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Recently Published: Guardians of Public Value

This open access book presents case studies of twelve organisations which the public have come to view as institutions. From the BBC to Doctors Without Borders, from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra to CERN, this volume examines how some organisations rise to prominence and remain in high public esteem through changing and challenging times. It builds upon the scholarly tradition of institutional scholarship pioneered by Philip Selznick, and highlights common themes in the stories of these highly diverse organizations; demonstrating how leadership, learning, and luck all play a role in becoming and remaining an institution. This case study format makes this volume ideal for classroom use and practitioners alike. In an era where public institutions are increasingly under threat, this volume offers concrete lessons for contemporary organisation leaders.

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: 

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• 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​.

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Visit the Publications Section of this website to read about the previous issues of the Great Policy Successes books

Webinar about the Impact Of COVID-19 on Democracies

On June 29, Scott Douglas presented a webinar in the the digital lecture series Adapt! by the Utrecht University. In this webinar he reflects on how a crisis can strengthen democracy.

Lecture for the Crisis Manangement Secretariat of the Swedish Government

Paul 't Hart lectured on strategic challenges of navigating the COVID-19 crisis for the Criss Management Secretariat of the Swedish government.

Interview about Crisis Leadership

Paul 't Hart was interviewed on crisis leadership during the launching event of an Executive Program on Consequence Management organized by the Barrington Centre, Melbourne.

Master Classes for Public Servants in Australia and New Zealand

Paul 't Hart facilitated the first of 6 master classes for senior public servants in Australia and New Zealand on the challenges of 'post acute' crisis leadership, hosted by the Australia New Zealand School of Government. 

Lecture for the City Council of Zutphen

Paul 't Hart Presented a lecture on good government in the face of a sustained crisis for the City Council of the city of Zutphen, The Netherlands.

Web lecture for the Montessori Lyceum

Paul 't Hart presented a web lecture on the dynamics of the COVID-19 crisis for students of the Montessori Lyceum in the Hague.

Lecture for Ministers and Officials from Asia, the Middle East and Africa

Paul 't Hart participated in a webinar hosted by the Centre for Public Impact (Boston Consulting group) for ministers and top officials from 12 countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Webinar for the Christian Reformed Party of the Netherlands

Webinar on the role of local government during the C19 crisis for the SGP-Bestuurdersvereniging (Association of local councillors and alderman of the Christian Reformed Party of the Netherlands).

Reflection Session for the Dutch Board of Secretaries.

Paul 't Hart facilitated a a reflection session on the coping with the COVID-19 crisis of the Board of Secretaries (SGO) of the 12 ministries of the government of the Netherlands.

Leading in a Crisis Workshop for ANZOG

Paul 't Hart presented/facilitated a 'Leading in a Crisis' workshop hosted by the Australia New Zealand School of Government. See the recording of the conversation, which included senior public leaders from Australia, New Zealand and Sweden via the button on the right.

Webinar About the Challenges of Navigating Deep Crises

Paul 't Hart presented the first in a series of public lectures from the ADAPT research collective on the challenges of navigating deep crises. Watch the lecture Here.

Lecture for the Cabinet of Sweden

Paul 't Hart presented an online lecture on governing during the COVID-19 crisis to the Cabinet of Sweden.

Strategic Retreat for the RIVM and Ministery of VWS

Paul 't Hart facilitated an all-day strategic retreat of the executive board of the RIVM (the Netherlands National Institute of Public Health and the Environment) and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports of The Netherlands

Master Class for the Erasmus Centre for Health Management.

Paul 't Hart conducted a master class on strategic crisis leadership in the COVID-19 crisis for the Erasmus Centrum voor Zorgbestuur (Erasmus Centre for Health Management.).

Paul 't Hart Appointed as Chair of the City of Utrecht's COVID-19 Crisis Review Council

Paul 't Hart was appointed as chair of an independent Review Council assisting with the city of Utrecht's policy and budgetary adaptation to the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis  

Reflection Session with the Miniserie of Foreign Affairs

Paul 't Hart facilitated a a reflection session on the coping with the COVID-19 crisis  with the executive board of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands.

