Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Dreaming about a properly informed democracy

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Knowledge Democracy

Abstract

The present paradigm shift away from laissez-faire creates a window of opportunity to improve the flow of structured information or knowledge by making individual access to excludable public benefits conditional on ascertainable efforts to limit claims, as agreed upon in situational contracts. Contracts are situationalwhen agents in delivery are mandated to allow for differences in ability to perform of beneficiaries and to offer customised enabling facilities to improve their capabilities, in line with the vision on fairness of the government in charge. Degrees of freedom and transaction costs are controlled through political guidance in protocols and mandates, on the basis of apply-or-explain. Mutual adjustment in situational response reveals individual preference in direct democracy, improves goal convergence and the fit between supply and demand, reduces opportunism, furthers trust and induces open innovation. The chapter reports on a successful application in The Netherlands.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

  • Buchanan, J. and Congleton, R.D. (1998). Politics by Principle, Not Interest. Cambridge: University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindblom , Ch. E. (1977). Politics and Markets. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, G. , Frances, G. , Levacic, R. and Mitchell, J. (Eds.) (1991). Markets, Hierarchies and Networks: The Coordination of Social Life. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. (2002). Information and the change in the paradigm in economics (Nobel Lecture). American Economic Review, 92, 460–501.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. (1976). From substantive to procedural rationality. In: S. Latsis (Ed.), Method and Appraisal in Economics. Cambridge: University Press, 129–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akerlof, G.A. and Schiller, R.J. (2009). Animal Spirits. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D. , Wakker, P and Sarin, R. (1997). Back to Bentham? Explorations of experienced utility. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 112: 375–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A.K. (1977). Rational fools: a critique of the behavioural foundations of economic theory. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 6, 317–344, reprinted in Sen (1982) . Choice, Welfare and Measurement. Oxford: Blackwell, 84–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A.K. (1987). On Ethics and Economics. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sent, E.M. (2004). Behavioral economics: how psychology made its (limited) way back into economics. History of Political Economy, 36, 735–760.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hennipman, P. (1995). Welfare Economics and the Theory of Economic Policy. Aldershot: Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayek, F.A. (1960). The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, J. (2001). Justice as Fairness. A Restatement. Cambridge: Belknap Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dworkin, R. (2002). Sovereign Virtue. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandenbroucke, F. (2001). Social Justice and Individual Ethics in an Open Society. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, M.S. (1985). Economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91, 481–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A.K. (1985). Commodities and Capabilities (Hennipman Lecture). Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A.K. (1999). Development as Freedom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum, M.C. (2006). Frontiers of Justice. Cambridge: Belknap Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, L. (1979). L’Analyse économique des dépenses publiques (The Economic Analysis of Public Expenditure). Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arrow, K.J. (1985). The economics of agency. In: Pratt, J.W. and Zeckhauser, R.J. (Eds.), Principals and Agents: The Structure of Business. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 37–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfson , D.J. (2008). Gelijkheid in een pluriforme samenleving (Equality in a Plural Society). Amsterdam: KNAW Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myrdal, G. (1969). Objectivity in Social Research. New York: Pantheon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, E-H. and Snellen, I. (2009). Complexity Theory and Public Administration. A Critical Appraisal. In: Teisman, G. et al. (2009), 17–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breton, A. (1995). Organizational hierarchies and bureaucracies. European Journal of Political Economy, 411–440.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollitt , Ch., Van Thiel, S. and Homburg , V. (2007). New Public Management in Europe. Adaptation and Alternatives. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Grand, J. (2007). The Other Invisible Hand. Delivering Public Services through Choice and Competition. Oxford: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halligan, J. (2007). Reintegrating government in third generation reforms of Australia and New Zealand. Public Policy and Administration, 22, 217–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steane, P. (2008). Public management reforms in Australia and New Zealand. Public Management Review, 10, 453–465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Buuren, M.W. , Gerrits, L. and Marks, P. (2009). Public policy-making and the management of co-evolution. In: Teisman, G. et al., 154–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teisman , G.R, Van Buuren, M.W. and Gerrits, L. (2009). Managing Complex Governance Systems. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nooteboom, B. (2004). Governance and competence: how can the be combined? Cambridge Journal of Economics, 28, 505–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fehr, E. and Falk, A. (2002). Psychological foundations of incentives. European Economic Review, 46, 687–724.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B.S. and Stutzer, A. (2002). What can economists learn from happiness research? Journal of Economic Literature, 40, 402–435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, P. and Huddart, S. (2008). Optimal contracting with endogenous social norms. American Economic Review, 98, 1459–1475.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Grand, J. (2003). Motivation, Agency and Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfson , D.J. (2010). Situational contracting as a mode of governance. Public Management Review (forthcoming).

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Slyke, D.M. (2007). Agents or stewards: using theory to understand the government-nonprofit social service contracting relationship. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 17, 157–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eurostat (2009). http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init.

  • Euwals, R. , De Mooij, R. and Van Vuren, D. (2009). Rethinking Retirement. The Hague: CPB.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kok, L. (2006). Kosten en baten van integratie (Costs and Benefits of Integration). Amsterdam: SEO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kok, L. and Hop, P. (2008). Langdurig in de WAO (Duration of Disability Entitlements). The Hague: Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfson , D.J. (2005). Transactie als bestuurlijke vernieuwing (Situational Contracting in Public Sector Reform) WRR-Verkenning nr. 9. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, M. and Hartley, J. (2008). Innovations in governance. Public Management Review, 10, 3–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirschleifer, J. (1985). The expanding domain of economics’. American Economic Review, 75, 51–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etzioni, A. (1993). The Spirit of Community: The Reinvention of American Society. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, F. and Rodgers, J. (1995). Associations and Democracy. New York: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Gunsteren, H.R. (2006). Vertrouwen in democratie (Trust in Democracy). Amsterdam: Van Gennep.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Gunsteren, H.R. (1998). A Theory of Citizenship. Boulder: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bénabou, R. and Tirole, J. (2006). Incentives and prosocial behaviour. American Economic Review, 96, 1652–1678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tirole, J. (1994). The internal organization of government. Oxford Economic Papers, 46, 1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shleifer, A. (1998). State versus private ownership. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12, 133–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoogtanders, K. et al. (2006). Naar een sluitende keten van preventie, verzuim en re-integratie (Linking Prevention, Sick-leave and Reintegration). The Hague, Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.

    Google Scholar 

  • SER (Social and Economic Council). (2006). Co-financing of the Common Agricultural Policy. www.ser.nl

  • SER. (2008). Waarden van de landbouw (Values in Agriculture). www.ser.nl.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Administration, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Prof. Dr. Dirk J. Wolfson

Authors
  1. Prof. Dr. Dirk J. Wolfson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dirk J. Wolfson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Waterbieskreek 40, Leiderdorp, 2353 JH, Netherlands

    Roeland J. in 't Veld

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wolfson, D.J. (2010). Dreaming about a properly informed democracy. In: in 't Veld, R. (eds) Knowledge Democracy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11381-9_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11381-9_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-11380-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-11381-9

  • eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation