Dia 1

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The Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policy The role of belief systems in
producing evidence
NPO Conference Evidence Based Policy
Making Amsterdam, 19-20 June 2008 Louis
Meuleman Secretary-general NL Advisory Council
for Research on Spatial planning, Nature and the
Environment (RMNO) louis.meuleman_at_rmno.nl
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
2

• 3 Views on evidence and their typical failures
• Analytical framework Governance styles and
  metagovernance 1)
• The metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
  transport policies propositions

1) Based on Public Management and the
Metagovernance of Hierarchies, Networks and
Markets (2008)
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
3

• 3 Views on evidence in traffic and transport
  policies

Like in all other policy areas, TT policies in
Western countries are influenced by governance
fashions 1950s Strong government
influence Reliability - Heavily
regulated - Long procedures -
Contested knowledge 1980s - . Anti-govt.
market-liberal tradition Efficiency -
Uncontrolled budgets Entrepreneurial -
Pseudo competition 1990s - . Network paradigm
co-production of policies Broader support -
Never-ending talks 2000s -.. Confusion,
anti-market, anti-govt, anti-network?
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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2. Analytical framework Governance styles
Metagovernance
If we define Governance broadly
Governance The interactions beween governments,
other public bodies, private sector and civil
society, aimed at solving societal problems or
creating societal opportunities. Governance
includes institutions, instruments, processes and
actors roles. Governance does not include
policies.

• Then there are 3 ideal-typical governance styles,
  which
• usually appear in combinations
• can undermine, but also support each other.

Hierarchical Network Market Governance Governa
nce Governance Govt. rules society Govt. is
partner Govt provides in society services
to society
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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2. Analytical framework Governance styles
Metagovernance
Two key problems 1. The 3 styles have an
internal logic which is partly incompatible with
the others logic
Hierarchy Network Market
Govt. rules society Govt. is partner Govt.
delivers service Subordinates Partners Customer
s/clients Authority Trust/empathy Price Depende
ncy Interdependency Independency Rules Consens
us Contracts
Most authoritative Jointly produced Most
efficiently produced evidence evidence
evidence (rational/objective) (subjective) (ratio
nal(choice)/objective) Standards Situational
approach Best practices
2. Each style is considered a panacea -gt belief
or fashion determines which style
(combination) has to be used
Research question What is the rationale of
successful public managers?
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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2. Analytical framework Governance styles
Metagovernance

• Conclusions from extensive literature study
• Over 30 differences beween the 3 governance
  styles.
• The 3 styles correspond to the 3 main human
  cultures of cultural theory
• (hierarchism, egalitarism and
  individualism)-gt therefore also belief systems
• Governance style combinations can be successful.

E.g. Hierarchy brings security (house rules)
in networks Market efficiency stops
never-ending deliberations of networks

• Designing and managing successful governance
  style combinations is
• metagovernance, and requires taking a
  helicopter view.
• Estimation of feasibility of metagovernance
  depends on belief systems
• - network enthousiasts no reality is too
  fuzzy/chaotic for metagovernance
• - rationalists (hierarchy/market) yes,
  but is it desirable?
• Public managers may play a central role in
  metagovernance
• Metagovernance is trilemma management

Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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2. Analytical framework Governance styles
Metagovernance
Dilemma choice between 2 alternatives Trilemm
a choice between 3 alternatives -gt too complex?
Gated communities -gt typical failure closed
borders, bound entrepreneurship
Hierarchy
New Public Management rational coalition -gt
typical failure cold, no empathy
Dilemma 1
Dilemma 2
Meta- Governance
Panta rhea flow scenario -gt typical failure
anti-statist, survival of the fittest
Network
Market
Dilemma 3
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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2. Analytical framework Governance styles
Metagovernance

• Case studies
• 5 Relatively successful wicked policy cases in
  same period (2000-2004)
• 4 comparable cases in same policy field
  (environmental policy),
• but different administrative cultures
• Soil protection Germany (underlying hierarchical
  culture)
• Soil Protection Netherlands (underlying network
  culture)
• Soil Protection UK (underlying market culture)
• Soil Protection European Commission (underlying
  hierarch.culture)
• 1 case of local community policing (Netherlands)

Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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3 countries Illustration of underlying national
cultures.
United Kingdom
Netherlands
Germany
Market style do-it-yourself
Network style lets do it together
Hierarchy obey the rules
Also applies to other colours
Belgium uncertainty, because on North-South
cultural watershed?
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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2. Analytical framework Governance styles
Metagovernance
Conclusions of 5 case studies

• Striking similarities in all 5 cases
• all 3 governance styles were used (as
  expected)
• conflicts beween styles occurred (as expected)
• metagovernance occurred design management
  of optimised cobinations.
• Furthermore
• similar governance style interactions and
  similar metagovernance challenges
• in Dutch national/strategic soil case and
  Dutch local/operational policing case
• the responsible public managers possessed a
  distinct logic of action (rationale).

Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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The metagovernors rationale (1)

• The metagovernors rationale consists of 2
  factors
• Understanding five framework conditions

a. Culture, traditions and history of the admin.
and societal system
Public managers first tried the default style,
and switched to another style when the default
style was not appropriate/feasible
b. Personal conviction of the responsible
politician c. Societal expectations of role of
governmental organisations
Civil society -gt prefers network governance
(participation) Private sector -gt prefers
hierarchy (level playing field) and/or market
(autonomy)
d. Organisational characteristics
For example open or closed professional
or task-oriented
e. Type of problems
H for urgency, M for routine, N for wicked
problems
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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Understanding five framework conditions

• Dynamics of the framework conditions
• limits the room for
• metagovernance
• Culture/trad.
• Politician
• Society
• Organisation
• Problem type

Hierarchy Network Market
Meta- governance
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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The metagovernors rationale (2)

• 2. Three intervention strategies
• Combining styles
• b. Switching from one to another style
• c. Maintenance of a style mixture

E.g. 1 style (H) for solving conflicts, another
(N/M) for developing solutions
E.g. start a network phase with a hierarchical
push, switch to market (efficiency) when all is
agreed, and switch back to hierarchy for securing
results
E.g. help overcome the typical failures of a
chosen dominant style by Use of elements of the
other two styles
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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The metagovernors qualifications

• What had these metagovernors in common?
• Three qualifications
• Willingness (ambition/drive to reflect on what is
  the situational best style mixture)
• 2. Discretion (using the discretionary space up
  to its limits)
• 3. Capability (taking multiple perspective,
  helicopter view).

Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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3. Metagovernance of Evidence in Traffic
Transport policies

• Proposition 1
• - Understanding the governance environment, and
• - the incompatibilities of governance styles,
  and
• - the (5) framework conditions, and
• - having the qualifications willingness,
  discretion and capability
• makes metagovernance (as designing and managing
  situationally optimised governance style
  combinations) possible, to a certain extent.

Proposition 2 Because the 3 styles have partly
incompatible views on evidence, some form of
metagovernance is a precondition for developing
useful evidence for e.g. traffic and transport
policy making
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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3. Metagovernance of Evidence in Traffic
Transport policies
Wim vd Donk WRR We need a combination
of rational guidance and reflexive learning
H Authoritative (rational) evidence
Rational guidance
Dilemma 1
Dilemma 2
Reflexive learning
Meta- Governance
N Jointly constructed (subjective) evidence
M (rational) best buy
Dilemma 3
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
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Final reflection 4 disclaimers..

• Exposing hierarchical, network and market
  governance as belief systems brings about
  emotions which suggests that this proposition
  is valuable
• 2. Metagovernance is not a new, super,
  governance style, but an attitude and an approach
  to help overcome some of the typical failures of
  each of the styles and of their combinations.
• 3. Such typical failures include the
  fascination of each style for a specific type of
  knowledge (production).
• 4. Metagovernance is neither having a rational
  bias (network view), nor messy, sloppy and
  purely subjective (H M view), but taking a
  perspective above the rational-chaos (or
  objective-subjective) discussion.

Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008
18
The Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policy

• 3 fviews on evidence and their typical failures
• Analytical framework Governance styles and
  metagovernance 1)
• The metagovernance of evidence
• in traffic and transport
• policies propositions

1) Based on Public Management and the
Metagovernance of Hierarchies, Networks and
Markets (2008)
Metagovernance of evidence in traffic and
transport policies Louis Meuleman 20 June 2008