Webinars for the Netherlands Association of Mayors

Paul 't Hart presented two webinars on 'Now and Later in the Corona Crisis: Challenges to Leadership' for the Nederlands Genootschap van Burgemeesters (Netherlands Association of Mayors)

Reflection Session with the Ministerie of VWS

Paul 't Hart facilitated a reflection session on the coping with the C19 crisis with the executive board of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports of The Netherlands. 

Webinar on the Next Phase of the Corona Crisis

Paul 't Hart presented a webinar on the next phase of the corona crisis organized by The Hague based consultancy firm De Haagse Beek.

Webinar for the Association of City Managers of the Netherlands

Paul 't Hart facilitated a webinar on crisis leadership during COVID-19 for the VGS, the Association of City Managers of the Netherlands.

Webinar Tackling Crises Strategically

Paul 't Hart presented a webinar for the Institute for Public Administration Canada. He discusses ten reflections on strategic leadership challenges to tackle the COVID-9 pandemic. 

Reflection on Leadership of Health Administrators in the Ccrona Crisis

Paul 't Hart, in the video series besturen in een bijzondere tijd (steering in a special time), reflected on the leadership of care managers in the corona crisis for the Erasmus Centre for Care Management.

Paul 't Hart featured in the 'Corona Crisis: Once Upon a Pandemic' podcast

Paul 't Hart was featured in the 'Corona Crisis: Once Upon a Pandemic' podcast, hosted by Eric Paglia and Marc van den Bossche. Together with expert guests, that are engaged in the management of the global COVID-19 outbreak, they discuss specific aspects of the pandemic. In the second episode of this podcast, Paul 't Hart talks about how national political cultures have shaped differences in the coronavirus response. Listen to full episode using the button on the right.  

Paul 't Hart will be speaking at the WORK congress ​[Postponed due to COVID-19]

Prof. Paul 't Hart gives an introduction on Iconic Organisations at the WORK conference organised by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Read Paul's contribution to the congress bundle via the button on the right (in Dutch).

Paul 't Hart reflects in Nieuwsuur on the speech by Mark Rutte

Paul 't Hart reflects on the speech of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte about the Dutch strategy to contaminate the spread of Covid-19. He shows this speech contains all three classic elements needed to convince people; Logos, Pathos and Ethos. Watch the news story (in Dutch) using the link on the right.

Paul 't Hart was featured on episode 217 of the Jortcast

In this episode of the Jortcast, a podcast hosted by Jort Kelder, Paul 't Hart reflects on the response of the dutch government to the coronavirus. He also describes what this crisis means for the relation between policy makers and scientists. Listen to the full episode (in Dutch) using the button on the right.

News Story with Paul 't Hart in Eenvandaag about managment styles in times of crisis

Prof. Paul 't Hart discusses the different crisis management styles that were adopted by countries during the COVID-19 pandemic in a news story for Dutch news program Eenvandaag. Read more and watch the report (in Dutch) via the button on the right.

Paul 't Hart presented at Kristiania University College in Oslo

Prof. Paul 't Hart gave three presentations at Kristiana University College in Oslo. He talked about the Successful Public Governance program, the Great Policy Successes book and positive public administration.

22-24th of September SPG organized a workshop for the authors of the book Guardians of Value: How Public Organizations Institutionalize, Adapt and Thrive

SPG members Paul 't Hart and Lauren Fahy, together with Arjen boin organized a workshop for the book: Guardians of Value: How Public Organizations Institutionalize, Adapt and Thrive. The workshop was held at the academiegebouw of University of Utrecht and lasted from the 22nd to the 24th of September.

Official Launch of the Book Great Policy successes

Prof. Paul 't Hart and Mallory Compton edited a volume on Great policy Successes, and was launched on the 5th of September. This book contains 15 case studies on succesful policies. 

Scott Douglas chaired the Performance & Accountability Special Interest Group at the EGPA conference

dr. Scott Douglas chaired the Performance & Accountability Special Interest Group at the EGPA conference in Belfast.

