Military Policy Essay Example For Students

Military Policy Essay POLSCI 111Gerard ChretienIntroduction to American GovernmentMay 15, 2001MILITARY DEFENSE POLICYDear Mr. President,As a proud American and veteran of our great armed forces, I strongly advocate that you initiate a new policy regarding the maintenance and strategic welfare of our nations forces. The current conditions of our military are not in sync with the needs of the 21st century challenges and objectives. There is numerous issues that need to be addressed such as: new weapon development, increase in pay, consolidation of various programs, review of oversea deployment policy and so forth. Currently you are aware that your predecessor (malignant Bill Clinton) and his administration have not developed any policy to upgrade our forces during his presidential tenure. Having served in the military, I can say from personal experience, that our forces need a desperate infusion of new weapons and strategic programs that would do away with inefficient and obsolete ones. Our men and women, who wear their proud uniform, represent one of Americas most treasured assets, thus their needs must be held to a high standard. During the Clinton era, for that matter, since the end of the Reagan era, defense spending has been systematically reduced across the board (omitting the Gulf War). This type of reduction leaves our armed forces inadequately supplied with resources to combat issues that affect the U.S. domestically and abroad. The current status must be overhauled and restructured. You may feel that as a result of the Cold-War ending and the majority of America feeling the need to expand our military is not necessary, I urge you not to ride the same track of thought. Having rogue states still capable in constructing weapons of mass destruction (e.g. Iraq) and host of other states that despise our way of life, its imperative, now more than ever, that we stay militarily capable and ready to defend Americas interest. Now there is many who believe that the United States should down grade military production because of several factors. First, the United States is the remaining super-power in the world, a threat from an antagonistic country like North Korea or Iraq seems ridiculous and very remote. Secondly we have the worlds most productive economy, allowing us to build and purchase anything that fits our interest. Last and most importantly we have and sustain the most dangerous armed forces known to man. Such factors leads us to believe that military spending is futile in age of peace time and further more, Americas most dangerous rival (Soviet Union) is no longer a threat, but a cooperative diplomatic engaging state. Many Americans also feel that any additional spending on military arsenal can and should be directed toward other vital programs that affect our daily lives such as: health care, education, job-training, small-business development, just to name a few. These points and others are valid, but it cannot blindfold us to the reality that war can occur any time. Not being ready and capable would be detrimental to way of life and hinder our society, as a whole, to prosper into the future. I strongly advice you to adhere to my perspective, so you can assure Americas growth and security well into the new millennium. Semper FidelisSecond Lieutenant Gerard Chretien, U.S.M.C.

A Review of the Dr. Seuss Classic, The Lorax

A Review of the Dr. Seuss Classic, The Lorax Since The Lorax, a picture book by Dr. Seuss, was first published in 1971, it has become a classic. For many children, the Lorax character has come to symbolize concern for the environment. However, the story has been somewhat controversial, with some adults embracing it and others seeing it as anti-capitalist propaganda. The story is more serious than most Dr. Seuss books and the moral more direct, but his wonderful zany illustrations, use of rhyme and made-up words and unique characters lighten the story and make it appealing to children 6 and older. The Story A little boy who wants to learn about the Lorax explains to the reader that the only way to find out about the Lorax is to go to the old Once-lers home and give him ...fifteen cents/and a nail/and the shell of a great grandfather snail... to tell the story. The Once-ler tells the boy it all began long ago when there was an abundance of brightly colored Truffula trees and no pollution. The Once-ler concentrated on expanding his business, adding to the factory, shipping more and more fruit and making more and more money. In telling the story to the little boy, the Once-ler assured him, I meant no harm. I most truly did not. / But I had to grow bigger. So bigger I got. The Lorax, a creature who speaks on behalf of the trees, appears to complain about the pollution from the factory. The smoke was so bad that the Swomee-Swans could no longer sing. The Lorax sent them off to escape the smog. The Lorax also angrily pointed out that all of the byproducts from the factory were polluting the pond and he also took the Humming-Fish away. The Once-ler had grown tired of the Loraxs complaints and angrily yelled at him that the factory was going to get bigger and bigger. But just then, they heard a loud sound. It was the sound of the very last Truffula tree falling. With no more Truffula trees available, the factory closed. All the Once-lers relatives left. The Lorax left. What remained was the Once-ler, an empty factory and pollution. The Lorax disappeared, leaving only a small piece of rocks, with the one word...UNLESS. For years, the Once-ler wondered and worried about what that meant. Now he tells the young boy he understands. UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. Its not. The Once-ler then throws the very last Truffula tree seed down to the boy and tells him hes in charge. He needs to plant the seed and protect it. Then, maybe the Lorax and the other animals will return. Impact What makes The Lorax so effective is the combination of a step-by-step look at cause and effect: how unfettered greed can destroy the environment, followed by an emphasis on positive change through individual responsibility. The storys end emphasizes the impact one person, no matter how young, can have. While the rhyming text and entertaining illustrations keep the book from being too heavy, Dr. Seuss definitely gets his point across. Because of this, the book is frequently used in elementary and middle school classrooms. Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss was the most prominent of several pseudonyms that Theodor Seuss Geisel used for his childrens books. For an overview of some of his most well-known books, see.

Aldis Micro environment

Aldis Micro environment Introduction Aldi is a German Based multinational company that operates in the discounted stores sector. Having started its operations back in the year 1946, the company has grown to the extent that it controls 8078 stores around the world today. The company entered the United Kingdom in 1990 with the opening of a single store. As of today, the company has managed to open four hundred stores across the United Kingdom.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Aldi’s Micro environment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This growth has put the company amongst one of the most competitive companies in the Hypermarkets, Supermarkets and Superstores sector in the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, the company operates within a competitive micro environment. This implies that there are a substantial number of stakeholders in the sector in which Aldi operates (International Markets Bureau 2011). This paper explores the inter nal and external environment in which Aldi operates in the United Kingdom. The paper begins by examining the key stakeholders of the company. This is followed by a Porter’s five forces analysis, which helps to capture the macro environment in which the company operates. The paper ends by drawing recommendations from the findings, which can be used by Aldi to gain a competitive position in the United Kingdom. Key Stakeholder Groups in Aldi’s Micro Environment The government and regulators Each stakeholder plays a given role in as far as the influence of operation for companies is concerned. The government plays a greater role in setting the business environment. It influences the operation of a given company from the macro and even narrows down to shape the micro environment (Fassin 2009). The UK government, especially the ministry of trade ensures that comprehensive trade policies are in place in order to steer the operation of business companies. The government ensure s that the operational environment is fair for all the companies operating in the HSS. The retail laws are set by the government. Also, the government ensures that labour laws are effectively developed. The social and environmental policy matters are also coordinated by the government. The government does not have needs per se, but helps in setting standards that are required for effective business operation (International Markets Bureau 2011). Customers The other critical stakeholders in the micro environment are the customers (Fassin 2009). Research has pointed out that customers are the most valid stakeholders by any company, including Aldi. The reason behind this is that customers are the main sources of competitive advantage by virtue of their shopping trends and habits.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The growth of Aldi is associated with its ability to prov ide diverse services, which have enabled them to gain a substantial number of customers over time. Customers have their expectations of the company. Customers have been demanding for services at discounted prices. This enables the customers to attain goods at lesser costs. This is because of the higher cost of living that has been brought about by the recent tough economic conditions in the country and the world at large (NFU n.d). Suppliers Suppliers are vital for companies that deal with the marketing of a wide range of products. Aldi offers a wide range of products. This is one of the positioning factors for the company. The relevance of the suppliers to the company is to ensure sustainable supply of goods to the company (Fassin 2009). Aldi gets its supplies from different manufacturers and processors. In order to ensure that it maintains its relationship with its customers, a company has to ensure that it maintains a stable relationship with its suppliers so that they can keep s upplying quality products. Through the maintenance of a working relationship with their suppliers, the company is able to get a constant supply of products and services. The main need for suppliers is to ensure that they secure a relationship with the company so that they can maintain the company as one of their chains where they make their supplies. Employees According to Fassin (2009), employees are the immediate stakeholders in the company. When it comes to the issue of employees, Aldi focuses on two things: The maintenance of their employees through deployment of best practices in human resource management and the outsourcing of high quality employees from the lumber industry in the United Kingdom. As mentioned earlier, Aldi operates four hundred stores in the United Kingdom. This points out that the company has a substantial amount of employees in the country. The company has attained most of its managerial employees from the Universities in the United Kingdom. The employees ne ed to be maintained by the company through a better pay and other practices of performance management (NFU n.d).