PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
-DEF.jpg "Rik de Ruiter")
European Union: new modes of governance
Rik de Ruiter attended the European University Institute in Florence to complete his doctoral study and was a former lecturer at Maastricht University. Now he holds a position as a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science and Research Methods of the School of Management and Governance.
His main research interest lies in the cooperation between member states of the European Union in policy fields related to the knowledge-based society. "EU Member States do not make European legislation in Brussels on these sensitive policy fields but instead keep control at the national level." Examples of such policy fields are employment, social inclusion, education, research and development and the internet".
Member states only "compare performance" of their policies at the EU level to learn from each other what makes the best policy. Reports showing these comparisons are then used by politicians at the national level to "fame" or "shame" performance levels of national government policies. Dutch policy comparisons are only used by parliamentarians in the Upper and Lower House, while the national government informs parliamentarians this information exists in reports.
He said his findings are not optimistic: "Parliamentarians rely heavily on information from national governments and do not independently investigate what is actually going on at the EU level." But to offer clarity on the situation, his research may show how to better allocate resources invested in keeping the policy comparisons running at the EU and national level.
A new book will be released this year in which he wrote one chapter on the influence of EU soft law on the functioning of representative democracy. The book is co-authored by Jacques Thomassen, a University of Twente professor, and Rudi Andeweg from the University of Leiden.
In addition, he has written an article that will appear in the Journal for Contemporary European Research titled: The national parliamentary arena and methods of open coordination: Explaining the frequency of OMC-related executive-legislation interactions.
Ariana Need Chairman and Professor in Sociology MR&V
Evaluating Safety Risks in the Region
Professor Marianne Junger, a native of The Hague, works as Professor of Social Safety Studies and Director of the Institute of Social Safety Studies at the School of Management and Governance. She has initiated and now leads the research program called Crime Science at the University of Twente. In essence, the programme's central aim is to coordinate research in the field of Crime, Safety and Security designs, and develop original multidisciplinary research projects.
Taking into account the concepts of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED), Professor Junger set out to explore physical aspects of a direct environment that can contribute to an increase or decrease in the number of home burglaries.
Specifically, "We looked at the various characteristics of residential properties," she explains. "For example: how many locks are on the door? Is the property easily accessible on all sides? What are the typical traffic patterns in front and behind the house?"
In addition, the research department checked whether the probability of a burglary differs in a particular neighbourhood or district by making a geographical analysis which is based on police data in the city of Enschede. What her research team discovered was that most burglars usually live on average within an eight-minute walking distance from their target house. The study results help to create broad scale and effective policy measures to curb the incidence of criminal activity.
To her credit, she has written more than 100 publications, with more than 50 of them appearing in peer reviewed journals. To read more on the results of her research study conducted in Enschede on Crime Prevention: effective policy click here.
Fotograaf Arjan Reef
Compatibility of Women's fertility and employment
PhD Candidate Rense Nieuwenhuis graduated Cum Laude from Radboud University in Nijmegen with a Bachelor's degree in sociology, and a Research Master's degree in social and cultural sciences.
Motherhood and paid employment are often recognized to be difficult to reconcile. Nieuwenhuis' research compares OECD countries from 1970 to 2000 in regards to both the differences in the degree to which women in these countries are able to reconcile motherhood and employment, and the differences in female labour force participation.
"I seek to explain", he says, "these differences by the interaction of the institutional context in these countries (such as maternity leave periods, family benefits, but also service sector size), and characteristics of individual women such as their number of children, educational level, partner/marital status, and age".
He expects the first results of his study to be ready for publication this year. Next, he will perform more detailed analyses on consecutive decisions in women's life courses, which will accumulate in a PhD thesis to be defended in 2013.
On the side, Nieuwenhuis publishes a blog and shares information to a wider audience on his academic website called Curving Normality. To Learn more on his work, click here.