Past Events
1 July 2022 | SPG team member Jo Luetjens successfully defended her Phd thesis 'Reforms That Stick: The Politics of Preservation' |
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1 September 2021 | Publication of our manifesto calling for a Positive Public Administration movement within the PA discipline After years of gestation and growing cult status on the internet, this Summer, a cross-generational group of 14 scholars from three continents convened by SPG's Scott Douglas and Paul 't Hart published its 'manifesto-essay', entitled Rising to Ostrom’s challenge: an invitation to walk on the bright side of public governance and public service (in: Policy Design and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1080/25741292.2021.1972517, open access). It will be followed up in 2023 by an ambitious workshop/edited volume project showcasing what a positive approach to studying public administration practices has to offer. The follow-up volume will be co-edited by Tina Nabatchi (Syracuse), Janine O'Flynn (Melbourne) and SPG's Paul 't Hart. |
8 June 2021 | Open Webinar about Scaling Up Collaborative Governance Research |
12 May 2021 | Publication of the 'Governing the Pandemic' book Paul 't Hart, together with Arjen Boin (Leiden University) and Allan McConnell (University of Sydney), in the book Governing the Pandemic: The Politics of Navigating a Mega-Crisis present unique insights into how governments have responded to the immense challenges of managing the coronavirus pandemic. In the book they examine how governing systems have (i) made sense of emerging transboundary threats (ii) mobilised systems of governance and often fearful and sceptical citizens (iii) crafted narratives amid high uncertainty and (iv) are working towards closure. The book appeals to anyone seeking to understand ‘what’s going on?’, but particularly academics and students across multiple disciplines, journalists, public officials, politicians, non-governmental organisations and citizen groups. This publication is open-acces, read the complete book for free Here. |
We assess and explain success.
The Successful Public Governance programme aims is aiming at offering a constructive, rigorous and systematic investigation of 'success' in the twenty-first century governance. Read more about the programme and view our staff.
Our research interests include constructing 'success' in governance, assessing and explaining policy, agency, collaborative and local government success.
View the research themes and an overview of related publications.
Successful Public Governance is a research programme within the Utrecht University School of Governance.
View our contact details.
Upcoming Events
December 2021 | Two more Great Policy Successes books are on their way
This will bring the total number of books emanating from the project to 5. Altogether, more than a 150 scholars worldwide have (co-)authored chapters for these books. They will be the basis of what hopefully will be an ever-expanding group of users of the books / case studies in both their teaching and research. Along with the approximately 65 scholars involved to date in the Collaborative Governance Dataset and the special issue(s) associated with it, they will also form the natural constituency of collaborators on future, post ERC grant-funded activities under the banner of Positive Public Administration. |
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View the News and Events page for more information about activities by the SPG-project.
SPG Books on Successful Public Organisations and Successful Public Policies
Successful Public Policy
SPG members Joannah Luetjens, Paul 't hart together with Michael Mintrom have published Successful Public Policy: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand. This book presents a series of close-up, in-depth and carefully chosen case study accounts of the genesis and evolution of stand-out public policy achievements, across a range of sectors within Australia and New Zealand. Through these accounts, the book addresses the conceptual, methodological and theoretical challenges that have plagued extant research seeking to evaluate, explain and design successful public policy.
Great Policy Successes
Mallory Compton and Paul 't Hart published Great Policy Successes: How Governments Get It Right in a Big Way at Least Some of the Time. Based on fifteen case studies this book turns the spotlight on instances of public policy that are remarkably successful. It develops a framework for identifying and assessing policy successes, paying attention not just to their programmatic outcomes but also to the quality of the processes by which policies are designed and delivered, the level of support and legitimacy they attain, and the extent to which successful performance endures over time.
Guardians of Public Value
How do some organisations rise to prominence and remain in high public esteem through changing and challenging times? This is the question that SPG members Paul 't Hart and Lauren Fahy, in collaboration with Arjen Boin (Leiden University), answer in their recently published book Guardians of Value: How Public Organizations Institutionalize, Adapt and Thrive. The book contains studies on twelve institutions that have done things and done them in ways that were of value to society, were valued by their authorizing environments and gained recognition for doing so for considerable periods of time.
This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No694266).