Publieke organisaties staan van oudsher bekend als nieuwsmijdende organisaties. Ze voeren belangrijke publieke taken uit met een soms grote invloed op de samenleving, maar ze opereren relatief onzichtbaar achter gekozen politici die voor hen het woord voeren en op grond van bureaucratische routines en wettelijke regelingen.
De analyse in dit artikel is erop gericht om aan de hand van voorlopige inzichten uit empirisch onderzoek te bekijken in welke mate de zorgen over de rol van de media in bestuur en toezicht gerechtvaardigd zijn en om kansen voor toezichthouders door medialogica te identificeren.
Als men de conclusies op zich beziet, valt op dat de analyse op één cruciaal punt na, meer redenen voor geruststelling dan bezorgdheid biedt. Medialogica werkt, uitgaande van de sombere verwachtingen in een deel van de literatuur, vaker positief dan negatief uit voor toezichthouders.

In various neighbourhoods in Amsterdam tensions between their inhabitants are felt. Inhabitants are irritated by the behaviour of youths, polluted streets and nuisance from their neighbours. They are incapable or do not dare to address each other about this and to solve their problems by themselves. Instead they look towards the authorities for help, which are dealing with insufficient capacity. As a consequence it is getting harder and harder to address and correct each other. Small problems and conflicts develop into big and complex issues.
Amsterdam authorities use various policy tools, pointed at both increasing its own decisiveness and credibility and at mobilizing civilians. Those policies are the Bully-approach, Neighbourhood Safety Teams, Self-protective Neighbourhoods and stimulation of civic initiatives. The reality is stubborn, but also shows bottom-up examples which function succesfully and independently from government approaches and programs. In these examples civic force plays an important role.
These examples, knowledge and persons who play key roles can be brought together and are useful in the search for solutions of problems in other situations. This is most effective when civilians attack issues and are integrated with worthy instruments from the authorities. This will gradually enable a reconstruction of the current system and a social reacquisition of neighbourhoods. In this social ‘football ‘ team civilians would be the strikers, backed up by a strong and professional governmental midfield. This article consecutively defines the current problem, regards the governmental instruments, bottom-up initiatives. It ends up with the suggestion for the construction of a good teamplay between policy tools en bottom up initiatives.

A regional risk profile (RRP) is a systematic ordering – by likelihood and impact seriousness – of identified hazards and threats in one of the Netherlands’ 25 safety regions. Since 2010, RRPs follow the Dutch National Risk Assessment (NRA) as a basis for prioritising regional safety capacities. In Europe, RRPs are proliferating, and the corresponding risk-assessment approach is further spreading internationally. The methodology comprises risk identification, scenario development, multi-criteria impact evaluation, expert likelihood estimation, a two-dimensional risk diagram and an analysis and prioritisation of safety capabilities. A compact overview and discussion is provided of the 25 published RRPs for the Netherlands, each covering between 9 and 40 hazards and threats, along with their most and least worrying risk scenarios. It appears that for many regions pandemic disease, electricity black-out and major flooding are most worrying, while transport accident, industry fire and disturbance of water supply are (relatively) least worrying. Also, in different regions similar risk scenarios (e.g., pandemic disease and electricity black-out) are assessed rather differently, both by likelihood and by impact seriousness. Apparent weaknesses of the RRP (and the NRA) approach so far are, among other: lack of stakeholder involvement, rigid multi-criteria impact evaluation, hybrid methods for likelihood estimation, forced comparison of disparate risk scenarios, and unclear decision rules for risk acceptance. Independent review and validation of major RRP components is recommended for strengthening overall results as a reliable basis for regional safety policies. The ‘new risk thinking’ is considered in view of the long-problematic standard-setting approach about Individual Risk and Group Risk in the framework of Dutch external-safety policies. The RRP approach may be called ambitious and much-demanding. External validation and closer cooperation between safety policy-makers and scientists seem desirable.

In het wetsvoorstel voor de Omgevingswet worden de proactieve en reactieve aanwijzingsbevoegdheid uit de Wro overgenomen in de vorm van instructies en instructieregels en van een bredere toepassing voorzien. De auteur betoogt in deze bijdrage dat de instructie geen meerwaarde heeft in de nieuwe wet. Daarbij wordt gewezen op de beperkte toegevoegde waarde ten opzichte van de schorsings- en vernietigingsbevoegdheid en de indeplaatsstelling. Daar waar instructies wel meer mogelijk maken dan deze generieke instrumenten, roept de auteur de vraag op of dat wel wenselijk is in termen van de staatrechtelijke verhoudingen.

Terwijl de samenleving sterk is veranderd en – onder invloed daarvan – ook de politieke en staatkundige verhoudingen in beweging zijn, is de manier waarop wetgever en rechter met elkaar communiceren nauwelijks gewijzigd. Dat lijkt steeds vaker tot een verkeerd begrip van elkaars rol en positie te leiden. Het wetsvoorstel Taverne is daar een goed voorbeeld van. In deze bijdrage wordt eerst ingegaan op die rol en positie en vervolgens op de vraag hoe de communicatie tussen wetgever en rechter kan worden verbeterd. Ideeën en voorstellen zijn er genoeg, maar de uitvoering is problematisch.

It seems common knowledge among criminologists that our societies have to be understood in terms of securitization. This means that security is the defining and organizing concept in (social) policy making. In the Netherlands the process of securitization can be characterized as rather contingent. According to the author, it can be typified as ‘pragmatic securitization’. It is driven by the desire to show decisiveness and being in control of complexity of social order, rather than by ideology. Under the pressure of the economic crisis there is a growing interest in self-organization, civic power and civil society. These themes emerge along the issues of security and control. Is it possible then that security is exchanged by another big social theme?

By introducing the historical concept of timescapes, we will investigate the transformation of a security to a risk culture in Dutch post war history. We will test Ulrich Beck’s paradigm of the risk society with respect to the Dutch policy arena, and we will analyze what drove this postulated transformation in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, not the 1970s/1980s, but the 1990s saw the onset of this change. Concrete trigger moments and the rise of a new populist movement around 1999 signalled the beginning of this new mode of risk governance that was consolidated after 2001. With this description, an attempt to historicize the development of an all encompassing national security culture is provided.

Een van de vragen die de redactie bij de voorbereiding van dit themanummer formuleerde is: ‘In hoeverre is er een vruchtbare wisselwerking mogelijk tussen publiek of extern toezicht en intern toezicht?’ Deze vraag is van groot belang, omdat aan veel hedendaags toezichtsbeleid allerlei veronderstellingen ten grondslag liggen over manieren waarop ‘intern toezicht’ en ‘extern toezicht’ elkaar kunnen aanvullen en ondersteunen. Een vergaande veronderstelling op dit vlak is dat de ‘interne toezichthouder’ een deel of het geheel van de taak van de ‘externe toezichthouder’ kan en zal overnemen. De auteur noemt dat ‘proxy-toezicht’. De vraagstelling van het artikel is, onder welke voorwaarden een proxy-toezichthouder een publiek belang binnen een organisatie zou kunnen borgen.

Het mededingingstoezicht is volop in beweging en daarin schuilen kansen, maar ook bedreigingen. De binnenlandse omgeving is het afgelopen decennium vijandig geweest ten aanzien van marktwerking en mededinging. Tegelijk ziet het ernaar uit dat de toezichthouder zich heeft aangepast aan de veranderende omgeving, en heeft hij aangegeven ook andere publieke belangen dan mededinging te willen meewegen in de beoordeling van concentraties, kartels en misbruikzaken. Hierin schuilt het gevaar van verwatering en verdere politisering van het mededingingstoezicht.

Financial relationships between state, churches and religious organisations have existed for a long time in Dutch history. This could be understood from a general interest point of view in the nineteenth century and the social welfare state. However, that century and the welfare state do not exist anymore. Also society and people have changed. Do the financial relationships still exist nowadays and if so, to what extent and how should one assess these financial relationships? In order to deal with these questions, the article gives a comprehensive overview of the current situation of different financial relationships between state and religious organisations against a constitutional and historical background. It is argued that most of these relations are legitimate under certain conditions and that the constitutional framework of separation of church and state should not be overestimated in this field.

Eind 2012 verschenen in een lange reeks opnieuw twee rapporten over de IGZ: van Sorgdrager en van Van der Steenhoven. Beide onderzoekers verlangen van de Inspectie enerzijds een sterk op de individuele burger gerichte (procedurele) taak met betrekking tot klachtbehandeling, anderzijds een focus met betrekking tot het systeemtoezicht waarmee zij sinds 1995 is belast. Beide gaat niet samen. Een fundamentele discussie over de rol van de IGZ wordt echter uit de weg gegaan. Hierdoor wordt de verwarring over de positie van de IGZ vergroot en leidt dit tot gezag- en reputatieverlies van de Inspectie, hetgeen zeer ongewenst is.

