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A growing body of literature discusses the impact of machine-learning algorithms on regulatory processes. This paper contributes to the predomi- nantly legal and technological literature by using a sociological-institutional perspective to identify nine organisational challenges for using algorithms in regulatory practice. Firstly, this paper identifies three forms of algorithms and regulation: regulation of algorithms, regulation through algorithms, and regulation of algorithms through algorithms. Secondly, we identify nine organisational challenges for regulation of and through algorithms based on literature analysis and empirical examples from Dutch regulatory agencies. Finally, we indicate what kind of institutional work regulatory agencies need to carry out to overcome the challenges and to develop an algorithmic regulatory practice, which calls for future empirical research.

This article provides a theoretical understanding of the potential contribution of digital platforms to the co-creation of public value. On the basis of insights from different academic disciplines, a layered model is developed for the relations between technology, governance, users and societal outcomes. The theoretical model proposes that these layers can result in basic configurations – consistent combinations of the four elements – but also hybrid configurations. We identify three basic configurations: (1) a closed platform controlled by a private sector organisation, (2) an open platform controlled by a government organisation and (3) an open platform run by a civil society organisation. The configurations are illustrated with examples of digital platforms from all over the world. The configurational understanding of digital platforms for the co-creation of public value provides the basis for a systematic analysis of these rapidly growing practices in countries around the world.

In Western countries, the occupational discipline of nursing is undergoing processes of professionalization. Although professionalization offers an appealing perspective on occupational advancement, it is an ambiguous process, especially in the context of ongoing reforms of advanced liberal states. More specifically, there is a confusing relationship between the professionalization of nursing and the state. This relation is underexamined in theories of nursing professionalization. Instead of seeing the state and professions as two distinct spheres, this article highlights their interconnectedness. It argues that nursing professionalization can be understood as a strategy of advanced liberal governmentality. Through an empirical analysis of the professionalization of Dutch nursing from a Foucauldian perspective, it shows how the appeal to ‘professionalism’ functions as a disciplinary mechanism that produces forms of advanced liberal ‘(bio)power’. This generates academic and practical questions, since nurses—the largest group of healthcare professionals—have distinctive relations with their patients, who regard them as ‘independent’ and ‘caring experts’. Furthermore, it sheds light on the academic debate about the reconfiguration of professionalism by showing how certain ‘professional’ reconfigurations are not only unavoidable but unavoidably (bio)political as well.

Motivated by the classic work of Max Weber, this study develops an ideal type to study the transformation of government bureaucracy in the ‘age of algorithms’. We present the new ideal type – the algocracy – and position this vis-à-vis three other ideal types (machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, infocracy). We show that while the infocracy uses technology to improve the machine bureaucracy, the algocracy automates the professional bureaucracy. By reducing and quantifying the uncertainty of decision-making processes in organizations the algocracy rationalizes the exercise of rational-legal authority in the professional bureaucracy. To test the value of the ideal type, we use it to analyze the introduction of a predictive policing system in the Berlin police. Our empirical analysis confirms the value of the algocracy as a lens to study empirical practices: the study highlights how the KrimPro system conditions professional assessments and centralizes control over complex police processes. This research therefore positions the algocracy in the heart of discussions about the future of the public sector and presents an agenda for further research.

Recent years have seen a massive growth in ethical and legal frameworks to govern data science practices. Yet one of the core questions associated with ethical and legal frameworks is the extent to which they are implemented in practice. A particularly interesting case in this context comes to public officials, for whom higher standards typically exist. We are thus trying to understand how ethical and legal frameworks influence the everyday practices on data and algorithms of public sector data professionals. The following paper looks at two cases: public sector data professionals (1) at municipalities in the Netherlands and (2) at the Netherlands Police. We compare these two cases based on an analytical research framework we develop in this article to help understanding of everyday professional practices. We conclude that there is a wide gap between legal and ethical governance rules and the everyday practices.

The role of technology in the public sector continues to evolve. Digital government has emerged as an important research and pedagogical topic in diverse disciplines, including information systems, public administration, computer science and political science. Given the increasing amount of data available to organizations and constituents, exploring the role of artificial intelligence (AI) is imperative for the effective, efficient and ethical use of government resources.

This Element argues that to understand why transparency “works” in one context, but fails in another, we have to take into account how institutional (macro), organizational (meso) contexts interact with individual behavior (micro). A review of research from each of these perspectives shows that the big promises thought to accompany greater transparency during the first two decades of the 20th century have not been delivered. For example, transparency does not necessarily lead to better government performance and more trust in government. At the same time, transparency is still a hallmark of democratic governance and as this book highlights, for instance, transparency has been relatively successful in combating government corruption. Finally, by explicitly taking a multilayered perspective into account, this Element develops new paths for future research.