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Aldi’s Micro environment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Communities Communities are another critical group of stakeholders in the company. The company draws its customers from the communities in areas where it has set its retail stores. It is argued that the only way through which a company can establish positive relationships and attachment to the community is by employing best practices in corporate social responsibility (Fassin 2009). These entail the support of activities and functions within the community. It also involves engagement in sustainable management and environmental conservation. These practices make the communities to be drawn near the company. Aldi has a policy on corporate social responsibility, which helps it to establish and sustain relationsh ips with the communities in the UK (NFU n.d). Porter’s Five Forces Analysis of Aldi in the UK’s HSS Sector The HSS sector is comprised of a substantial number of operators, thereby making the sector to be quite competitive. This implies that any company that aims at attaining a competitive position in the sector has to make efforts to understand the factors of competitiveness in the sector. Though still faced with challenges that impede its competitiveness in the UK HSS sector, Aldi has been active in the sector and has managed to gain a substantive amount of customers due its mastery of the macro environment and the subsequent adoption of competitive practices. Threat of new competition One thing that is feared by business companies, yet the most critical determiner for their performance is competition. Firms are required to keep monitoring and assessing the developments in the industry in which they operate to gain knowledge on how to adjust their activities in the m arket. This ensures competitiveness in the market (Draganska Klapper 2007). The HSS in the UK retail industry is comprised of a number of companies that have operated in the industry for a relatively longer period of time. Such companies include Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrissonswhereas and Asda (Hall 2011). Aldi is not considered as a new entrant in the HSS of the UK since it has operated in the UK for more than 20 years. The company has gained competitiveness in the industry through a strategic move, which made it venture into discount retailing. However, it has been noted that a substantial number of companies are opting to invest in the discount retailing in the future because of the developments in the current market (Brown 2013). This calls for Aldi to adjust its activities by making adjustments to the offers made to its customers.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is the best way through which the company can maintain its customers. The advantage for Aldi is that it has already operated in the discounted retailing for an extended period of time, thereby attracting a substantial number of customers. Threat of substitute products or services When there are numerous companies operating in an industry, substitute products or services are used as differential factors for companies in the market (Lusch, Vargo O’Brien 2007). The HSS industry in the UK has a high number of players who provide varied services to their customers. When a company uses the feature well, it easily gains a competitive advantage over other companies in the market. Aldi provides a wide range of products and services to its customers, for instance the weekly price offers and the special buy deals. This enables the company to attract a wide range of customers in the UK retail market (International Markets Bureau 2011). Bargaining power of customers The customers pu rchase the products and services of firms, thereby enabling firms to sustain their operations in the market. The purchasing behaviour of customers is shaped by a number of factors. Among these factors are the economic conditions and the offers that are made on purchases by the company. Brown (2013) observed that the current economic conditions in the world raised the conditions of living, forcing customers to cut down their expenditure on goods and services. This means that the bargaining power of customers is low, and they prefer to purchase from retailers who help them save. Therefore, the offers on the prices of goods and services favour a substantial number of buyers. This is what has enhanced the performance of Aldi in the recent years of operation in the UK HSS sector (Hall 2011). Bargaining power of suppliers Grewal and Levy (2009) observed that each company seeks for suppliers who can ensure it gets quality products at competitive prices in order to draw profits from the sup plies. Aldi offers its customers a wide range of products. This implies that the company has a large number of suppliers from which it gets the products. The prices that are offered to the suppliers by the company are drawn from the industry since the company has to ensure that its customers get the goods at affordable prices. Therefore, Aldi has developed strong links with a number of suppliers, who offers them supplies at discounted prices. This in turn enables the company to extend the discounts to their customers, which boosts their sales. In turn, this enables the company to get more supplies and benefit the suppliers (International Markets Bureau 2011). Intensity of competitive rivalry The intensity of competition in an industry is dictated by the number of active players in the industry and the nature of service offing to the customers by the players. The UK HSS has a number of well established companies like Sainsbury, Morrissonswhereas, Asda and Tesco. These companies are c onsidered as the main competitors for Aldi in the sector (Hall 2011). Their higher level of competitiveness resonates from the fact that they have been in operation in the country longer and have well expanded retail stores when compared to Aldi. However, Aldi has been strategic, a factor that enables the compact to ease the competitive pressures from the giant companies in the sector. Aldi has managed to ease the competitive pressure by fully venturing into discount retailing. As of today, it is argued that Aldi is one of the leading companies in discounted retailing in the UK. The discount retailers have continued to mount pressure on large supermarkets across the UK (International Markets Bureau 2011). Conclusion and recommendations According to the findings of this paper, Aldi is one of the most competitive companies in the UK retailing industry. The company has managed to gain competitiveness through the deployment of a number of strategic moves, such as venturing into discount ed retailing and higher diversification of the number and types of products. Therefore, the company has a high likelihood of continuing performing remarkably in the UK. This can be done through a number of practices. Aldi needs to increase the diversity in its service offering in order to capture the diverse groups of customers in the UK. The number of discounted offers ought to be extended so that they can favour buyers from the middle class, as well as those from the high class. At the same time, there is need for the company to start venturing into other sectors of the UK retail industry. This can be attained through research in order to enable the company to identify the best way to diversify its operating segments. Future prospects point to the fact that customers prefer discounting as a way of saving. Therefore, Aldi can enhance its competitiveness by opening more discounted stores across the entire UK. Presentation Speech In this paper, I present a clear picture of the comp etitive position of Aldi by putting the company within the perspective of the HSS industry in the UK. The three issues in areas of analysis of the company that I have focused on are: The stakeholder analysis, the Porter’s five force analysis and the recommendations. The stakeholder analysis has focused on five main stakeholders. These are: The government and regulators, suppliers, customers, employees, and the communities. The five forces analysis has explored the key areas of competitiveness of the company in the UK retail industry. From the discussion, I have derived three main recommendations for the company. Reference List Brown, J 2013, ‘Every Lidl helps: bargain hunters flock to German masters of no-frills shopping’, The Independent, independent.co.uk/news/business/news/every-Aldi-helps-bargain-hunters-flock-to-german-masters-of-nofrills-shopping-7888984.html Draganska, M Klapper, D 2007, ‘Retail environment and manufacturer competitive intensityâ₠¬â„¢, Journal of Retailing, vol. 83 no. 2, pp. 183-198. Fassin, Y 2009, ‘The stakeholder model refined’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 84 no. 1, pp. 113-135. Grewal, D Levy, M 2009,’ Emerging issues in retailing research’, Journal of Retailing, vol. 85 no. 4, pp. 522-526. Hall, J 2011, ‘Aldi and Lidl increase market shares as shoppers cut back’, The Telegraph, telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8296774/Aldi-and-Lidl-increase-market-shares-as-shoppers-cut-back.html International Markets Bureau 2011, The United Kingdom: A sophisticated retail sector, ats-sea.agr.gc.ca/eur/5735-eng.htm Lusch, RF, Vargo, SL O’Brien, M 2007, Competing through service: Insights from service-dominant logic, Journal of Retailing, vol. 83 no. 1, pp. 5–18. NFU n.d, Review of grocery retailer CSR policies, https://www.google.com/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=10cad=rjaved=0CHsQFjAJurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nfuonline.com%2FOur-work%2FF ood-chain%2FNews%2FNFU-Supermarkets-CSR-report-28-6-12%2Fei=WPAIUePTNIHTtAbDioDgAwusg=AFQjCNHyaeMIz0hL-7px0Anow06OnGTvmAbvm=bv.41642243,d.Yms

The changes made as a result of the uprising known as the Arab Spring Essay