Dr Jon Johansson, chief of staff of the deputy prime minister of New Zealand, held during the launch of the Successful Public Policy volume in Auckland

A speech by dr. Jon Johansson, chief of staff of the deputy prime minister of New Zealand, held during the launch of the Successful Public Policy volume in Auckland in August 2019.

Read more about the book Succesful Public Policy here.

​​Official launch event of Successful Public Policy: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand

​Official launch event of Successful Public Policy: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne, Australia.

​Lauren Fahy will attend the LSA conference in Washington, DC where she will be presenting her latest research

​Lauren Fahy will attend the LSA conference in Washington, DC. She will be presenting her latest research on agency reputation and compliance motivation of emerging fin-tech companies in the United Kingdom. Read more: https://www.lawandsociety.org/docs/2019ProgramMay10toLSAComplete002.pdf

Judith van Erp will attend the Law and Society Association Meeting

Judith van Erp will attend the Law and Society Association Meeting, organized by the Law and Society Association will take place from 30th May to 2nd June 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, United States Of America. 

Paul 't Hart gave several lectures on succesful strategic crisismanagement to the government of Sweden

​Paul 't Hart gave several lectures and briefings on 'Successful strategic crisis management', for the Crisis Management Directorate, Government of Sweden; state secretaries; and the minister of the Interior. The took place in Stockholm, Sweden.

Dutch - Paul 't Hart participated in a debate about the relationship between public cervants and society

Er wordt regelmatig gesproken over de kloof tussen overheid en samenleving. De overheid probeert, met als doel deze kloof te verkleinen, meer met burgers in dialoog te gaan. Paul 't Hart heeft geparticipeerd in  een debat draaiend om de vraag of de overheid dit gesprek met burgers wel echt kan en durft aan te gaan. Hierbij wordt gefocust op de dynamiek tussen samenleving en ambtenarij. Dit debat is hier te beluisteren.

Dutch - Paul 't Hart gave a lecture on a conference for local coalitions

​Paul 't hart heeft een lezing gegeven genaamd: Sturen op Samenwerking op een voor conferentie van lokale coalities tegen gezondheidsverschillen. Deze is gegeven in de Rijksmunt, Utrecht, 3 april.

Paul 't Hart published an article on Inside Story called: 'The return of the -isms'

​​​​This article, published in the Australian magazine Inside Story, is a book review of two books: 'How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them' by Jason Stanley, and 'How Democracy Ends' by David Runciman.

SPG Writing Retreat

​From the 24th to the 26th the SPG team will go on a writing retreat to discuss the project and work on upcoming articles. 

VNG Atriumlezing over waardevol lokaal bestuur (Dutch)

In de bijeenkomst van 14 februari wordt het rapport Werken aan publieke waarde-Leren van en voor gemeenten gepresenteerd. Het is het resultaat van de onderzoekslijn Publieke waarde en Lokaal Bestuur, een samenwerking tussen de VNG en het onderzoeksteam Successful Public Governance van de Universiteit Utrecht.

Paul 't Hart delivers a keynote speech on collaborating succesfully (Dutch)

​Paul 't Hart delivers a keynote speech on Collaborating Successfully at the State of the Region of the Gooi en Vechtstreek Region (Thr Netherlands), at the Singer Museum, Laren.

Paul 't Hart facilitates a discussion on Learning From Crises

​Paul 't Hart facilitates a discussion on Learning From Crises: Inquiries, Blame Games and Good Governance to the management team of the Haaglanden unit of the Dutch National Police, at The Hague.

Paul 't Hart presents on the state of research on resilience in the field of governance and public administration (Dutch)

​Paul 't Hart presents on the state of research on resilience in the field of governance and public administration, at a conference on Resilience organised by the Social-Economic Council of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, at Amersfoort.

​Paul 't Hart presents on the craft of public service leadership

Paul 't Hart presents on the craft of public service leadership at a meeting of the networks of city managers of the 100.000-plus municipalities of the Netherlands, at Den Bosch.

