Publications

This document presents the conclusions of the Optimising ICT study into the effects of ICT on the policy process. The remit of the study has evolved to examine the disjunction between physical markets and their online counterparts caused by the presence of ICT factors that either elude policymakers altogether or cannot be avoided. The report traces the study from its inception and intellectual origins in the Eco Search initiative to optimise ...

© The Author(s) 2019. According to democratic theory, policy responsiveness is a key characteristic of democratic government: citizens’ preferences should affect policy outcomes. Empirically, however, the connection between public opinion and policy is not self-evident and is increasingly challenged. Using an originally constructed data set with information from 21 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries between 1980 and ...

The EU foreign policymaking under its multilevel governance system has its own characteristics and limitations in that it needs the Flexibility and resource application capacity of network organisations to overcome the complexity and hierarchy of the EU's formal decision making process and to improve the interestmediation and problem solving ability of the EU's foreign policy. The policy networks theory possesses obvious theoretical advantages ...

Intermodal transport is the combination and integration of several transport modes (such as rail, inland waterways with road transport). In order to make the transhipment easy and efficient standard loading units are used, such as containers or swap-bodies. As for the main haul, more environmental friendly modes are used (rail and inland waterways) and a modal shift towards these modes can help in reducing the congestion. Therefore several ...

Despite a general and increased consensus about the intrinsic value of policy evaluation for professional government, we can observe large variety in evaluation activity across public sector organizations. In explaining this variance, the evaluation literature offers fragmented insights only. This study aims to fill this void. We examine which combinations of conditions explain policy evaluation (in)activity.By focusing on the Flemish public ...

In recent years the term 'serious crime' has gained prominence in EU policy on internal security. This article analyzes how the EU policy and scientific communities have conceptualized and operationalized the term. Through a content analysis, it evaluates the articulation and use of 'serious crime' in EU policy documents published from 1995 –2013 and scientific articles published from 2004 –13 that include the term (n=93 and n=104, ...

This paper deals with politico-administrative relations in city organizations, in confrontation with complex policy issues that require a degree of integrated policy making. Doing so, we approach politico-administrative relations in a holistic way, as since the dominant models in the literature were formulated, the way we look at governments has also changed from an internal bilateral focus, gradually allowing for more complexity. Market and ...