The changes made as a result of the uprising known as the Arab Spring have been mostly positive for Libya - Essay Example On the other side, some people consider that the Arab Spring transformed the Middle East Asian and African nations from political stability to instability and anarchy. Thesis statement: The statement ‘The changes made as a result of the uprising known as the ‘Arab Spring’ have been mostly positive for Libya’ is valid because the same helped the people of Libya to keep themselves away from dictatorship, anarchy, and political instability. The arguments in favor of the positive influence of Arab Spring in Libyan context are based upon the fact that the same helped the people of Libya to be free from the clutches of dictatorship initiated by Col. Al Gaddafi. To be specific, the mass protest originated in the Arab area (say, the Middle East Asian and African nations) in the year 2011 later transformed into civil wars in different nations. Besides, the initial victory gained by the Tunisian protestors in their motherland inspired other nations under dictatorship. But Gaddafi never expected that he will be the victim of the revolutionary spirit of his own people. Nicholas Hagger stated that, â€Å"Gaddafi had attempted to bring in socialist measures to benefit the poor, but, obsessed with statelessness and â€Å"direct democracy† (Revolutionary committees and popular congresses), he had allowed an anarchistic and chaotic political structure (or rather, lack of structure) to impede his efforts† (137). http://books.google.co.in/books?id=yvhnXPK78MwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Libyan+Revolution:+Its+Origins+and+Legacy:+a+Memoir+and+Assessment&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1W5pVMPOBNW1uQTs7oHIDA&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Libyan%20Revolution%3A%20Its%20Origins%20and%20Legacy%3A%20a%20Memoir%20and%20Assessment&f=false To be specific, the people of Libya were not ready to be under a cruel dictator like Gaddafi. Gaddafi tired his level best to suppress the protest in his

What do we call them Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What do we call them - Essay Example So, this paper will evaluate Andrew Bacevichs book, The New American Militarism focusing on his thesis that U.S. is becoming a kind of ‘military crusader’, who are militarily involving themselves in theatres of war, without utilizing the diplomatic and peace options. In the beginning of the book itself, Andrew Bacevich states that the Americans have become enthralled and captivated by its military power and so have formed notions of world domination. So, this book actually examines the origins and importantly the unwanted repercussions of these misguided notions. That is, American militarism originated as a form of reaction to the Vietnam War, with the antics of Saddam Hussein and importantly the September 11 bombing of Twin Towers, only adding ‘fuel to the fire’. He further asserts that the Government leaders and officials have overrated the effectiveness of military force in foreign affairs, and so avoided the role of diplomacy, to achieve its foreign policy aims. Importantly, the romanticized images of war happenings, which are being featured in Films (action movies), TV channels, etc, have also ‘tuned’ many people in accepting the effectiveness of military power. So, the basic point that is being put forward in the book is, American citizens including the conservatives and liberals should strongly oppose mixing militarism with utopian ideology, which could have dangerous repercussions for both the American people and also the people of other countries. This can be explained by the happenings in the Iraq War. Under the pretext of finding the non-existent nuclear weapons, USA launched a series of violent attacks on the country, killing thousand of innocent people. . â€Å"We will wreak havoc abroad. We will endanger our security at home. We will risk the forfeiture of all that we prize."(Bacevich). Even though, it toppled, the most autocratic government headed by Saddam Hussein, USA’s violent acts inside Iraq, caused loss of

Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning

Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning Interactive planning of Dutch infrastructural project A case-description of Mainport Schiphol and the A12 national expressway Interactive Planning of Sustainability 1. Introduction Since the beginning of the ‘90s, the implementation of new infrastructural projects in The Netherlands became increasingly problematic. Related environmental issues had a lot of societal attention. The Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, responsible for maintaining a high quality of mobility in the Netherlands, identified three major problems with earlier attempts to solve the infrastructural problems; little social acceptance for new projects, procedures for realizing new projects took too long, and the proposed solutions were not really original and often ‘more of the same’. For solving these problems, this Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management proposed a change from top-down decision making to a more open and interactive form of policy making for planning, developing, and implementing new infrastructure (Enthoven and de Rooij, 1996). With interactive policy making, the main goal is to make more creative and effectiv e plans, by involving all stakeholders like citizens, (local and/or national) governments and experts. For this paper, 2 cases are selected, related to a Dutch infrastructure issue and dealt with on an interactive way; Mainport Schiphol near Amsterdam and the A12 national expressway near The Hague. The first one is selected because of its elaborated description in Susskind et al. (1999), its high degree of complexness and the fact the outcomes were fairly positive, the second one is selected also because of its suitable description in Glasbergen en Driessen (2005), but with a more straight-forward problem definition and its positive outcomes. Discussing these two Dutch cases, we will focus on four critical issues, related to interactive planning and often discussed in literature: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. Although more critical issues can be defined, like Roles op participants, Modes of evaluation and Use of outcomes by policy makers, only these four are chosen because of the fact that these are clearly discussed in the selec ted case-descriptions and these seemed to be crucial for the success of these cases. Chapter 2 will discuss each critical issue shortly. Chapter 3 will discuss the two cases in the light of the four different critical issues, and chapter 4 will give a conclusion. To structure this research the following research question is formulated: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? 2. Critical Issues This chapter will elaborate a bit more about what is actually meant with the four different critical issues: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. 2.1 Participant selection The question of which parties to involve is answered by a set of four considerations that should be taken into account when selecting the participants (De Bruijn et al., 2002). Firstly, parties with blocking power in the decision-making are important. Involving these parties in the process may keep them from using their blocking power in ways that are unforeseen. Secondly, parties with productive power should be part of the process. These parties will actually have to implement the decisions that are taken, and can influence the decision making with their control over the productive resources. Thirdly, parties that have an interest in the decision-making should be considered. These are parties that do not have substantial power in the decision making process (like blocking power or resources), but nevertheless are confronted with the outcomes of the group process and therefore can provide important information and moral considerations. Finally, this moral aspect of decision-making ca n by a reason to invite certain parties to join the process. Moral and ethical considerations can be important to embody the voice of those who are affected by the potential decision, but are not invited to the process for different reasons (De Bruin, 2002). 2.2 Power and access One of the key goals of interactive policy making is that it should reduce the influence of dominant elites and enable the less powerful groups to give input. Those parties or actors, who do not have access to formal decision-making processes or who cannot exert enough influence by the way of discussion and negotiation are more likely to initiate legal proceedings. Public’s ability to participate in decisions can be assessed according to three elements (as defined at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992): access to information, access to the decision-making process, and access to redress or change decision. These three elements will shortly be explained below. ‘Access to information’ can be seen as the first foundation of access and also one of the most passive forms of access seen from the perspective of the public. With access to information is meant the ability the public has to easily get access to forms of relevant information in which they are directly or indirectly involved, such as environmental impact assessments, reports from industries about their emissions etc. But one also can think about getting informed about potential relevant activities, which possibly can affect the public’s environment. ‘Access to the decision-making processes’ wants to give the public a more active role. Once this form of access is attained, one can even speak of a certain form of power. One must not focus on only the opportunity to provide input on specific subjects, but also the ability to influence more general decisions, such as the making of new laws or national policies. ‘Access to redress or change a certain decision’ is also related to a form of power, since the ability to change a certain decision gives a citizen the power to influence the decision-making process. This form of access can be translated into making judicial or administrative remedies accessible to the public, when officials fail to do their work in a proper manner (Mock et al., 2003). 2.3 Roles of facilitators The roles that a facilitator can play in group decision processes constitute of consistent packages of specific tasks within the group process combined with a more general ‘attitude’ towards the group members and the process. In literature, three major roles of a facilitator are commonly distinguished: a role as process architect or process manager, a mediating role and a convening role. As a process architect, the facilitator lays down the backbone of the group process. The process should be structured in such a way that all relevant insights from the participants will play a role in the process. Four core principles for designing a group process can be discriminated: openness, protection of core values, speed and substance (De Bruijn et al., 2002). These four ‘core elements of process design’ should be included and safeguarded in any process design in order to satisfy all the participants. The facilitator focuses on the process so that group members can focus on the substance and can suggest different ways of discussing problems, ensuring that all group members can freely express there comments and are free of any abuses of power or personal attack (Susskind et al., 1999). Especially in environmental issues, the interests, values and problem perceptions of different parties may often be far apart form each other. With such large contrasts of interest within the group, a facilitator often is faced with disputes and conflicts within the group process, that are hard to solve with mere changes in the structure of the process. In such case, the role of the facilitator can be very closely related with a mediating role in which the facilitator is mediating between parties, even to establish a general structure of the process. In addition, an external mediator can be asked to solve the conflicts. An external mediator is a neutral person that specializes in solving disputes between different participants in the group process, often using a variety of negotiation techniques and (psychological) methods of reframing problems and solutions (Acland, 1995). In a convening role, the facilitator has a say in which parties should be involved in the group process, and at what roles they will have. The convening role of a facilitator is sometimes not far apart from the role that a facilitator has as a process designer. Proper management of a group decisions process clearly has a very import influence on the effectiveness of that process. The facilitator can influence that process to quit a large extent. The consensus of all group members on the final decision depends for a large part on the level of agreement within the group with the approach that facilitators takes in structuring and managing the process. 