ABSTRACT
Governance – the business of government – in the Netherlands has received increased attention over the past few years. The relatively early and sustained economic success of the Dutch society in the ‘new’ international, and particularly European economy of the late 20th century caught the interest of the international media and academic community. The economic and business world, as well as policy makers, soon followed through. The past decade, the Netherlands and some ministries and cities in particular, have been overrun by foreign visitors. They were looking for gold. Moreover, they were hoping to uncover the secret of the miracle which almost overnight turned the ‘Dutch disease’ of the late 1970s and 1980s into the ‘model economy’ of the mid-1990s – even without the people living in it initially knowing it. Naturally, the observers were all particularly interested in the practical implications and the nature of the ‘polder model’. In this concluding chapter we would also like to point out some theoretical issues and institutional considerations.
