Skip to main content
SLU publication database (SLUpub)

Research article2006Peer reviewed

Policies in the polder: How institutions mediate between norms and practices of rural governance

Boonstra, WJ

Abstract

Matching rural policy and practice has become increasingly difficult. Despite a shift from government to governance, a void is often perceived to exist between policy and practice. This article discusses two hypotheses on the emergence of such a void. The first argues that the void is a result of a process of value differentiation. The second explains the void as a result of a process of depoliticisation. This article examines whether these hypotheses hold true for Dutch rural policy. The analysis shows that though both hypotheses are true for a limited extent, neither succeeds in explaining the changes in Dutch (rural) policy on its own. Instead, it is argued that both are needed for a comprehensive analysis

Keywords

rural governance; institutions; norms; practices

Published in

Sociologia Ruralis
2006, Volume: 46, number: 4, pages: 299-317
Publisher: BLACKWELL PUBLISHING

      SLU Authors

    • Boonstra, Wiebren

      • Department of Rural Development and Agroecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Economics and Business
    Social Sciences

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9523.2006.00419.x

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/9204