2.4 Role of knowledge Knowledge is a crucial ingredient of interactive planning. However, the significance of the use of knowledge depends on one’s view. Over the years, the view on the role of knowledge has changed. The rational actor model has gradually been replaced by adaptive decision and learning strategies interacting with the environment. Before, planning would be perceived as proceeding in an orderly and linear fashion (Friend Hickling, 2005). Today some authors state that knowledge is a result of collective social processes. This implies that knowledge is a social construct, rather than an objective entity. In the new approach, linear progression of the process is seen as unrealistic. Instead, the uniqueness, ambiguity and unpredictability of real world processes are emphasized. With the recognition that planning is an interactive and communicative process, the notion of the interrelationship between expert and experiential knowledge has become more and more crucial. Interactive planning is now seen as ‘organized rituals’ where ‘deliberating participants’ listen to one another, search for new options and learn to find new ways of going on together (Khakee et al., 2000). 3. Case description For a complete description of each of the two cases, see appendix 1 and 2. This section will only discuss the previously mentioned four critical issues related to interactive policy making (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge), related to the experiences of these two cases. 3.1 Mainport Schiphol Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol will cause an increase of nuisances of noise, pollution, and safety). These two opposite interests caused a stalemate to occur since the 1950s. In the 1980s, one of the government authorities took the initiative to change the ‘common way of working’ and activated the policy network, to address the issues (Driessen, 1999). 3.1.1 Participant selection The most important actor in this case was the Dutch Government, who made the prefigured decision to expand the airport into an international hub. All other participants had to find their ‘win-win’ outcomes within this context of developmental growth. From the beginning, various government organisations have been involved in the development of Schiphol Airport. The main players are three ministries. The ministry of Transport and Public Works is by far the most important actor, responsible for the economic development of the airport as well as the abatement of noise nuisance. Second, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment is also involved, responsible for physical planning in The Netherlands and implementing policies regarding the rest of the environmental effects of the activities of the airline industries, namely air pollution, stench and hazard. Finally, the Ministry of Economic Affairs plays and important role, pursuing further economic development in the region of Schiphol (Driessen, 1999). Lower tiers of governments involved were the province of North Holland, responsible for environmental policy and planning for the region, and the municipalities surrounding the airport, both benefiting (by increased employment and tax-incomes) and enduring the aggravation (caused by noise, stench, air pollution, and other activities that degrade the environment) of having the airport close by. The municipality of Haarlemmermeer is a special case, because this municipality is authorized to create a land use plan for the airfield. Additionally, two enterprises play a crucial role: NV Luchthaven Schiphol (operating the airport and completely state owned) and KLM (the major Dutch carrier and partly owned by the state) (Driessen, 1999). Because the Ministry of Transport and Public Works occupied a pivotal position, being both responsible for the economic development of Schiphol and the abatement of noise nuisance, it was agreed that noise regulation would be regulated by the Aviation Act, which was under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works. Nevertheless, little actions were made to reduce noise nuisance, because all participants believed that technical solutions would solve all noise-problems in the near future. Because no agreement could be made between these participants on how much the airport should be allowed to grow, or how to tackle the environmental problems, the Dutch government asked the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment to make an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. In the following process, a project group and a steering committee were established. The steering committee was comp osed out of all above-mentioned parties, while the project group contained all interest groups. Any party with interest in the case could join the project group (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it must be concluded that parties with blocking and productive power were strongly involved in the interactive planning process, by joining the steering committee. Other parties with interest were also involved, by joining the project group, but their influence was relatively small. If parties were involved, based on moral considerations, does not become clear from this case-description. 3.1.2 Power and access The three different Governmental agencies (the ministry of Transport and Public Works, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs) with jurisdictional authority over airport expansion, had accepted the mandate for airport expansion, but each with more at stake than achieving this outcome. Interagency rivalry and power played a critical part in the positions the ministries adopted and the coalitions they build during negotiations. The creation of a project group composed of all interest groups and of a steering committee of essential power brokers gave much power to the steering committee alone. From the case description, it does not become clear that the members of the steering committee, who were eventually excluded from the decision-making, were those who could not benefit in a ‘win-win’ situation, or were simply not powerful enough to block or advance progress. Nevertheless, the exclusion of interests cannot lead t o a ‘win-win’ solution and has encountered difficulties building consensus and achieving compliance (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the three elements described in section 2.2, it must be concluded that ‘Access to information’ does not form an obstacle. Perhaps the overload on information and the opposed and contradicting information gave bigger problems. The public was given some access to the decision-making process when they joint the project group, by commenting the ideas of the steering committee. However, the steering committee made all final decisions, so there was certainly no access to redress or change a decision. 3.1.3 Roles of facilitator After the developed deadlock between the initially participants, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was made primary responsible for the task of making an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. The fact that this ministry had a strong affiliation with environmental issues raised initial suspicion among the other governmental bodies. They wondered whether this ministry would be able to take a neutral position in the ensuing discussions. However, their initial wariness soon gave way to a realistic attitude, and actively joined the process (Driessen, 1999). The Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment designed an organizational framework for the discussion whereby the coordinated approach would be given a concrete form by activating the policy network. With this, the ministry acquired a dual function in the project, because it was the convenor, chair and facilitator of the planning process, and had to secure the input of environmental interest in the decision-making (Driessen, 1999). In the initial stage, the strategy of the project leaders of the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was to bring the various parties closer together by conducting investigations and exchanging information, assuming that this might contribute to a better understanding and more appreciation for each different standpoint. The was no need for a professional facilitator, because all information was being collected, analyzed, and disseminated in an orderly way, although a professional facilitator could have helped structuring the problem. At the end of this stage, the project leaders formulated a plan, which could not be released because of the rain of criticism it caused (Driessen, 1999). Because of this setback, the project leaders decided to recruit a professional facilitator, with the task not to increase the supply of information, but to let parties sought to digest what they had and to arrive at a decision. From the case-description, it does not become clear if this facilitator had staff support and whether he/she had analytical, problem solving skills. The approach taken by the facilitator was aimed at bringing the main bottlenecks to the fore, in order to reach agreements at least on key points. The approach was characterized by the creation of a strong interaction between the project group and the steering committee. The later reviewed the issues that the project group had pared down in size, and either approved the solutions offered by the project group or send them back to the project group for reconsideration (Driessen, 1999). After this process, the facilitator presented the choices made by the project group and the steering committee to the public. The central aim of this was, to gain social and political legitimacy; the plan was opened up to the public discussion and the reactions were taken into account in the final version. Unfortunately, the public was hardly informed about the process preceding the plan and therefore it was generally received with great suspicion. Adding to this, the public discussion did not proceeded in a coordinated fashion, but each government resorted to its own method of public discussion. At the same time of these public hearings, the facilitator had to focus on the steering committee, because each party could take criticism of the plan as a lever to reopen discussion on subjects already discussed. At the end, the facilitator wrote the final text of the plan, shaping the final agreements also including the difficult topics of a reduction of noise nuisance and hazard (Driessen , 1999). From this description of the facilitator, it becomes clear that the facilitator had both the role of process architect, and mediator. The facilitator designed the entire framework of decision-making and mediated when problems occurred. If the facilitator also had a convening role is unclear. Which stakeholders could join the steering committee was already decided before the facilitator got involved. How actually the project group was formed, stays unclear from this case-description. 