A vital element of liberal democracy is the relationship between a government and its citizens, which is often characterised by the concept of political support or its reverse, political alienation. Ideally, this relationship should display political support since this indicates a high level of trust …

There is a dualism in current policy discourses on public health between neoliberal conceptions of health, and health as a product of social conditions. These conceptions also co-exist in the narratives of citizens. In this qualitative study carried out in the Netherlands, we analysed how people living …

This paper explores whether constitutional litigation contributes to sustaining the equity element of the right to health. Equity entails a fair distribution of the burden of healthcare financing across the different socio-economic groups of the population. A shift towards uncontrolled private healthcare …

Based on a consultation of stakeholders and a survey amongst local and regional authorities the authors review the state of EU policies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from a regional perspective. They propose a place-based approach to SME policy based on a strong partnership between different …

Ethnic minorities such as the Roma in Romania and the Indigenous peoples in Canada have struggled for centuries, suffering from discrimination and patronization by both their governments and society. In fact, they continue suffering from poor treatment. In order to address this, minority policies have …

The IoT is a revolutionary development for both society and governments. In this chapter opportunities and threats of the IoT are discussed. Linking technological, societal, economic, and policy-oriented aspects of the IoT, this chapter introduces a conceptual framework to map and analyze the factors …

Increased spatial pressures on the marine environment asks for smart use of space in order to safeguard the achievement of environmental, social and economic objectives. Multi-use is seen as a new paradigm for space efficiency and might yield other benefits beyond that. Within the scope of their Policy …

In 2013, the Joint Action Plan for Mental Health and Well-being (JA-MH-WB) was launched as a collaborative effort by the European Union and the 28 Member States. It aims were to build a framework for action mental health policy at the European level and builds on previous work developed under the European …

Population decline, welfare state reforms and austerity measures pressurise the liveability of rural areas in the Netherlands and call upon local governments and communities to adapt and renew their mode of governance. This paper reports on three Dutch experimental governance arrangements which are analysed …

This paper analyses Amsterdam’s Startup-in-Residence (SiR) programme as new type of policy to engage startups in the development of urban innovation through a challenge-based public procurement of innovation (PPI) process. The programme is being mimicked by other cities and government agencies, but so …