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

Mid-2021

Two more Great Policy Successes books are on their way
Following the good experience and warm reception of the two books of case studies of policy successes last year, we are happy to announce that two more such projects are now in preparation and will be published - again also in open access format - in 2021 and 2022: 

  • Great Policy Successes in Canada. Edited by Mike Howlett, Evert Lindquist, Grace Skogstad, Genevieve Tellier and Paul 't Hart. Read the book proposal Here.
  • Great Policy Successes in Scandinavia. Edited by Jaakko Kaukko, Daniel Nohrstedt, Paul 't Hart, Bent Sofus Tranøy and Carina de la Porte. Read the book proposal Here​.

Past Events

8 June 2021

Open Webinar about Scaling Up Collaborative Governance Research
On 8 June, the Collaborative Governance Database, a project established as part of SPG, hosted a seminar on the big questions of collaborative governance research and why we need to scale up. SPG team member Scott Douglas was one of the panelists. For more information, please see the flyer and watch the recording of the seminar Here.

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.

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.

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  • 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).