Implementing a Meta-Policy: the case of decentralisation in the Netherlands

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Abstract
The prevailing view on decentralisation policy in Western European countries like the Netherlands is that it is stagnating. People who see this stagnation as a problem ask what can be done about it. It appears that from the literature on policy implementation insights and lessons can be drawn that can be applied to the organisation of the administrative system. Application of these insights assumes a reality that is less one-sidedly hierarchical and centralistic than the prevailing view on decentralisation might suggest. On the basis of that application suggestions are made regarding the way decentralisation policy can be given a new impulse. One of these suggestions concerns the use of financial cutbacks, and the associated reductions in personnel, at the departmental level, as an opportunity to strengthen the role of the provinces and municipalities. In this respect the Ministry of the Interior, formally responsible for the implementation of the government’s policy on decentralisation, could play a role of intermediary instead of central ruler, guiding and stimulating decentralisation.

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