PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Victimised Twice?
In 2009 Marieke van Genugten en Jörgen Svensson (MR&V) worked on "Victimised Twice?" a study about the poor treatment of employees who challenge unequal treatment. Such repercussions are legally forbidden, but Genugten en Svensson's study showed that people who complain about discrimination are often subjected to gossip or bullying, and are sometimes even fired. Anyone reading these research results would think twice about bringing a discrimination complaint to managers or the Commission for Equal Treatment. Research showed that employees are afraid of sanctions. And that only employees who are not part of an at-risk group believe that they will be protected after making a claim. What is the solution? According to Van Genugten, "more legal protection does not seem to be the answer. Perhaps the problem could be mitigated by making organisations more aware of the legal consequences, and mediators could give the problem more attention."
Assistant Professor
Research Victimised Twice?
(04:03 minutes, double-click to enlarge video)
Assistant Professor
Public Administration in 2009
(04:44 minutes, double-click to enlarge video)
The Netherlands Votes Strategically
In Martin Rosema's academic life, everything revolves around election research. One important research theme is strategic voting. For a long time, it was generally understood that the Dutch do not vote strategically. In contrast to England or the United States, every vote in our election system counts. "And yet, my thesis posited that the Dutch did not always choose their favourite party. For example, people wanting to support a certain coalition, or to vote for a particular prime minister, cast their vote for the CDA instead of their 'own' small Christian party. Perhaps this isn't very surprising, but in the international academic literature, the general assumption is that it does not occur. I have, together with Hanna Bäck from Mannheim University, studied the findings in depth using new polling results from the Dutch Parliamentary Elections Studies. " Rosema thinks that it is ironic that voting behaviour since the last election has taken a new turn. "There has been fragmentation within the political landscape and suddenly a small party has a real chance to become a part of the coalition. That radically changes our expectations once again."
Cultural Change in Municipalities
In 2002 the Law of Dual Municipal Administration was implemented. This new law was aimed at making municipal politics more democratic. In work that followed up an earlier poll in 1989, graduate student Merel de Groot investigated the effect of the law using detailed questionnaires in 150 municipalities. De Groot recorded a clear shift. "(Municipal) Council members assess their tasks in a different way. They now place more importance on tasks that frame and control. And since aldermen are no longer part of the Municipal Council, the Board of Aldermen and the Mayor are seen as less dominant. Of course, critics would also like to see significant changes in the relationship with citizens. But you can't expect much to change in that regard, given the content of this law; the accent lies on the strengthening of the internal tasks of the Council." De Groot is currently working as an advisor to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Energy Savings in Existing Rental Housing Stock
Thomas Hoppe has been researching decision-making around energy savings in existing housing stock since 2005. Even though solar water boilers and other innovative systems pay for themselves in increasingly shorter periods of time, the readiness to invest in social housing stock remains insufficient and arbitrary. Hoppe: "Good collaborations between local actors have a beneficial influence, as do large cash reserves or highly-motivated housing corporation personnel. Education, advice and subsidy regulations - climate policy instruments-- also have a role to play. But perhaps the most important element is clear financial support. That was apparent in the 1970s and 1980s when massive investments were made in energy-efficient furnaces and retrofitted insulation. At the time, there was a very large budget set aside for subsidies in advance. It worked. Parties have to be certain that the government will not shut down the subsidies prematurely. Only then will you see significant savings in household CO2 emissions." Hoppe graduated on December 18th, 2009.
Research for the European Commission
Various international comparative policy research projects took place at CHEPS In 2009, including work undertaken by Hans Vossensteyn for the European Commission. His subject: the impact of the Erasmus Programme on quality improvement in European higher education. "The Erasmus programme wants to mobilise the education system with study subsidies and stimulation funding. We can see whether or not the effort has, or has not been successful from the Erasmus coordinators' surveys. We delved deeper into the more interesting cases, and the result was very impressive. The funding is deployed for curriculum innovation, international policy stimulation, the establishment of information facilities for foreign students, and also to fund the Balogna process-- to make sure that the bachelor/master structure is universally implemented. The most significant changes were found in the newer EU member states, but small and medium-sized institutions also made relatively sizeable innovations. There were, however, still a few areas requiring more attention. "Within the new education system there is less room for longer foreign trips. Additionally, there are problems regarding the recognition of courses of study followed elsewhere, and academic calendars could be better synchronised.