Het handelen van politie wordt regelmatig door burgers gefilmd en beelden worden via sociale media gedeeld. Wat betekenen deze digitale argusogen voor de maatschappelijke legitimiteit van de politie? Ik argumenteer dat het filmen op drie manieren van invloed kan zijn op de maatschappelijke legitimiteit van de politie: de invloed die het filmen ter plekke heeft op het handelen van politie, wanneer online beelden de maatschappelijke beeldvorming beïnvloeden en wanneer de politie reageert op socialemediabeelden. Volgens sousveillance theorie brengt het monitoren van politie onderbelichte misstanden onder de aandacht. Als de politie naar aanleiding daarvan haar handelen of beleid aanpast, vergroot dit de maatschappelijke legitimiteit. Theorie over online burgerjournalistiek laat zien dat de meest uitzonderlijke en schokkende content online de meeste aandacht trekt waardoor er niet altijd reden is tot beleidswijziging, maar een andere reactie geboden is. Een verkenning van twee cases suggereert dat beide drijfveren in verschillende contexten een rol spelen.

Cities are taking a prominent role in solving global challenges, with a ‘new localism’ inviting a reorientation of power from nation-states downwards, outwards and globally. This special issue explores this phenomenon through extending the existing analyses of multi-level governance and the ‘local turn’ to the underexplored area of asylum seeker and refugee reception in European cities. The special issue draws on research in European cities where new strategies were piloted especially in the wake of ‘the refugee crisis’ from 2015, consolidating the ‘local turn’ evident in immigration and integration policy-making. The collection is in two parts: the first part explores innovation in local governance of asylum seeker reception. Here, case studies demonstrate how cities responded through forging new alliances both vertically and (especially) horizontally in networks within and between cities. The second part explores innovation in practice, analysing novel initiatives premised on local engagement and inclusivity of newcomers within the social fabric of the city. This editorial paper draws out the wider lessons of efforts from this comparative exploration of attempts to rethink asylum seeker and refugee reception at the local level.

Transparency is popularly believed to enhance the public's trust in government, yet experimental studies have found mixed results. One explanation is that public trust may respond more positively to a kind of “latent transparency” in which citizens highly value the mere potential for open access to government information, even if they may have more negative reactions when presented with the particular content of actual government information, documents, or data. To test this hypothesis, we designed two survey experiments in which samples of US adults were primed with general information about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or the existence of open government data. Compared to controls, we find that awareness of FOIA rights and requirements (latent transparency) tended to be unrelated, or even slightly negatively related, to trust of government agencies, contrary to our expectations. Our findings, combined with prior evidence, suggest that—even in the case of latent transparency—the popular belief in transparency's positive effects on citizen trust needs a more critical examination. Implications for the theory and practice of transparency are discussed.

This article contributes to the growing body of literature within public management on open government data by taking a political perspective. We argue that open government data are a strategic resource of organizations and therefore organizations are not likely to share it. We develop an analytical framework for studying the politics of open government data, based on theories of strategic responses to institutional processes, government transparency, and open government data. The framework shows that there can be different organizational strategic responses to open data—varying from conformity to active resistance—and that different institutional antecedents influence these responses. The value of the framework is explored in two cases: a province in the Netherlands and a municipality in France. The cases provide insights into why governments might release datasets in certain policy domains but not in others thereby producing “strategically opaque transparency.” The article concludes that the politics of open government data framework helps us understand open data practices in relation to broader institutional pressures that influence government transparency.

This paper presents a systematic review of the literature on smart governance, defined as technology-enabled collaboration between citizens and local governments to advance sustainable development. The lack of empirical evidence on the positive outcomes of smart cities/smart governance motivated us to conduct this study. Our findings show that empirical evidence for the alleged sustainability benefits is sparse. In addition, the emerging picture is ambiguous in that it reports both positive and negative effects in respect to the sustainability achievements of smart governance. The study identifies contextual conditions of smart governance as crucial to understanding these mixed outcomes. Our paper points up the need for more empirical work and develops an agenda for researching the relationship between smart governance and sustainability outcomes.

Dit artikel verkent hoe we met behulp van het publieke waardeperspectief zicht kunnen krijgen op de kwaliteit van lokaal bestuur. Het publieke waardeperspectief beoordeelt de overheid niet op basis van algemene standaarden of benchmarks, maar via de oordelen van betrokken actoren. Deze benadering doet in potentie meer recht aan de unieke, lokale context van elke gemeente. Het publieke waardeperspectief wordt echter gecompliceerd door de veelheid aan verwachtingen die actoren hebben van bestuur en hun doorgaans negatieve vooringenomenheid ten opzichte van de overheid. Op basis van 71 interviews met verschillende actoren in zes gemeenten laten we zien hoe een publieke waardeperspectief op de vraag ‘wordt er hier goed bestuurd?’ uiteenlopende beelden oplevert, zelfs binnen gemeenten die door landelijke experts als succesvol worden gezien. Maar ook laten we zien welke verbindingen bestaan tussen deze beelden en hoe achter zuinige oordelen over het verleden optimistische ambities schuilgaan voor de toekomst.