Paul 't Hart convenes two workshops on collaborating in networks

Paul 't Hart convenes two workshops on collaborating in networks, strategic conference of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences of the Netherlands, Amersfoort. 

Two Mile stones

We have just completed two two-year projects on describing and understanding public policy successes around the world. Two volumes have been sent to their respective publishers this month:

- A set of 15 cases from around the world edited by SPG team members Mallory Compton and Paul 't Hart will be published (paper format as well as online open access) by Oxford University Press in mid-2019 under the 'epic' title (that nods to two classic texts about policy failure in the 1970s) Great Policy Successes: How Governments Get It Right in a Big Way at Least Some of the Time. Or, A Tale About Why It’s Amazing That Governments Get So Little Credit for Their Many Everyday and Extraordinary Achievements as Told by Sympathetic Observers Who Seek to Create Space for a Less Relentlessly Negative View of Our Pivotal Public Institutions. Typoscript versions of all the chapters in the book can be found Here.

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A set of 20 cases of public policy successes in Australia and New Zealand edited by SPG team members Jo Luetjens and Paul 't Hart along with professor Michael Mintrom (Australia New Zealand School of Government) will be published (again in paper format as well as online open access) by ANU Press in Canberra in mid-2019. It less than epic title is simply: Public Policy Successes in Australia and New Zealand. Typoscript versions of all chapters can be found Here.

Good Governance in the Cure and Care Sector. Rijtuigenloods, Amersfoort, the Netherlands.

On June 15, Paul 't Hart facilitated the national conference on Good Governance in the Cure and Care Sector, held at the Rijtuigenloods, Amersfoort, the Netherlands. Four hundred senior executives and board members attended the event, which was organized by the Ministry of Health, well Being and Sports of the Netherlands. 

Dienen en Beinvloeden: Verhalen Over Ambtelijk Vakmanschap

Paul 't Hart's new book was launched at the Spui Theatre in The Hague. The book, written in Dutch and titled Dienen en Beinvloeden: Verhalen Over Ambtelijk Vakmanschap, examines the craft of top civil servants through an up close examination of the 40-year career of the former secretary of the Dutch Prime minister's department, Wim Kuijken. Centrepiece of the book are 7 case narratives about complex and high profile cases, each examining a different set of professional and leadership challenges to top civil servants. Each case narrative is followed by a reflective essay, placing the events of the case in a broader context.

Resilient Reputations: Dynamics and Ambiguities of Naming and Shaming Corporations

Judith van Erp presented on Resilient Reputations: Dynamics and Ambiguities of Naming and Shaming Corporations in UCL, London on 31st of May 2018.

Successful Public Policy in Australia and New Zealand: A Research Seminar.

SPG'ers Paul ‘t Hart and Jo Luetjens, together with Michael Mintrom from the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, convened a two day authors’ workshop in Melbourne in preparation for the development of their edited volume Successful Public Policy: Lessons from Australia and New Zealand. On the 24-25 May, 2018, close to 25 policy scholars and policy domain experts from across Australia and New Zealand came together to present and discuss 18 case studies, with a view towards an early 2019 publication.

Judith van Erp was appointed as member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences

SPG member, Judith van Erp, was appointed as member of the KNAW (Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences). 

​‘De KNAW is ‘het forum, de stem en het geweten’ van de wetenschap in Nederland. Het is bijzonder en belangrijk om van dat forum deel uit te mogen maken,‘ zegt zij in reactie op deze eervolle benoeming. ‘Ik zal zelf vooral het belang van interdisciplinair onderzoek bepleiten. Er kan nog veel gebeuren om dat te stimuleren en organiseren. Daarnaast wil ik ook bijdragen aan meer diversiteit binnen de academie, in brede zin.’ ( 'The KNAW is' the forum, voice and conscience' of science in the Netherlands. It is special and important to be part of that forum, "Judith says in response to this honorable appointment. 'I will especially advocate the importance of interdisciplinary research. Much can still be done to encourage and organize this. In addition, I also want to contribute to more diversity within the academy, in a broad sense.')

Congratulations to Judith!