, or shared interests, which means that ACER’s hiring practices are not responsible for the possible formation of an epistemic community. This could alleviate societal concerns about sub-optimal decisions being made by an organisation that they have no direct control over and adds a new perspective on the external factors of norm internalisationShow less
Around the world, scientific discourse and experts have become more prevalent and influential. Although successful policymaking involves a lot of expert input, there are also concerns in societies...Show moreAround the world, scientific discourse and experts have become more prevalent and influential. Although successful policymaking involves a lot of expert input, there are also concerns in societies regarding the issues that are emerging from the expanding involvement of experts in policymaking. Furthermore, experts frequently disagree with one another, which may lead the general public to interpret expert disagreement as a reason to distrust experts in public discourse. On the other hand, more expert disagreement can make it easier for politicians to pick and choose the knowledge they like to support their agenda. This study focusses on the role of expert knowledge through advisory commissions in the Dutch Nitrogen case and how expert disagreement relates to this role of expert knowledge. Governments often set up commission to help assist them with crises which implies a problemsolving function of a commission. However, this study argues that expert disagreement enables the advisory commissions' role to be recognized equally for its legitimizing or substantiating function. The results show that expert disagreement does not necessarily leads to a substantiating or legitimizing function of expert knowledge but that both advisory commissions contain elements of all of the three functions of commissions.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 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
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
