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In this chapter the autor explores the contours and possible effects of the WMO for the local government level. First she gives a short overview of the main features of the WMO (PAR. 2.5). Then she describes the challenges that local government is confronted with, especially the political decisions that have to be taken at the local level (PAR. 2.3). The question to be answered is whether or not the WMO means an impulse for local democracy in the Netherlands. To that purpose, two quick comparisons are made (PAR. 2.4): with other decentralisation operations in the Netherlands, and with the decentralisation of social care and welfare in Sweden. These comparisons make it possible to determine two main conditions for creating an impulse for local politics, which are presented in PAR. 2.5. The article ends by some concluding remarks on the effect of the WMO on the local democracy in the Netherlands.
What lecturers do and think are a prerequisite for educational change. It is therefore important to gain insight into factors that influence their involvement in educational reform. This study considers the effect of leadership and managerial constructs on lecturers’ commitment to the newly implemented honours programmes in a Dutch University of Applied Sciences, by combining two models: (a) the Excellence Acceptance Model and (b) the Organisational Influence Model. This combination connects two important change factors of content and context included in a combined quantitative measurement framework. A full structural equation analysis on lecturers’ questionnaire data (N = 406) results in insight into the direct influence of executive managers’ leadership style on lecturers’ commitment in a situation of educational change. Especially, visionary leadership and the perceived discussion culture on excellence are of large influence on lecturers’ behaviour towards honours programmes. Based on these findings, directions for future research are suggested.