3.1.4 Role of knowledge Especially in issues related to airfield, experts disagree on numerous crucial uncertainties. This makes the role of knowledge both important but not of the same tenor. Research plays a key role in these controversies. This relates to research on, for instance, the need to build a new airport or expand the existing one, it may concern the most desirable infrastructure in and around the airport, it may deal with the profitability of operation, it may investigate the economic impact of the airport, or it may consider possible negative effects on the environment. However, this research must never be judged as ‘objective’ and will always play a role in the conflict of interest, expressed in this case, in the frequency of requested ‘second opinions’ (Driessen, 1999). In the case of noise nuisance, it took long time to be acknowledged as a problem and to find a way of calculating the level of distress. In the mid-1960s, a system was developed to measure noise nuisance, but no agreement could be made on how it should be applied. For instance, there was discussion about how to determine the threshold value for maximum admissible noise nuisance. Furthermore, options differ on setting a specific norm for night flights. The disagreement revolves around the degree to which departing and arriving airplanes disturb the sleep of nearby residents, and whether such disruption is detrimental to public health. There was also uncertainty about, the rate air traffic would increase, and the degree to which technical developments in aeronautics could help reduce noise levels by changing the aircrafts design (Driessen, 1999). Therefore, as also stated in section 2.4, knowledge is very important in decision-making processes, but as these processes get more interaction with a broad scale of actors, knowledge becomes more a result of collective social processes and loses its objective entity. From this case-description, it does not become explicitly clear if the decisions were based on knowledge provided by ‘experts’ or that it was formed in an interactive learning process. Implicitly, one could state that the agreement on noise nuisances could only have been established, when such interactive knowledge development occurred. 3.2 A12 national expressway The ease of accessibility of The Hague depends to a large extent on the A12 national expressway. Its final 30 km stretch is marked by many access and exit ramps, and the intensity of traffic in this area has increased dramatically in recent decades. This is partly thanks to the enormous increase in the volume of vehicular traffic, and partly to the proliferation of new urban development locations around The Hague. Much of the traffic is ‘destination traffic’ which enters the city in the morning and leaves at night. As a result of the higher volumes, congestion became a big problem (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). 3.2.1 Participant selection The planning agency initially saw itself as the owner of the problem at stake and formulated a classical solution of road widening. This approach failed because of public resistance and of a budget problem at the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. Because of this, the ministry stepped back, which un-deliberately created opportunities for other parties to take initiative. The government authorities of The Hague took the initiative to develop a new architecture for interaction among the different stakeholders. They organized a public dialog and a series of workshops involving local politicians and private businesses from the region, resulting in a new definition of the problem, focussing on the underutilization of existing capacity. The role of the planning agency changed from orchestrator of the infrastructure project to a partner in the wider regional consultation on issues of mobility and livability. They also made subsidies available to the business community , enabling them to work out individual, sometimes innovative, mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Before concluding the analysis of participant selection in this case, the fact that there were no objections to the planes made by this interactive planning-process is probably the best evidence that all relevant stakeholders were included in the process. Nevertheless, from the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it does not become clear how all relevant stakeholders were defined, if all parties with blocking and productive power were added to the process, or if parties with moral and ethical considerations were included. 3.2.2 Power and access This case can bee described as a restricted interactive process, because it was intended to promote the cooperation of public authorities with the private sector. Civic organizations and individual citizens were kept informed through a public relations center. The governmental authorities of The Hague decided which stakeholders were included in the process. Despite this fact, no opposition to this project did arise (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). The access to information was well looked after, in the form of the public relations center. They kept civic organizations and individual citizens informed about the plans and progress. More power was not given to the public in this case. 3.2.3 Roles of facilitator In order to link the government agencies (where the plans were developed), and the business community, a ‘godfather’ was appointed. This honour was given to the director of the public transport company in the region, and he served as a contact between the project and the private sector. He kept all relevant firms informed about the development of the project and called these firms to task with respect to their responsibilities for the region’s accessibility, by reminding them that they might be lagging behind other firms in the development of their mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). From the case-description, it must be concluded that the government authorities of The Hague acted as a convener, initially selecting the different stakeholders. Facilitating the process and mediating in conflicts were partly done by the ‘godfather’ and partly by the government authorities of The Hague. The precise division of responsibilities does not become clear from the case-description. 3.2.4 Role of knowledge According to this case-description, it was the government agencies of The Hague who decided what knowledge was used in the decision process. The only organization consulted for information was the planning agency, also participating in the planning process (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Although knowledge is crucial in interactive planning (see section 2.4), the role of knowledge in this case is not very big. This probably has two reasons. One is the relative simple problem at stake (congestion) and secondly the fact that all parties agreed on the content of the relevant knowledge. Nevertheless, the fact that only one party provided the relevant knowledge could potentially have caused major problems afterwards. 4. Conclusion This research started with the question: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? How each criterion added to the success of the case is described at the end of each subsection in chapter 3. Overall, it can be concluded that the success of interactive planning depends on the care each criterion is taken care of. If one of these criteria is neglected, it will be reflected in the outcomes. If, for example, participants are forgotten, power is not distributed evenly, facilitators are not adequate, or knowledge is not as objective as possible, the process will take much longer time and the change of good end-results and thus consensus will diminish. Both cases make clear that solutions were impossible to reach in the traditional way of policy making and that interactive policy mak ing contributed to good end results. Nevertheless, in future comparable processes, more attention should be given to the four discussed critical issues, and probably to the seven mentioned in the introduction. Only than, the rate of success of these kind of processes will increase. References Acland, A.F. 1995. Resolving Disputes without going to Court. London, Century Business Books. Bruijn, H. de, E. ten Heuvelhof and R.J. in ’t Veld. 2002. Process management: Why Project Management Fails in Complex decision making Processes. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Driessen, P. 1999. Activating a Policy Network; The Case of Mainport Schiphol. in Susskind et al., 1999, The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. Enthoven, G.M.W. and A. de Rooij. 1996. InfraLab; Impuls voor open planvorming en creativiteit.Bestuurskunde, Vol. 5, Issue 8, p. 1-8. Friend, J. and A. Hickling. 2004. Planning Under Pressure, The Strategic Choice Approach. Oxford, Buttorworth/Heinemann. Glasbergen, P. and P.J. Driessen. 2005. Interactive planning of infrastructure: the changing role of Dutch project management. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Vol. 23, p. 263-277. Khakee A., A. Barbanente and D. Borri. 2000. Expert and experimental knowledge in planning. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 51, No. 7, p. 776-788. Mock, G.A., W. Vanasselt, and E. Petkova. 2003. Rights and reality: Monitoring the public’s right to participate. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol. 9, p. 4-13. Suzzkind, L.S., S. McKearan and J. Thomas-Larmer. 1999. The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. London, SAGE Publications. Appendix 1 – Case sheet Mainport Schiphol (Driessen, 1999) 1. Position Initiative: several governmental ministries Time period: 1980-present Level of used policy process: regional/national Phase in policy process: in process 2. Background This case is about plans to expand Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and the disputes related to it. Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol Airport would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol Airport will caus Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning Barriers to Dutch Infrastructural Project Planning Interactive planning of Dutch infrastructural project A case-description of Mainport Schiphol and the A12 national expressway Interactive Planning of Sustainability 1. Introduction Since the beginning of the ‘90s, the implementation of new infrastructural projects in The Netherlands became increasingly problematic. Related environmental issues had a lot of societal attention. The Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, responsible for maintaining a high quality of mobility in the Netherlands, identified three major problems with earlier attempts to solve the infrastructural problems; little social acceptance for new projects, procedures for realizing new projects took too long, and the proposed solutions were not really original and often ‘more of the same’. For solving these problems, this Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management proposed a change from top-down decision making to a more open and interactive form of policy making for planning, developing, and implementing new infrastructure (Enthoven and de Rooij, 1996). With interactive policy making, the main goal is to make more creative and effectiv e plans, by involving all stakeholders like citizens, (local and/or national) governments and experts. For this paper, 2 cases are selected, related to a Dutch infrastructure issue and dealt with on an interactive way; Mainport Schiphol near Amsterdam and the A12 national expressway near The Hague. The first one is selected because of its elaborated description in Susskind et al. (1999), its high degree of complexness and the fact the outcomes were fairly positive, the second one is selected also because of its suitable description in Glasbergen en Driessen (2005), but with a more straight-forward problem definition and its positive outcomes. Discussing these two Dutch cases, we will focus on four critical issues, related to interactive planning and often discussed in literature: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. Although more critical issues can be defined, like Roles op participants, Modes of evaluation and Use of outcomes by policy makers, only these four are chosen because of the fact that these are clearly discussed in the selec ted case-descriptions and these seemed to be crucial for the success of these cases. Chapter 2 will discuss each critical issue shortly. Chapter 3 will discuss the two cases in the light of the four different critical issues, and chapter 4 will give a conclusion. To structure this research the following research question is formulated: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? 2. Critical Issues This chapter will elaborate a bit more about what is actually meant with the four different critical issues: Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge. 2.1 Participant selection The question of which parties to involve is answered by a set of four considerations that should be taken into account when selecting the participants (De Bruijn et al., 2002). Firstly, parties with blocking power in the decision-making are important. Involving these parties in the process may keep them from using their blocking power in ways that are unforeseen. Secondly, parties with productive power should be part of the process. These parties will actually have to implement the decisions that are taken, and can influence the decision making with their control over the productive resources. Thirdly, parties that have an interest in the decision-making should be considered. These are parties that do not have substantial power in the decision making process (like blocking power or resources), but nevertheless are confronted with the outcomes of the group process and therefore can provide important information and moral considerations. Finally, this moral aspect of decision-making ca n by a reason to invite certain parties to join the process. Moral and ethical considerations can be important to embody the voice of those who are affected by the potential decision, but are not invited to the process for different reasons (De Bruin, 2002). 2.2 Power and access One of the key goals of interactive policy making is that it should reduce the influence of dominant elites and enable the less powerful groups to give input. Those parties or actors, who do not have access to formal decision-making processes or who cannot exert enough influence by the way of discussion and negotiation are more likely to initiate legal proceedings. Public’s ability to participate in decisions can be assessed according to three elements (as defined at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992): access to information, access to the decision-making process, and access to redress or change decision. These three elements will shortly be explained below. ‘Access to information’ can be seen as the first foundation of access and also one of the most passive forms of access seen from the perspective of the public. With access to information is meant the ability the public has to easily get access to forms of relevant information in which they are directly or indirectly involved, such as environmental impact assessments, reports from industries about their emissions etc. But one also can think about getting informed about potential relevant activities, which possibly can affect the public’s environment. ‘Access to the decision-making processes’ wants to give the public a more active role. Once this form of access is attained, one can even speak of a certain form of power. One must not focus on only the opportunity to provide input on specific subjects, but also the ability to influence more general decisions, such as the making of new laws or national policies. ‘Access to redress or change a certain decision’ is also related to a form of power, since the ability to change a certain decision gives a citizen the power to influence the decision-making process. This form of access can be translated into making judicial or administrative remedies accessible to the public, when officials fail to do their work in a proper manner (Mock et al., 2003). 2.3 Roles of facilitators The roles that a facilitator can play in group decision processes constitute of consistent packages of specific tasks within the group process combined with a more general ‘attitude’ towards the group members and the process. In literature, three major roles of a facilitator are commonly distinguished: a role as process architect or process manager, a mediating role and a convening role. As a process architect, the facilitator lays down the backbone of the group process. The process should be structured in such a way that all relevant insights from the participants will play a role in the process. Four core principles for designing a group process can be discriminated: openness, protection of core values, speed and substance (De Bruijn et al., 2002). These four ‘core elements of process design’ should be included and safeguarded in any process design in order to satisfy all the participants. The facilitator focuses on the process so that group members can focus on the substance and can suggest different ways of discussing problems, ensuring that all group members can freely express there comments and are free of any abuses of power or personal attack (Susskind et al., 1999). Especially in environmental issues, the interests, values and problem perceptions of different parties may often be far apart form each other. With such large contrasts of interest within the group, a facilitator often is faced with disputes and conflicts within the group process, that are hard to solve with mere changes in the structure of the process. In such case, the role of the facilitator can be very closely related with a mediating role in which the facilitator is mediating between parties, even to establish a general structure of the process. In addition, an external mediator can be asked to solve the conflicts. An external mediator is a neutral person that specializes in solving disputes between different participants in the group process, often using a variety of negotiation techniques and (psychological) methods of reframing problems and solutions (Acland, 1995). In a convening role, the facilitator has a say in which parties should be involved in the group process, and at what roles they will have. The convening role of a facilitator is sometimes not far apart from the role that a facilitator has as a process designer. Proper management of a group decisions process clearly has a very import influence on the effectiveness of that process. The facilitator can influence that process to quit a large extent. The consensus of all group members on the final decision depends for a large part on the level of agreement within the group with the approach that facilitators takes in structuring and managing the process. 2.4 Role of knowledge Knowledge is a crucial ingredient of interactive planning. However, the significance of the use of knowledge depends on one’s view. Over the years, the view on the role of knowledge has changed. The rational actor model has gradually been replaced by adaptive decision and learning strategies interacting with the environment. Before, planning would be perceived as proceeding in an orderly and linear fashion (Friend Hickling, 2005). Today some authors state that knowledge is a result of collective social processes. This implies that knowledge is a social construct, rather than an objective entity. In the new approach, linear progression of the process is seen as unrealistic. Instead, the uniqueness, ambiguity and unpredictability of real world processes are emphasized. With the recognition that planning is an interactive and communicative process, the notion of the interrelationship between expert and experiential knowledge has become more and more crucial. Interactive planning is now seen as ‘organized rituals’ where ‘deliberating participants’ listen to one another, search for new options and learn to find new ways of going on together (Khakee et al., 2000). 3. Case description For a complete description of each of the two cases, see appendix 1 and 2. This section will only discuss the previously mentioned four critical issues related to interactive policy making (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge), related to the experiences of these two cases. 3.1 Mainport Schiphol Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol will cause an increase of nuisances of noise, pollution, and safety). These two opposite interests caused a stalemate to occur since the 1950s. In the 1980s, one of the government authorities took the initiative to change the ‘common way of working’ and activated the policy network, to address the issues (Driessen, 1999). 