It is generally assumed that competition increases welfare. The main idea behind this assumption is that competition in a market is the best incentive mechanism to produce efficient market outcomes. This is good for social welfare and therefore stimulating competition is welfare increasing. According …

This text is structured as follows. Section 1 concerns the background to this public lecture: the fact that social participation is becoming increasingly important in our society. This is evident, for example, from the way we are evolving from a protective welfare state into an activational, participative …

This final paper focuses on municipal international cooperation (MIC) with developing nations. MIC can be defined as international decentralised cooperation or the term "town twinning" (Boven, 2007, "what is town twinning" section). It is an agreement between two or more municipalities from different …

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 …

The multicultural society cannot be denied, because we experience this society on the street, in our neighborhoods, at schools, on public transport and at work in the Netherlands. However, for a couple of years this society is no longer truly accepted. Even a simple question as 'Do we live in a multicultural …

This paper considers the partnership model, which is in the author’s view the best answer in the social policy creation in contemporary conditions. The author refers to changes and reforms in the development of welfare state in the world from 1980s onwards. He describes various approaches and models, …

The gradual aging of western society during the twentieth century, including its causes and consequences, has become one of the dominant themes of demography and sociology. This study tries to shed more light on the recent past of older individuals emphasizing the socio-economic strategies they employed …