This article examines the desirability of implementing a registration system as a means of control on the discretionary space in police powers of stop and search. Firstly, the legal background concerning these powers is sketched, and the discretionary space therein is highlighted. This is then placed within the current social context in the Netherlands. Finally, the desirability of implementing a registration system in the Netherlands will be discussed by analyzing a similar system that has been implemented in the UK. We conclude that implementing a registration system is an essential step in coming closer to a solution for ethnic profiling.

This is a review of the book (dissertation) Orde in veiligheid. Een dynamisch perspectief (Order in security; a dynamic perspective) from the Dutch criminologist and philosopher Marc Schuilenburg. The reviewer characterises the book as ‘courageous’ because of its multidisciplinary approach of the phenomenon ‘public private partnerships’ (ppp’s) in security, its rupture with solidified thinking and its use of empirical studies to show what really happens in the workplace of ppp’s. The reviewer welcomes the application of concepts of the French philosophers Foucault, Deleuze and Tarde, but feels at the same time that the author could have done more to explain their thinking. Also he disagrees with the author about the role of the state in security governance, which is according to the reviewer much more dominant than suggested in this book.

This article presents an overview of various measures, initiatives and developments regarding to the fight against discrimination in the Netherlands since 1971. It also gives a short overview of relevant international treaties on discrimination and the obligations for the parties involved. The political and societal attention for combating discrimination has decreased in recent years. There is a tendency to deny that discrimination is a real problem. Also the tone of voice in the public debate on integration of ethnic minorities has hardened. Nowadays, antidiscrimination policies and initiatives take place at the local level and state involvement is limited to facilitating support. The registration of discrimination complaints continues to be a problem and minor progress has been made in the last twenty years.

Diverse commentatoren hebben recent geopperd dat de nieuwe Autoriteit Consument en Markt (ACM) meer rekening met de wisselwerking tussen mededinging en diverse publieke belangen (ook andere dan gerelateerd aan marktmacht) moet gaan houden. Publieke belangen anders dan gerelateerd aan marktmacht zijn echter al elders belegd: de mededingingsautoriteit hanteert de daaruit volgende wet- en regelgeving als randvoorwaarden. ‘Integraal’ mededingingsbeleid zou leiden tot intransparantie en reguleringsonzekerheid; het is niet verstandig die kant op te gaan. Sterker, beleidsmakers en politici kunnen bijdragen aan effectiever mededingingsbeleid door ‘overige’ publieke belangen scherp te articuleren.

Public attitude towards police intervention has changed in the last twenty years or so, as a result of more general changes in society towards figures and institutions of authority. From the 1970s onward, we have witnessed a change from an authoritarian ‘command household’ to a ‘household of negotiation’ in which parties mutually exchange views and reasons. Since the 1990s however, unanticipated consequences of this emancipatory movement are becoming apparent, most importantly the inability of citizens to always live up to this emancipatory responsibility. And more importantly, a generally shared sense that we are overburdened by this responsibility, and thus cannot reasonably be expected to act according to emancipatory norms. This creates a new kind of problem or challenge for the police. Appeals to the emancipatory responsibility of the public, or entering into dialogue with offenders and bystanders, are not as effective as before. Both police and public are therefore in search of a new kind of authority that is responsive to the emancipatory ‘fatigue’ increasingly experienced by citizens.

Fifty three shades of grey refers to the radical transformation of policing and security in society from a traditional public – and foremost ‘blue’ – police system into a hybrid(semi)public and private policing system which is losing its dominant – and visible – blue character. Using the criminological concepts ‘police as an institute’ and ‘policing as a process’ the ongoing blurring of boundaries between different public and private organisations is discussed in the context of the proliferation of different forms of multi-agency cooperation. Whereas in the traditional discourse of the public police system a strong tradition of analysing the democratic nature of policing exists, in the public and scientific perception of the new, variegated police constellation such notions are still lacking, which contributes to the relative lack of political control, the defective democratic accountability and fragile human rights in the grey areas. The public discourse on the police remains too narrowly focused on the public police system. ‘Normal science’ of policing needs to break away from ‘police as an institute’ to incorporate new research questions and new concepts regarding ‘policing as a process’.

Dutch society is continually faced with conflicting interests in the context of religious expression by ethnic minorities in particular. In such instances, the constitutional freedom of religion clashes with other rights and interests, including other fundamental rights. This article provides a guideline for approaching such conflicts. It demonstrates the juridical need to seek compromise, as a means of overcoming the dilemma posed by conflicting interests. The article contains a moral call for an open mind and tolerance, as a favourable condition for achieving compromise.