3.1.1 Participant selection The most important actor in this case was the Dutch Government, who made the prefigured decision to expand the airport into an international hub. All other participants had to find their ‘win-win’ outcomes within this context of developmental growth. From the beginning, various government organisations have been involved in the development of Schiphol Airport. The main players are three ministries. The ministry of Transport and Public Works is by far the most important actor, responsible for the economic development of the airport as well as the abatement of noise nuisance. Second, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment is also involved, responsible for physical planning in The Netherlands and implementing policies regarding the rest of the environmental effects of the activities of the airline industries, namely air pollution, stench and hazard. Finally, the Ministry of Economic Affairs plays and important role, pursuing further economic development in the region of Schiphol (Driessen, 1999). Lower tiers of governments involved were the province of North Holland, responsible for environmental policy and planning for the region, and the municipalities surrounding the airport, both benefiting (by increased employment and tax-incomes) and enduring the aggravation (caused by noise, stench, air pollution, and other activities that degrade the environment) of having the airport close by. The municipality of Haarlemmermeer is a special case, because this municipality is authorized to create a land use plan for the airfield. Additionally, two enterprises play a crucial role: NV Luchthaven Schiphol (operating the airport and completely state owned) and KLM (the major Dutch carrier and partly owned by the state) (Driessen, 1999). Because the Ministry of Transport and Public Works occupied a pivotal position, being both responsible for the economic development of Schiphol and the abatement of noise nuisance, it was agreed that noise regulation would be regulated by the Aviation Act, which was under the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works. Nevertheless, little actions were made to reduce noise nuisance, because all participants believed that technical solutions would solve all noise-problems in the near future. Because no agreement could be made between these participants on how much the airport should be allowed to grow, or how to tackle the environmental problems, the Dutch government asked the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment to make an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. In the following process, a project group and a steering committee were established. The steering committee was comp osed out of all above-mentioned parties, while the project group contained all interest groups. Any party with interest in the case could join the project group (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it must be concluded that parties with blocking and productive power were strongly involved in the interactive planning process, by joining the steering committee. Other parties with interest were also involved, by joining the project group, but their influence was relatively small. If parties were involved, based on moral considerations, does not become clear from this case-description. 3.1.2 Power and access The three different Governmental agencies (the ministry of Transport and Public Works, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs) with jurisdictional authority over airport expansion, had accepted the mandate for airport expansion, but each with more at stake than achieving this outcome. Interagency rivalry and power played a critical part in the positions the ministries adopted and the coalitions they build during negotiations. The creation of a project group composed of all interest groups and of a steering committee of essential power brokers gave much power to the steering committee alone. From the case description, it does not become clear that the members of the steering committee, who were eventually excluded from the decision-making, were those who could not benefit in a ‘win-win’ situation, or were simply not powerful enough to block or advance progress. Nevertheless, the exclusion of interests cannot lead t o a ‘win-win’ solution and has encountered difficulties building consensus and achieving compliance (Driessen, 1999). Based on the case-description and related to the three elements described in section 2.2, it must be concluded that ‘Access to information’ does not form an obstacle. Perhaps the overload on information and the opposed and contradicting information gave bigger problems. The public was given some access to the decision-making process when they joint the project group, by commenting the ideas of the steering committee. However, the steering committee made all final decisions, so there was certainly no access to redress or change a decision. 3.1.3 Roles of facilitator After the developed deadlock between the initially participants, the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was made primary responsible for the task of making an integral plan for the Schiphol region, ensuring both economic development as well as environmental improvements. The fact that this ministry had a strong affiliation with environmental issues raised initial suspicion among the other governmental bodies. They wondered whether this ministry would be able to take a neutral position in the ensuing discussions. However, their initial wariness soon gave way to a realistic attitude, and actively joined the process (Driessen, 1999). The Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment designed an organizational framework for the discussion whereby the coordinated approach would be given a concrete form by activating the policy network. With this, the ministry acquired a dual function in the project, because it was the convenor, chair and facilitator of the planning process, and had to secure the input of environmental interest in the decision-making (Driessen, 1999). In the initial stage, the strategy of the project leaders of the Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment was to bring the various parties closer together by conducting investigations and exchanging information, assuming that this might contribute to a better understanding and more appreciation for each different standpoint. The was no need for a professional facilitator, because all information was being collected, analyzed, and disseminated in an orderly way, although a professional facilitator could have helped structuring the problem. At the end of this stage, the project leaders formulated a plan, which could not be released because of the rain of criticism it caused (Driessen, 1999). Because of this setback, the project leaders decided to recruit a professional facilitator, with the task not to increase the supply of information, but to let parties sought to digest what they had and to arrive at a decision. From the case-description, it does not become clear if this facilitator had staff support and whether he/she had analytical, problem solving skills. The approach taken by the facilitator was aimed at bringing the main bottlenecks to the fore, in order to reach agreements at least on key points. The approach was characterized by the creation of a strong interaction between the project group and the steering committee. The later reviewed the issues that the project group had pared down in size, and either approved the solutions offered by the project group or send them back to the project group for reconsideration (Driessen, 1999). After this process, the facilitator presented the choices made by the project group and the steering committee to the public. The central aim of this was, to gain social and political legitimacy; the plan was opened up to the public discussion and the reactions were taken into account in the final version. Unfortunately, the public was hardly informed about the process preceding the plan and therefore it was generally received with great suspicion. Adding to this, the public discussion did not proceeded in a coordinated fashion, but each government resorted to its own method of public discussion. At the same time of these public hearings, the facilitator had to focus on the steering committee, because each party could take criticism of the plan as a lever to reopen discussion on subjects already discussed. At the end, the facilitator wrote the final text of the plan, shaping the final agreements also including the difficult topics of a reduction of noise nuisance and hazard (Driessen , 1999). From this description of the facilitator, it becomes clear that the facilitator had both the role of process architect, and mediator. The facilitator designed the entire framework of decision-making and mediated when problems occurred. If the facilitator also had a convening role is unclear. Which stakeholders could join the steering committee was already decided before the facilitator got involved. How actually the project group was formed, stays unclear from this case-description. 3.1.4 Role of knowledge Especially in issues related to airfield, experts disagree on numerous crucial uncertainties. This makes the role of knowledge both important but not of the same tenor. Research plays a key role in these controversies. This relates to research on, for instance, the need to build a new airport or expand the existing one, it may concern the most desirable infrastructure in and around the airport, it may deal with the profitability of operation, it may investigate the economic impact of the airport, or it may consider possible negative effects on the environment. However, this research must never be judged as ‘objective’ and will always play a role in the conflict of interest, expressed in this case, in the frequency of requested ‘second opinions’ (Driessen, 1999). In the case of noise nuisance, it took long time to be acknowledged as a problem and to find a way of calculating the level of distress. In the mid-1960s, a system was developed to measure noise nuisance, but no agreement could be made on how it should be applied. For instance, there was discussion about how to determine the threshold value for maximum admissible noise nuisance. Furthermore, options differ on setting a specific norm for night flights. The disagreement revolves around the degree to which departing and arriving airplanes disturb the sleep of nearby residents, and whether such disruption is detrimental to public health. There was also uncertainty about, the rate air traffic would increase, and the degree to which technical developments in aeronautics could help reduce noise levels by changing the aircrafts design (Driessen, 1999). Therefore, as also stated in section 2.4, knowledge is very important in decision-making processes, but as these processes get more interaction with a broad scale of actors, knowledge becomes more a result of collective social processes and loses its objective entity. From this case-description, it does not become explicitly clear if the decisions were based on knowledge provided by ‘experts’ or that it was formed in an interactive learning process. Implicitly, one could state that the agreement on noise nuisances could only have been established, when such interactive knowledge development occurred. 