CQ 266 pp. 345-364 2026-03-24 Original Explaining China’s High Welfare Spending: Local Models and Drivers of Fiscally Oriented Affordable Housing
PSJ — 2026-03-24
Original Democratic Values in Citizen Participation: What Citizens Prioritize in Participation
Take Sipma, Frank Hendriks
Abstract
ABSTRACT Citizen participation is often initiated to strengthen democracy. While participatory innovations are typically assessed through normative frameworks emphasizing democratic values, little is known about which of these values are prioritized by citizens. This research note presents findings from an original survey conducted in the Netherlands in 2024, investigating which democratic values citizens prioritize in the context of citizen participation. Drawing on Hendriks' (2022) democratic values typology including inclusiveness, process fairness, efficaciousness, resilience and counterbalance, we operationalize five value statements and asked respondents to rank them. Citizens most frequently prioritize efficacious outcomes and fair procedures, while inclusiveness, resilience, and counterbalance receive less emphasis. This pattern highlights the central role of both effective governance and procedural fairness in citizen participation. Value priorities nevertheless vary across citizens: inclusiveness, understood as the inclusion of diverse perspectives, is more strongly emphasized by left‐wing citizens, whereas counterbalance is primarily prioritized by politically dissatisfied citizens, but remains a lower overall priority. These findings offer an exploratory first step in linking normative frameworks on democratic values with how citizens themselves prioritize those values.
PMR — pp. 1-27 2026-03-22 Original The contested nature of New Public Governance as a third governance model
Nicolette van Gestel, Ewan Ferlie
Abstract
This article examines New Public Governance (NPG), emphasizing the underexposed role of the national state. Focusing on Dutch labour market policy, it draws on document analysis and (group) interviews with 74 public and private stakeholders across national and subnational levels. While NPG principles are evident in network composition and collaboration, interaction between policymaking and implementation remains limited, indicating weak NPG diffusion. A longitudinal analysis over more than a decade, reveals structural barriers to interactive decision-making and performance enhancement. The findings point to a multifaceted form of state steering that generates divergent institutional arrangements and shifting power dynamics, with significant implications for governance and policymaking processes.
PA — 2026-03-19
Original Academic Experts in Policymaking: Divergent Patterns but Persistent Profiles Across Parliament, Government, and Media
Janne Ingelbeen, Tessa Haesevoets, Bram Wauters
PSJ — 2026-03-17
Original Understanding Citizens' Acceptance of AI in Policymaking: How Policy Domains, Levels of AI Involvement, and Stereotypical Perceptions Shape Public Support
PAR — 2026-03-17
Original Sea‐Level Rise Adaptation and Collaboration in Polycentric Governance: A Comparison of Three Regions
Francesca Vantaggiato, Mark Lubell, Matthew C. Nowlin, Juita‐Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Majid Shafiee‐Jood
PA — 2026-03-16
Original Social Equity Practices in Public Financial Management: A Conceptual Review and Proposed Reforms
John R. Bartle, Philip G. Joyce, Marilyn M. Rubin
PSJ — 2026-03-16
Original Compliance in Regulatory Gray Areas: The Case of the Organic Seed Standard
Liza Wood, Jared Zystro, Kristina Hubbard, Francesca Pia Vantaggiato
PSJ — 2026-03-15
Original Can Money Buy Trust? Social Transfers and Trust During the Covid‐19 Pandemic
PSJ — 2026-03-12
Original There Is Always a Bigger Fish. Determinants of Power Perceptions in Swiss Biodiversity Policy
Alix d'Agostino, Jascha Egli, Daniel Kübler