The Mediation of Bureaucratic-Professional Influence: Decentralization in Dutch Housing Policy

Abstract

The influence of state bureaucrats and professionals on public policy is empirically and theoretically problematic. Recent work concerning the ‘dual politics thesis' has suggested that bureaucratic autonomy will flourish particularly at the regional level of the state. Evidence about decentralization in the Dutch housing system is reviewed which generally supports this thesis. However, it is argued that regional bureaucratic and professional power in housing policy, and the specific institutional arrangements for decentralization, must also be explained in terms of the distinctive nature of Dutch pillarized society and politics.