3.2 A12 national expressway The ease of accessibility of The Hague depends to a large extent on the A12 national expressway. Its final 30 km stretch is marked by many access and exit ramps, and the intensity of traffic in this area has increased dramatically in recent decades. This is partly thanks to the enormous increase in the volume of vehicular traffic, and partly to the proliferation of new urban development locations around The Hague. Much of the traffic is ‘destination traffic’ which enters the city in the morning and leaves at night. As a result of the higher volumes, congestion became a big problem (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). 3.2.1 Participant selection The planning agency initially saw itself as the owner of the problem at stake and formulated a classical solution of road widening. This approach failed because of public resistance and of a budget problem at the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management. Because of this, the ministry stepped back, which un-deliberately created opportunities for other parties to take initiative. The government authorities of The Hague took the initiative to develop a new architecture for interaction among the different stakeholders. They organized a public dialog and a series of workshops involving local politicians and private businesses from the region, resulting in a new definition of the problem, focussing on the underutilization of existing capacity. The role of the planning agency changed from orchestrator of the infrastructure project to a partner in the wider regional consultation on issues of mobility and livability. They also made subsidies available to the business community , enabling them to work out individual, sometimes innovative, mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Before concluding the analysis of participant selection in this case, the fact that there were no objections to the planes made by this interactive planning-process is probably the best evidence that all relevant stakeholders were included in the process. Nevertheless, from the case-description and related to the four considerations described in section 2.1, it does not become clear how all relevant stakeholders were defined, if all parties with blocking and productive power were added to the process, or if parties with moral and ethical considerations were included. 3.2.2 Power and access This case can bee described as a restricted interactive process, because it was intended to promote the cooperation of public authorities with the private sector. Civic organizations and individual citizens were kept informed through a public relations center. The governmental authorities of The Hague decided which stakeholders were included in the process. Despite this fact, no opposition to this project did arise (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). The access to information was well looked after, in the form of the public relations center. They kept civic organizations and individual citizens informed about the plans and progress. More power was not given to the public in this case. 3.2.3 Roles of facilitator In order to link the government agencies (where the plans were developed), and the business community, a ‘godfather’ was appointed. This honour was given to the director of the public transport company in the region, and he served as a contact between the project and the private sector. He kept all relevant firms informed about the development of the project and called these firms to task with respect to their responsibilities for the region’s accessibility, by reminding them that they might be lagging behind other firms in the development of their mobility plans (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). From the case-description, it must be concluded that the government authorities of The Hague acted as a convener, initially selecting the different stakeholders. Facilitating the process and mediating in conflicts were partly done by the ‘godfather’ and partly by the government authorities of The Hague. The precise division of responsibilities does not become clear from the case-description. 3.2.4 Role of knowledge According to this case-description, it was the government agencies of The Hague who decided what knowledge was used in the decision process. The only organization consulted for information was the planning agency, also participating in the planning process (Glasbergen and Driessen, 2005). Although knowledge is crucial in interactive planning (see section 2.4), the role of knowledge in this case is not very big. This probably has two reasons. One is the relative simple problem at stake (congestion) and secondly the fact that all parties agreed on the content of the relevant knowledge. Nevertheless, the fact that only one party provided the relevant knowledge could potentially have caused major problems afterwards. 4. Conclusion This research started with the question: How do the four critical issues (Participant selection, Power and Access, Roles of facilitators, and Use of knowledge) contribute to the rate of success of 2 infrastructural cases in The Netherlands (the Schiphol case and the A12 national expressway)? How each criterion added to the success of the case is described at the end of each subsection in chapter 3. Overall, it can be concluded that the success of interactive planning depends on the care each criterion is taken care of. If one of these criteria is neglected, it will be reflected in the outcomes. If, for example, participants are forgotten, power is not distributed evenly, facilitators are not adequate, or knowledge is not as objective as possible, the process will take much longer time and the change of good end-results and thus consensus will diminish. Both cases make clear that solutions were impossible to reach in the traditional way of policy making and that interactive policy mak ing contributed to good end results. Nevertheless, in future comparable processes, more attention should be given to the four discussed critical issues, and probably to the seven mentioned in the introduction. Only than, the rate of success of these kind of processes will increase. References Acland, A.F. 1995. Resolving Disputes without going to Court. London, Century Business Books. Bruijn, H. de, E. ten Heuvelhof and R.J. in ’t Veld. 2002. Process management: Why Project Management Fails in Complex decision making Processes. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Driessen, P. 1999. Activating a Policy Network; The Case of Mainport Schiphol. in Susskind et al., 1999, The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. Enthoven, G.M.W. and A. de Rooij. 1996. InfraLab; Impuls voor open planvorming en creativiteit.Bestuurskunde, Vol. 5, Issue 8, p. 1-8. Friend, J. and A. Hickling. 2004. Planning Under Pressure, The Strategic Choice Approach. Oxford, Buttorworth/Heinemann. Glasbergen, P. and P.J. Driessen. 2005. Interactive planning of infrastructure: the changing role of Dutch project management. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Vol. 23, p. 263-277. Khakee A., A. Barbanente and D. Borri. 2000. Expert and experimental knowledge in planning. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 51, No. 7, p. 776-788. Mock, G.A., W. Vanasselt, and E. Petkova. 2003. Rights and reality: Monitoring the public’s right to participate. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol. 9, p. 4-13. Suzzkind, L.S., S. McKearan and J. Thomas-Larmer. 1999. The Consensus Building Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Reaching Agreement. London, SAGE Publications. Appendix 1 – Case sheet Mainport Schiphol (Driessen, 1999) 1. Position Initiative: several governmental ministries Time period: 1980-present Level of used policy process: regional/national Phase in policy process: in process 2. Background This case is about plans to expand Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and the disputes related to it. Schiphol Airport is situated in a highly urbanized area, and deals with national, continental and intercontinental air traffic. Although its presence is causing many ‘stress’ on its environmental surroundings, the Dutch government wants it to expand, so it can act as a hub for continental and intercontinental air traffic. With this expansion there are two interests at stake: on national level an economic one (because an enlarged Schiphol Airport would increase economic activities), and on regional level an environmental one (because a bigger Schiphol Airport will caus

Employee Rights and Property Searches Essay

Mopak Corporation performed a search for drugs and guns on the employees and contract workers vehicles with the assistance of a private security company and drug detection dogs. In the search, guns were found, but not drugs, in several vehicles. At the completion of the search, five employees along with ten contract workers whose vehicles where the weapons were found were terminated, due to the corporation’s belief that the employees violated the company policy. The terminated workers immediately sued Mopak for wrongful termination. Though mostly in the United States employees are â€Å"at-will† employees, the arguments for wrongful termination the employees from Mopak can make in their suit is that Mopak performed an unreasonable search of their vehicles, violating their expectation of privacy. The search was made without a warrant and violated their Fourth Amendment Rights. (Lawyer. com, 2013) The contract workers are bound by contracts that may have an at-will clause in it, in which case they, like the regular employees, can be terminated at-will. Even though when there is a contract, written or oral, it’s based on a promise of job security, but with an at-will clause, contract workers may either leave a contract job or be terminated from a contract job at-will. †Employers often, and legitimately, ask employees to sign contracts or agreements that document and enforce the terms of at will employment, usually in company policy manuals. † (Lawyersandsettlements. com, 2013, para. ) The arguments that Mopak Corporation will make in response to the wrongful termination suit are that in the employees’ policy manual, handbooks or contracts reflect that the employee and/or contract workers must agree to random vehicle searches, random drug testing, and an at will clause for employment; that when signed by the employees and/or contract workers, it becomes binding, implied, or implied-in-fact contracts. In the 1988 decision of landmark case Foley vs. Interactive Data Corp. it brought to light that employees enter into implied-in-fact contracts with the acceptance of great merit reviews, promotions, raises, and with verbal assurances of job security. I believe the Mopak Corporation would win. I do not believe that a corporation with so much to lose would perform an illegal search of employee’s vehicles. They must have in the company’s policy manual that such an act would be permissible once the employees and contract workers sign that they have rea d and agreed to the terms and condition of the policy and/or contracts.